Simple Rituals At Jain Wedding

We all know India is a country with unity in diversity. Umpteen numbers of religions exist here. Every religion has its sect of traditions and beliefs that make it stand out from the other. Just like the Hindu wedding rituals, Jain wedding rituals are also elaborate, and they are followed in detail by the Jain community. With their simplicity, the Jain community maintains very strong ties within the family, and they always prefer to celebrate a marriage in their family with their family members and close friends. The Jain community follows elaborate rituals before and after the wedding.

Explore More About : Significant Hindu Wedding Rituals

Rituals Before Jain Wedding

Jain wedding rituals are simple, traditional, and colorful. The Jain wedding brings happiness and enjoyment in their wedding celebration by making it traditional and colorful. They don’t want to miss even a single procedure while conducting wedding rituals. Before marriage, a religious pooja is performed at the bride’s home, in which both families participate. The priest at the pooja selects the auspicious date for conducting the marriage.

As the next procedure in the wedding ritual, the bridegroom conducts a pooja at his home, and after that, the priest reads out the details sent by the bride’s family which shares the information about the date and time of the marriage. Next, the male members from the bride’s family will visit the bridegroom’s home. The bride’s brother will apply a tikka or a tilak on the forehead of the bridegroom. Then, he presents the bridegroom and his family members with luxurious gifts to celebrate the wedding with happiness. After this pooja, both the family go to the wedding venue for other Jain wedding rituals.

Rituals After Jain Wedding

The Jain community follows specific wedding rituals after the priest has conducted the marriage. The bride’s father will offer his daughter in the Kanyadaan ritual to the bridegroom. The bride and the bridegroom will go around the sacred fire during the phera, and the women in the family will sing the mangal geet along with the mahavir ashtakam stotra recitation. A married woman from the family will tie a knot with the bride’s saree and the bridegroom’s shawl. They’ll complete together the seven sacred pheras and will become the husband and wife. After this, they both exchange garlands made of colorful and beautiful flowers. After completing the Jain wedding rituals, the bride and the bridegroom will reach the bridegroom’s house. The family members of the bridegroom will welcome both as the newly married couple.

Importance Of Rituals

A Hindu wedding in India follows lengthy Hindu wedding rituals that may sometime test the patience of not only the bride and the bridegroom but the well-wishers and the guests at the wedding venue. Every Hindu family has specific religious traditions that may differ from region to region. Every region follows a set of local customs that may focus on the deities the family worships and follows. Different traditions are observed in the family, and they also get reflected during the Hindu wedding rituals.

Following Religious Rituals

Lighting the sacred fire is the first step to conduct Hindu wedding rituals in a Hindu marriage. A mandap with a raised platform is first built. The bride and the bridegroom are made to sit on wooden seats. The sacred fire is then lit with ghee and pieces of special herbs. The spirit of Agni is then invoked with mantras by the priest to thrash the effect of evil eyes and bless the couple with prosperity, purity and transparency. During the rituals, the couple exchange garlands made especially from roses and jasmines. In a Hindu wedding, these religious rituals help to build a healthy bond between the families and the newly married couple. The Hindu wedding rituals also look forward to a soul to soul connection and get involved in each other’s life with love.

Taking The Wedding Vows

The significant part of a Hindu marriage happens at the end of the Hindu wedding rituals. End of the bride’s saree-pallu is tied as a knot to the shawl or the towel draped from the bridegroom’s shoulder. With their little fingers of their right hands locked together, they will go around the sacred fire. While they take their seven steps around the sacred fire, the Hindu priest who conducts the marriage chants seven vows and blesses for a long-standing marriage. With every step, they are asked to feed the sacred fire with turmeric rice, which represents prosperity in the new life they start together. It is believed that this ritual strengthens the bond between the couple in the long run. The Hindu priest blesses them with specific mantras that bless them to have a happy married life with prosperity and live in harmony forever. The mantras chanted during rituals bless them to be happy eternally. The Hindu priest blesses them after conducting the rituals to have all comforts in life.

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Cherishing Jain Wedding Rituals