Iyer wedding

INTRODUCTION

Iyers are a subset of South Indian Brahmins who are of Saivite religious inclincation and generally speak the Tamil language. This is an article outlining a typical Iyer wedding. Such weddings are known as "kalyaanam" or "thirumanam" in Tamil.

These days Iyer weddings like other Indian/Hindu weddings usually last about 2-3 days where it once used to last 7 days. The main bluk of organizing a wedding falls on the brides' family's shoulders. These days however the groom's side plays a significant role in getting the wedding organized.

It is a joyous celebtration consisting of age-old traditions and religious rites admixed with lots of singing, dancing and fun-filled processions that typify the vibrant Indian culture.

Dress code is usually a well-sewn silk shirt with a veshti / white silk dhoti or a kurta for males and sarees or salwar khameez for females. In the reception component of the wedding it is not uncommon to see guests dressed in formal Western wear like suits for males. Women still generally remain adroned with flowers and dazzle in silk sarees.

Vrutham

The wedding rites/rituals/celebrations start off with prayers offered to ancestors to seek their and God's blessings for the upcoming wedding. This usually takes place in the early morning hours of the first wedding day. The bride's side does the rites for the bride's side of the family while the groom side does conducts its own prayers side-by-side.

Janavasam/"maapillai ezhuppu" - the procession

This is the archetypical picture of Indian celebration packed with a kaleidoscope of color, glitz, music and dancing!

The groom would be seated on a horse-drawn chariot (or in some cases, beatifully adorned cars) as he makes a procession through the roads with his entourage. The accompanying entourage dances to the rhythm rendered by the accompanying band announcing to all the upcoming matrimony .

In recent times the bride gets a piece of action as she joins the groom halfway through the procession and gets to sit alongside the groom on the chariot. They then make their way to the temple where the groom - "maapillai" - is given a new set of traditional dhoti - "veshi" and shirt - to wear for the following nischayathartham ceremony.

The procession then makes its way back to the mandapam where the nischayathartham then ensues

Nischayathartham - the engagement ceremony

After all the joyous dancing and pompous procession, the guests settle down at the mandapam to witness and bless the rites and rituals involved in the "engagement ceremony" with the background of Sanskrit mantrams chanted by the Hindu priests.

The bride and groom are officially engaged in God's name and the auspicious timing for the Muhurtham - the actual wedding rites - is set in everybody's presence. "Thaamboolam" plates of items required for the muhurtham are exchanged by both the groom's and bride's sides during this function.

Muhurtham - the WEDDING proper

Muhurtham refers to the actual wedding ceremony itself. It typically occurs on the second day of a 2- or 3-day wedding ceremony and occurs early in the morning around 7-8 am depending on the priests' decree.

The muhurtham includes the "Kasi yaatrai" , "maalai maatral", "oonjal ceremony" and the actual Muhurtham itself.

Kasi yaatrai refers to an age-old Brahmin ritual where the groom "decides" to take up 'sanyaasam' (i.e. ascetism, monkhood) for spiritual pursuit. He would ultimately be 'convinced' by the bride's father to return and take up "grahastham" or family life and that the bride will assist in his subsequent spiritual pursuit.

The maapillai (groom) will then agree and garlands will be exchanged by the bride and groom (maalai maatral). The process of maalai maatral may be complicated by the groom's side carrying the groom and the bride's side cayring the bride and each side making it difficult for the other side to correctly place the garland. Basically traditional family entertainment.

They would then head to the a swing (oonjal) in the mandapam. Respected womenfolk of the household will then perform short rituals with classical singing to ward off "evil eyes" as the bride and groom are seated on the oonjal.

They then proceed to the podium in the mandapam where rites of the marriage - muhurtham - are performed. The climax is when the bride is seated on her dad's lap as her dad does (kannigadhaanam) and offers his daughter to be taken care of by the groom. As the priest then chants mantrams, the groom ties a "thaali" or "thirumaangalyam" as a necklace around the bride's neck as all the guests shower their blessings (symbolized by rice grains that are disctribued to all guests to shower onto the bride and groom).

This symbolizes the actual wedding and the newly-weds take their marriage vows in 7 steps (sapthapathi) as they walk 3 rounds hand-in-hand around the holy fire (agni).

Nalangu - wedding games

Nalangu is a tradition that dates back to times when marriages used to occur at a younger age (early teens). This component was incorporated to keep the mood light-hearted and fun for the newly wed young teens. It has stayed on as a integral component of South Indian weddings.

Traditional games include the newly-weds putting their hands into a small bowl to find a small object with the person finding the object first the winner. Other examples of games include breaking papadums over each other's heads and so on and so forth. It is an interesting component of the wedding gala.

Wedding Reception

Photos may be taken with the newly weds with the backdrop of classical music.

Typically South Indian / Carnatic musicians are called upon to provide the music entertainment as the reception goes on.