subject: Hindu Marriage Procession in India [print this page] Hindu marriage procession of the bridal pair along the main streets of the village is one of the essential traditional customs in a Hindu Wedding in India. Not only the husband and the wife newly joined in the wedlock are carried round the village in a car or on elephant's back or horseback, but also brahmacharis (type of living as per Hindu Vedic Scriptures) and girls who have attained puberty are also subjected to this timeworn hindu custom, the former on the fourth day of the ceremony called danduneer.
It goes like this, the palanquin or the cars stop in front of each of the houses in the village. The lady inmate of the house or her daughter comes out with a dish of turmeric water mixed with lime, and a coconut, plantain fruit, etc. She first presents the occupants of the palanquin or the car with anyone of the three items mentioned above and then casts off the effect of the evil eye by waving the mixture of turmeric and lime by the side of the palanquin. This process is repeated at each and every one of the houses, the relatives of the occupant of the car or palanquin putting into the dish of the mixture emptied, some sweetmeat, a fruit, sugar or pan supari. Further, all people in the street are given sandal paste, flowers, fruit and pan supari.
The marriage feast of the Hindus is also proverbial. Feasts accompany every marriage. Almost all the people in the village are invited and fed sumptuously both day and night, and at the end of the meal are given sandal paste, flowers and pan supari. The services of a piper are also requisitioned for the performance during the marriage rites. In hindu wedding customs, music is supposed to scare away the undesirable invisible beings from the marriage processions and the premises.
Pyrotechnic display during and at the time of the procession has also been resorted to, perhaps to drive away unfavourable influences. From this custom, a proverb has also come into existence, which means, "A marriage with only half a Fanam and this expenditure includes the item of Fireworks too!"
To conclude on the topic of hindu marriage procession, the giving of milk and fruit to the girl taken in procession may be said to signify the hearty wishes of the inmates of the houses for the prosperity of the girl. It is more or less akin to saying "May your marriage come to fruition" or in other words "May you bring forth children who may have enough nourishment", fruit in milk denoting perhaps children in the midst of the plenty!
