Rite Of Passage Report

The rite of passage I got to witness was an Indian wedding/marriage. This experience was very blissful and unforgettable. The indian couple that I witnessed get married, had an arranged marriage, which is one the most common practises used by indians. The parents were in control of their children and of the marriage. I noticed the process of the parents looking for the significant other, they were to examine the religion, caste, wealth, horoscope and beauty. After the parents approved of the significant other, they had a ritual called a “Magni”. The Magni was an engagement ceremony consisting of the two families and close relatives. In this ritual the couple had to exchange gold rings to ensure they are officially engaged. The soon to be bride and groom were engaged until the dates of the wedding were made, that was founded by an Pandit (an Hindu scholar), using both the bride and grooms horoscopes. Checking the couples horoscopes was a crucial action before the marriage, it helps to guarantee the couple is a good match for one another and if the couple will live a happy married life. The indian wedding consisted of more than just one ceremony, in fact it was separated into three different ceremonies, each of which were held on different days. The first day was the Ganesh Pooja ceremony, a ritual where the hindus were to pray to Lord Ganesh, a god of success, scholarship and tranquility. …show more content…
Prior to their marriage they prayed to this god to seek a happy marriage and to remove any obstacles the couple may face. The second prayer on this day was the Grah Shanti (worship of the 9 planets), this was a significant practice in the indian wedding which helped to ensure the couple to have a successful life in the future. The last ritual of this ceremony would consist of the Ghari Puja, a prayer to celebrate the soon to be bride and groom by giving presents of coconut, rice, oils and nuts. The second day in addition to the marriage, that I witnessed was called Mehndi ceremony, this was celebrated later in the evening at a banquet hall with almost all family and friends, from both the bride and grooms side. The Indian society were highly passionate when it came to beauty and sophistication, which was revealed in the Mehndi. This ceremony was almost as big at the actual wedding day. During the Mehndi, the bride was applied with uptan (tumeric paste) on her face, legs, feet, arms and hands. There were many purposes of this certain ritual on the bride, which includes safety from the evil eye & evil sprits, for beautification so that the bride would glow on her wedding day, and lastly to cleanse her body, allowing the bride to detoxify her skin. Following that, another ritual occurred right after, which was the application of henna on the bride. A professional henna artist was invited to the ceremony to apply henna on the bride, that was applied on the hands, arms, and feet. This was the main ritual and focus in the ceremony. The purpose of this henna was to glamorize the bride, but it was also crucial as it symbolized that the darker the imprint on the bride, the more love the groom will have for the bride. The Mehndi ceremony also consisted a variety of indian food, songs, and dances performed by the couples close friends and family. The Mehndi ceremony overall had a very festive and energetic vibe. The last day and third day of the marriage ceremonies, was the real wedding. The wedding was taken place at a hotel ball room, consisting of almost 500 guests, many colours, lights and music. This day was mainly focused on rituals and customs between the bride and groom & their families. The first custom in the wedding was the Baraat, this was the entrance of the bride and the groom. The groom was to enter first in the wedding alongside with his family and close friends, the groom had entered on a white horse with music playing in the background, as everyone was cheering him as he entered his wedding. The brides parents receive the groom and performed a small prayer on him before the