Vedic Tales (Marriage) - Part 2
An Indian wedding consists of various rituals that need to be completed as part of the overall wedding ceremony and a typical G.S.B (Gaud Saraswat Brahmin) wedding was not far to be left behind. As a value addition to my wedding, I had decided to try and learn the real story or theory behind each and every ritual and I must say that to a certain degree I exceeded. I can proudly say now, that I am far more educated (with respect to a GSB wedding), than I was say a month back.
So, writing about each and every one of those rituals is quite a tedious task and hence, I have decided to write it in short installments. For starters, I wish to talk about a certain ritual that was performed by both Prachi and me, separately and fondly goes by the name 'Urda Murthh'.
The Ritual - As part of the 'Urda Murthh' ritual, the groom has to sit on the stage in front of a small grinding wheel. This wheel is made of stone and has a strong base at bottom and a movable stone on top which can be rotated in a clockwise fashion using a small wooden stick that is basically used as a lever. The groom is then surrounded all around by the ladies in the house. His mother first sits next to him and hands him a handful of dry Urad beans (also known as Udad dal). The groom has to drop this dal in the center of the stone and then grind it till the grains break open. After a while, it is his sisters' turn to provide him with a handful of Urad Dal and the grinding continues. As all this is happening, the ladies standing behind the Groom chant little rhymes in Konkani, and occasionally in Marathi, that jokingly talk about the groom, his family and his new bride. Once this is done, the stone is taken in front of the bride who goes through the same procedure with the ladies in her family.
All this may sound weird, but as I had mentioned earlier, each ritual has a theory that goes with it and the theory backing this is as follows:
The Theory - In the good old days, in the villages, whenever a Brahmin got married, the function would be held over 3 - 4 days. For these 3 - 4 days, his relatives from all over would flock to his place and stay with him. Now, in those days the concept of hiring a caterer was surely unheard off and, hence, the responsibility of feeding all these people would fall on the shoulders of the Groom's family.
Hence, a ritual was created, where the Groom was made to do all the grinding of the Urad Dal, to ensure that enough dough was available to make dosas or idlis for all the guests who had arrived. It was the host family's way of saying Thank You to all the guests and welcoming them to their home.
Today, with all the catering services provided, the Groom's hands and arms are saved from all the trouble, but still a mock grinding session is carried out to pass out the same message to all the guests that they are more than welcome to the marriage hall and must have no reservation about filling their stomachs'.
And hence there I was grinding away to glory with the ladies backing me up nicely. Don't you think??
Ahh....one thing I must mention here is that the rhymes that are sung by the ladies in the background were really funny. But unfortunately I don't remember many of them and the ones' I remember, I could hardly translate.
So, for those who happened to attend the wedding, I hope you enjoyed the food and the festivities. For those who couldn't, well.....you have no idea what all you missed!!
So, writing about each and every one of those rituals is quite a tedious task and hence, I have decided to write it in short installments. For starters, I wish to talk about a certain ritual that was performed by both Prachi and me, separately and fondly goes by the name 'Urda Murthh'.
The Ritual - As part of the 'Urda Murthh' ritual, the groom has to sit on the stage in front of a small grinding wheel. This wheel is made of stone and has a strong base at bottom and a movable stone on top which can be rotated in a clockwise fashion using a small wooden stick that is basically used as a lever. The groom is then surrounded all around by the ladies in the house. His mother first sits next to him and hands him a handful of dry Urad beans (also known as Udad dal). The groom has to drop this dal in the center of the stone and then grind it till the grains break open. After a while, it is his sisters' turn to provide him with a handful of Urad Dal and the grinding continues. As all this is happening, the ladies standing behind the Groom chant little rhymes in Konkani, and occasionally in Marathi, that jokingly talk about the groom, his family and his new bride. Once this is done, the stone is taken in front of the bride who goes through the same procedure with the ladies in her family.
All this may sound weird, but as I had mentioned earlier, each ritual has a theory that goes with it and the theory backing this is as follows:The Theory - In the good old days, in the villages, whenever a Brahmin got married, the function would be held over 3 - 4 days. For these 3 - 4 days, his relatives from all over would flock to his place and stay with him. Now, in those days the concept of hiring a caterer was surely unheard off and, hence, the responsibility of feeding all these people would fall on the shoulders of the Groom's family.
Hence, a ritual was created, where the Groom was made to do all the grinding of the Urad Dal, to ensure that enough dough was available to make dosas or idlis for all the guests who had arrived. It was the host family's way of saying Thank You to all the guests and welcoming them to their home.
Today, with all the catering services provided, the Groom's hands and arms are saved from all the trouble, but still a mock grinding session is carried out to pass out the same message to all the guests that they are more than welcome to the marriage hall and must have no reservation about filling their stomachs'.
And hence there I was grinding away to glory with the ladies backing me up nicely. Don't you think??
Ahh....one thing I must mention here is that the rhymes that are sung by the ladies in the background were really funny. But unfortunately I don't remember many of them and the ones' I remember, I could hardly translate.
So, for those who happened to attend the wedding, I hope you enjoyed the food and the festivities. For those who couldn't, well.....you have no idea what all you missed!!
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