Maharashtrian Wedding Rituals

The traditional Maharashtrian wedding is organized with religious observance. It is a simple ceremony, wherein the bride and the groom tie the wedding knot and pledge their lifetime companionship to the other half, in a very special way. The wedding, which is usually held in a mandap, is a brief affair consisting of antarpaat, Laxmi Narayan puja and jhal phirawne. Apart from the parents, the bride's maternal uncle plays a prominent role during the wedding ceremony. If you want to know more about the Maharashtrian wedding rituals, then go through the following lines.

Maharashtrian Wedding Customs

Antarpaat
At the time of shubh muhurat, the girl’s maternal uncle leads her to the mandap. The girl and boy are not allowed to glance at each other; therefore, the girl is taken to the mandap by raising an Antarpaat (a white cloth that is used as a partition between the bride and groom. Thereafter, the shlokas are chanted. This is followed by the removal of Antarpaat. People shower Akshata (unbroken rice) on the couple. After that, the garlands are exchanged between the bride and groom. The couple takes seven mangalpheras in front of the holy fire.

Laxmi Narayan Puja
The bride is considered the goddess Laxmi and the groom is taken to be Lord Narayan. After the completion of marriage ceremony, Laxmi Narayan puja is conducted, in which the bride and groom are worshipped.

Jhal Phirawne
The girl’s hand is formally given to the boy in the ceremony known as Jhal Phirawne. More popularly, it is known as Kanyadaan. In this ceremony, a cane dish is taken in which 21 lit lamps or diyas are placed. For the first time, the dish is placed on the bride's head. After kanyadaan, the groom ties the mangalsutra around the bride's neck and applies sindoor (vermillion) in her hair. In return, she applies chandan (tilak) on his forehead.

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