New Book on Hindu weddings

[Guest guest]

Hindu wedding: Iyer style

By M.V. Kamath

 

Iyer Weddings by P.K. Ravindranath; Amit Productions, Bombay; English

Edition; pp 156; Rs 2,600.00

What can one say of a coffee table book on Iyer weddings that is so

superbly produced, so meticulously written, so beautifully illustrated

and so thoroughly researched and has the unqualified blessings of the

Shankaracharyas of Sringeri and Kanchi, except to proclaim that it is

priceless?

 

P.K. Ravindranath, its author who is a distinguished journalist,

happened to attend the wedding of an Iyer friend's daughter and even

while watching the Vedic rituals began to wonder whether the bride and

the groom had any understanding of what was being chanted in Sanskrit.

 

It occurred to Ravindranath that a good translation into English of

the mantras along with a detailed description of all the rituals

involved would be an invaluable service to all young people, Iyer or

non-Iyers, whose knowledge of Sanskrit is scant, if not non-existent.

 

Iyers are Tamilians though they may be spread in Tamil Nadu, Kerala or

Karnataka as are the Iyengars, for instance, many of whom speak Telugu

as their mother tongue. But whether they are Tamilians or Andhrites,

Brahmin weddings, as indeed weddings of practically all Brahmin

communities, are conducted in Sanskrit and all too often neither the

bride nor the groom has any idea what the mantras signify.

 

The Arya Samaj wedding ceremonies are by and large exceptional in the

sense that a conscious effort is made by the priest officiating to

explain the meaning of the mantras chanted in Sanskrit in Hindi. It

occurred to Ravindranath that a good translation into English of the

mantras along with a detailed description of all the rituals involved

would be an invaluable service to all young people, Iyer or non-Iyers,

whose knowledge of Sanskrit is scant, if not non-existent. He went

about his task in a systematic way, enlisting the support and

assistance of scholars.

 

By and large Iyer rituals are not vastly different from rituals

observed by other Brahmin communities, even if as a community, Iyers

are more tradition-bound and reportedly more conservative. Iyer

samskaras (sacraments), too, are Vedic in origin. Ravindranath

mentions some forty samskaras but the focus is primarily on wedding

rituals. The search for a suitable bride groom for a young girl of

marriageable age starts with checking the horoscopes of prospective

grooms with that of the likely bride. Noted is the fact that the

horoscopes have to match in as many as ten counts though a rating of

six out of ten factors is taken as utthama poruttham (highest

compatibility).

Upto five is madhyama porutham medium compatibility but acceptable. If

western societies wonder how `arranged' marriages take place,

Ravindranath gives a full description of the `methodology', which, to

the less sophisticated, may seem odd if not hilarious. But once a

formal agreement is arrived at between the bride and groom's party, an

engagement ceremony is conducted, a marriage date is finalised and

this is where the book suddenly blossoms into a work of great beauty.

Vivid descriptions follow of the baraat, the janavasam, the vaaku

nischayam, the vritam and kappu kettal, the ankurarpanam, the Kaashi

yatra, the maalai matral, oonjal attam, the vara pooja, kanya daanam,

madhu parka daanam, devatha prarthana, kanya samskaram, koora pudavai,

mangalyadharanam, panigrahanam, sapthapathi, pradhana homam, laaja

homam, jayaathi homam, griha pravesham, arundhati nakshatram, ending

with mangala aarathi.

 

If all this sounds too elaborate, why, one may ask, should one get

married at all? The joy is in the observance of proper vidhis and

niyamas and Rabindranath has gone to great extent in describing each

ritual and its full meaning.

 

All marriage rites are meant to perpetuate the family and strengthen

social bonds and the more elaborate they are, the more affirmative

they become. As Ravindranath puts it: "The concept of

one-man-one-woman is stressed as the ideal marriage. When family ties

are strengthened, social ties become strong and when social ties are

strengthened, the nation becomes strong."

 

Once a formal agreement is arrived at between the bride and groom's

party, an engagement ceremony is conducted, a marriage date is

finalised and this is where the book suddenly blossoms into a work of

great beauty. Vivid descriptions follow of the baraat, the janavasam,

the vaaku nischayam, the vritam and kappu kettal.

 

A day before the wedding, a tastefully decorated pandal would have

been erected with two plaintain trees adorning the entrance connoting

evergreen plenty and prosperity. Marigold and other flowers and

festoons of mango leaves necessarily have to adorn the pandal and the

music of nadaswaram adds a divine touch to all proceedings. Kolam and

rangoli design adorn the doorsteps, matching the mood of the occasion

and signifying a hearty welcome to the guests, who, as they enter, are

sprinkled with rose water. Women are offered jasmine flowers to mark

soubhagyam (bliss).

By and large the ceremonies at an Iyer wedding are close to those

observed by other Brahmin communities. Time was when a wedding was a

twelve day affair, but progressively (or should one say

retrogressively) over the decades they have turned into first nine,

then seven, five, three and finally one day affairs, losing much of

the wonderment of Vedic times. Today's Iyers, too, have adapted

certain north Indian customs such as organising a sangeet or musical

evening though, while in the Punjab, the ceremonies include sehra,

mehendi, tappe, jugni and boliya, the south Indians have yet to

develop their equivalents though there is no reason why they should.

 

What is so special about this book is not just the text, detailed and

decorous as it is, but the accompanying pictures which are in their

own way very evocative and above all, truly illustrative. Nothing is

missed. Every picture and there are several scores of them, has its

own significance and speaks volumes of the nature and content of the

ritual portrayed. All pictures are naturally in colour and are printed

against a golden background, giving them a three-dimensional look. One

does not know whom to congratulate: the photographer or the printer or

the designer. The pictures, of course, are sequential and none is out

of place. The printing is out of this world.

 

It is not that Ravindranath merely records a ritual in picture and in

words. He explains their significance. When, for instance, the bride's

father chants: Kanyam kanaka sampannan, kanakabharana bhooshitam....an

explanation is offered thus: "The bride's father gives her hand to the

groom with gold, as water is poured over it. This signifies the

transfer of his responsibilities to the groom. It is also meant to

purify the relationship. The gold goes with a prayer that it may

multiply their wealth. With this, the girl's gotra is changed to that

of her husband. This is the most important part of the marriage ritual

and is considered the greatest daanam (gift)."

 

This is a book of tremendous value and one to be cherished. It will be

valued not only by Iyers but by people of all communities and castes

for what it means to get married in an ancient Brahmin society.

Ancient customs may be time-consuming and they certainly make great

demands on the purse of the father of the bride. But that does not

detract from the significance of rituals that have a traditions of

perhaps five thousand years if not more. Rabindranath deserves high

praise for recording them for posterity.