Tha Lifestyle Dec,2013 | Page 16

tha lifestyle | language & culture a simple guide to Tamil Hindu Wedding Pre-Wedding Events Pre Wedding Arrangements The marriage of a man and woman is such an important and unforgettable day in anyone’s life. Memories of a wedding are always recorded in family photographs and videos as people always want to remember and review the day of union between two souls. And In Tamil communities a wedding is more than the marriage of two individuals , it is also a coming together of two big families and all their friends. Tamil wedding customs date back four millenia and now there are local customs as well, based on newer geographic locations, not to mention how much change they have seen as Tamils have moved to western countries and adopted new styles. Some of the traditional procedures have been left behind by western Tamils as they grow into a new generation 14 of British, Canadian, French and Australian Tamils, to name just a few. At the point of the transformations occur in British Tamil Community, the long historical traditional marriage procedures are vanishing with time. Traditional wedding custom can be retold under few headings. Even though custom is different in different parts of South India , North and East of Sri Lanka , Malaysia , Singapore and the newly growing Western Tamil Diaspora, the main aspects of traditional marriage are fairly common to most of them. Bride & Groom Seeking Usually Bride or Groom are sought by parents through their families and friends and based on age , jobs and background. Parents exchange the details and photos which includes the astrological charts which was written on birth. Jathaka Porutham - Astrology Chart Matching Once the parents exchange the charts they consult a astrological expert to find the matching. There are two systems the charts are based on called ‘Vakkiya Panchangam’ which is based on empirical theory which has passed through generations and the other system which is called ‘Thirukanitha Panchangam’, based on mathematical calculations. Tamil astrological system, used for analysing marriage compatibility is based on horoscopes of a man and woman. Horoscope matching in Tamil is known as ‘ten matching’; named as dinam, ganam, yoni, rasi, rasiyathipaty, rajju, vedha, vasya, mahendram and stree deergham. Ponnu Parthal - Bride meeting