Wishesh Magazine December-2019 Wishesh Magazine December-2019 | Page 22

INDIAN DIASPORA TRADITION AND CULTURE Wedding Cultures and Traditions of Telangana The wedding customs and culture in Telangana is a biggest affair which lasts around 2-3 days. In olden days, it was a no less than a festival of 16 long days. Even the days are shorten, the rituals are followed without skipping. Every wedding ritual and custom has some significance. 22 Pre-wedding rituals Nishchithardham is the first pre-wedding ritual like in other regions of India. Post engagement and when the marriage date comes near, the ritual is executed which is called as Pellikuthuru/ pellikoduku. This means bridal shower and both the bride to be and groom get the sacred shower in their respective house on the same day. Wedding rituals On the wedding day, both bride to be and groom take part in Gauri puja. The puja is conducted in the wedding mandapam on wedding day. Kanyadhanam is the most important ceremony of the wedding. The bride’s parents hand over the hand of their daughter to the groom and family. The groom promises with the chant, that he will stay with her in happiness and sorrow forever. when groom ties the knot to with holy thread around the bride’s neck. The holy thread is called as managalasuthram. Jeelakara bellam is beautiful ritual. Jeelakara refers to cumin seeds and bellam refers to jaggery. The blend of these two ingredients is inseparable and it means the marriage is similar to jeelakara bellam. Post wedding rituals Mangala sutra dharana is WWW.WISHESH.NET | DECEMBER 2019 Appaginthalu is the end of the wedding where bride is handed over to groom and his family. The next ritual after the wedding ceremony is Gruhapravesham. the bride is taken to the groom’s house