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Rajasthani Wedding

In Rajasthan, marriage dates are set according to planetary considerations, and auspicious dates are usually between May-July and November-February. The wedding takes place at the bride's house to which the bridegroom comes accompanied with a large baraat or procession. This happens even when the bride and groom are from separate towns. The groom rides to his bride's house astride on a white mare, and in the ceremonial dress of a prince, complete with a sword. While the marriage rituals are conducted in the house, the bridegroom's procession is entertainment and dinner. The bride's family is responsible for the hospitality, and takes great effort to look after their guests.

Match-Making
Match making is the most primary function for the marriage alliance. Utmost care is taken in this delicate matter so that the alliance is perfect. First, the status of the families has to be at par, the Marwari clan must be taken into consideration since the bride and the groom should hail from separate clans. Then, the horoscopes have to be approved and tallied by the family astrologer. Rajasthanis, as a rule, marry only within the community. However, exceptions are made if royals are involved.

Engagement
The engagement ceremony is organized at the groom's place which is attended only by the bride's father, brother and close relatives. Women do not participate in this ceremony and not even the bride is allowed to attend her engagement - tika - ceremony! The bride's brother makes the alliance official by applying tilak to the groom's forehead and by giving him gifts, clothes, sweets and sword.

Griha Shanti
A few days before the actual wedding Griha Shanti and Ganpati Sthaapana are performed wherein either the bride or groom's parents perform a Havan to please the Gods and install an idol of Lord Ganesha. Only after the Sthaapana do other ceremonies begin.
Pithi Dastoor
The Pithi Dastoor ceremony involves both the bride/groom and continues until the day of the wedding. The actual ceremony consists of application of turmeric and sandal wood paste to the bride/ groom. After this ceremony they cannot leave the house until the wedding day. The pithi dastoor at the bride's house is an elaborate affair. The bride is brought under a silken canopy dressed in the traditional Rajasthani dress - orange poshak - and is then applied the paste by women. Four ladies belonging to the same clan as the bride hold the canopy at the four corners with the help of swords. At the groom's place too a similar ceremony is less elaborate. The entire time the ceremony is in progress the Dholnas - women singers with dholaks sing pre-wedding songs.

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Mehfils
One of the integral parts of Rajasthani weddings are Mehfils. It is usually held in the evenings, they are again segregated into the ladies mehfil and the gents’ mehfil. At the ladies mehfil, all the women gather at a central place in an enclosed courtyard or hall.
At the ladies’ mehfil the women dressed in dazzling clothes gather in an enclosed courtyard and perform a special dance in group called the Ghoomar. If being held at the groom's place, only the groom is allowed to attend this otherwise all-women affair. The gents’ mehfil is again a strictly male affair with the singers performing.

Mahira dastoor
Mahira dastor ceremony is common to both the bride and the groom’s families. This ceremony is performed by the maternal uncle of the groom/bride, who, along with his wife and family, arrives with much fanfare, and is received by the bride/groom’s mother with the traditional welcome. The uncle in this ceremony gifts clothes, jewellery, sweets etc., to the entire family. The ceremony signifies that since at the time of a wedding there is considerable expenditure, it is the duty of the brother to help his sister at her child’s wedding.

Janev
The Janev Ceremony is performed only on the groom. He dresses in saffron robes like an ascetic and performs a havan before wearing a sacred thread - janev.
After the havan is completed and the thread given, the groom has to make a mock attempt to run from the chains of marriage while the maternal uncle must catch him and convince his nephew into accepting marriage.

Palla Dastoor
On the day of the wedding, or maybe a day prior to it, the Palla Dastoor is brought in by a few of the groom's relatives, accompanied by family retainers, to the bride's house. The Palla dastoor consists of clothes, jewelry and gifts from the groom, which the bride has to wear during the wedding ceremony. This particular custom is typical to the Rajputs. The traditional Rajasthani wedding dress is usually red, but it could also be orange, gold, yellow, or pink. In certain Rajput clans, a bright parrot green is also worn. Refreshment and lunch is served to the groom’s friends and family who participate in the ceremony.

Baraat
A Rajput baraat consists entirely of male members. The bridegroom is usually dressed in a gold achkan, with an orange turban and a churidar or jodhpuris with jootis. On the turban he wears a serpech a piece of jewellery specially meant for the turban. Around the neck he wears a necklace and around the waist he ties a Cummerband. There are variations in styles and colours. The baraat members also wear achkans or sherwanis with jodhpuris and safas. All members, including the groom who rides an elephant or a horse, carry swords. The procession to the bride’s house looks rather regal as there is absolutely no dancing on the streets by the baraatis. The groom is received by the bride's mother in the ladies' section who performs the traditional aarti and then leads him to the mandap for the wedding ceremony.

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The wedding ceremony
The wedding ceremony is similar to a Hindu wedding. The bridegroom has to be accompanied only by a male member of the family, either a married relative or his younger brother or a younger male cousin.
The bride must keep her face covered throughout the wedding ceremony.
While the wedding is in progress, the baraat is entertained outside by the bride's male family members. Therefore, it is mostly the women members of the bride's family who attend the wedding ceremony.

Biddai
At the time of the bidaai the bride lifts her veil for the groom; a coconut is placed below the wheel of the vehicle in which the couple is seated. The groom then gives some jewellery to his bride.

Grihapravesh
The Griha Pravesh takes place at the groom's residence after the newly wed couple returns. The bride wears her veil until all the pujas and ceremonies are over. After which the bride and the groom play a few games.

Pagelagni
The day following the Grihapravesh, the pagelagni takes place on the next day. This is a ceremony where the bride, still in veil, is formally introduced to all the family members of the groom who bless her and give her gifts. The veil is then finally removed.

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