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Indian Weddings

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Indian Weddings
Happily Ever After In America getting married is one of the biggest celebrations many men and women have the opportunity of being apart of. In the United States, marriages can happen many different ways- from Catholic ceremonies which take place in a Catholic church where a priest marries the two individuals to the simpler route of the two lovers getting hitched at their cities courthouse. The United States recognizes marriage as the formal union between two people, typically recognized by the law, in which the two become partners. As Americans, we are much more lenient with the idea of marriage and the actual wedding process, however; in places such as Pakistan- a wedding symbolizes much more for the Indian culture. Indian weddings are known for their extremely elaborate ceremonies- including before and after the “big day”, and their opulent celebrations (Husain, 120).
In Indian culture, marriage symbolizes not just the sacred union of two individuals, but of the coming together of two families and extended families. (Serhan, 24) As with any other marriage process the first step is the engagement. (Husain, 119). Traditionally the engagement was set up between the bride and groom’s parents as an arranged marriage, but recently arranged marriages have become practically extinct (Gullapalli). In the 21th century it is custom that the parents of the groom accompany their prospective daughter-in-laws’ home to meet with her and her parents. If the young woman’s parents agree to the proposal, the two are then bound for marriage. (Serhan, 27) There is an actual engagement ritual where gold rings are exchanged between the soon-to-be bride and groom called Mangni (Gullapalli). During the Mangni the two families meet to make the official plans of the wedding-such as the potential date and time of the wedding based on the two horoscopes of the bride and the groom. The couple is then given blessings by the elders of the family, and showered with beautiful gifts-


Cited: Serhan Rasha. "Palestinian Weddings: Inventing Palestine In New Jersey." Journal Of Palestine Studies 37.4 (2008): 21-37. Academic Search Complete. Web. 14 Nov. 2013. Gorfain, Phyllis, Deborah Kapchan, and Katharine Young. "Inscribed Surfaces: On Bodies on Film." The Journal of American Folklore 109.431 (Winter 1996): 79-92. American Folklore Society. JSTOR. Web. 17 Nov. 2013. Ahmed, Amineh. "Death and Celebration among Muslim Women: A Case Study from Pakistan." Modern Asian Studies 39.4 (Oct. 2005): 929-980. JSTOR. Web. 17 Nov. 2013. Read, Jen 'Nan G., and John P. Bartkowski. "To Veil or Not to Veil? A Case Study of Identity Negotiation among Muslim Women in Austin, Texas." Gender and Society 14.3 (Jun. 2000): 395-417. JSTOR. Web. 17 Nov. 2013. Husain, Yusuf J. "The Story of a Wedding in Pakistan." Asian Folklore Studies 26.1 (1967): 119-27. JSTOR. Web. 17 Nov. 2013. Web. 17 Nov. 2013. Gullapalli, Sravani, and Aparna R. Sagi. "Indian Wedding Traditions." (n.d.): n. pag. Web. 17 Nov. 2013. .
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