It is said the way to a person’s heart is through his stomach or sweet talks, and Punjabis are the king of both. Punjabi language is said to be the sweetest language known. They are more friendly and humble in their approach and have the ability to adjust in all types of environments. Therefore, Punjabi or Sikh community is said to be the most widespread community in the world.
Punjabis are supposed to be stronger and passionate about whatever they do, they believe in the theory of ‘work is worship’. Also, their values of oneness, integrity, brotherhood enables them capture people’s heart. Punjabis are also very broad minded and believe transforming themselves with the changing times. Most of the love and inter- caste marriages has been observed in the Punjabi culture as they are more articulated towards the concept of being happy and keeping others happy rather than burdening others with their hard core believes and rituals. This does not mean that they are not firm followers of their religion; in fact Sikhism is the religion which is followed not only by Sikhs but also by the people of many other religions all over the world.
Punjabi’s festival and most importantly marriages are very famous due to the scale and the magnificence of the measures taken to celebrate them. Their marriages constitutes of a number of rituals which compliments to each grand function. The would- be bride or groom in a Punjabi family are always asked before fixing their marriages, they are given the right to choose their life partner and judge them according to their expectations. Once there is a confirmation from both the sides and the marriage gets fixed, the festivity starts from that very day.
‘Ardas’ or holy prayer is made to the God to thank him for granting this happy occasion and to request for his blessing on the Bride and the Groom’s family and for the couple’s happy and successful future. This ceremony is called ‘roka’ in which gifts & sweets are also given to the groom’s side by the bride’s family. Then the dates for the engagement and marriage ceremony are fixed along with the other ceremonies.
The Punjabi bride and groom are very excited about their marriage and in most of the cases the shopping for the apparels, jewelry and gifts is done with the contentment of both the families. Punjabis are very suspicious about the choices of other people and don’t step back in gifting expensive items. They are somehow still superstitious about measuring their daughter’s happiness with the cost attached to the gift items given to the groom’s family.
The main customs of the Punjabi marriage start with the engagement itself, where the bride and groom exchange rings accompanied by prayers and then follows a lots of merrymaking and celebrations. The Punjabi bride wears traditional dress; it can be a lehanga- choli, saree, suit or some other traditional outfit. Same ways, the groom also wears traditional outfits and these days the dress color of the would- be couple is chosen in a way that they should compliment each other.
The main marriage ceremony starts days before the actual marriage which includes ‘chunni chadai’, bachelor’s party, ‘Mehandi night’, ‘choora chadai’ and many other, each involving lots of joyful and blissful moments. These are the moments which when captured in pictures credit to great memories. The expense for the main marriage function in case of most Punjabi marriages is equally shared by the bride and the groom’s family.
Unlike the marriages of other communities, Punjabi marriages take place in the morning hours, before noon. The ceremony starts with the Punjabi groom moving from his house towards the marriage venue with the ‘barat’, which constitutes of all the invitees from the groom’s side, accompanied by a number of band groups playing marriage songs and the relatives dancing on the same. After resting at the venue for some time, the both the Punjabi bride and groom’s family along with some close relatives goes to Gurudwara sahib for the ‘Lawan Phere’ ceremony, wherein the Punjabi bride and groom are made to take four rounds around their holy book, called Guru Granth Sahib Ji, with the Priest enchanting prayers and explaining the meaning of each round. This is the final step after which the Punjabi Bride and groom are declared married and then follows a load of parties and happy moments where the couple is blessed by their relatives for leading a happy married life.
Few useful links:
http://www.jeevansathi.com/
http://www.jeevansathi.com/matrimonials/punjabi-matrimonial/
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Gurleen Kaur writes on behalf of Jeevansathi.com, which is India’s fastest growing matrimonial website, provides online Indian matrimonial classified services. Jeevansathi.com enables users to create a Punjabi matrimony profile on the website and allow prospective grooms and brides to contact each other. Users can search for profiles through advanced search options on the website.
