India is a multi-cultural country and has many languages, religion and customs. Indian weddings are full of great colour but there are some weird ceremonies which may appear very strange: DH looks at a few customs in Indian weddings that will surprise you.
1. Mother of the bride and groom don’t attend the wedding: In a traditional Bengali wedding, the mother of the bride and groom don’t attend their son’s or daughter’s wedding as they believe that the mother would have a harmful or evil effect on the married life of the child.
2. Drink the milk: A weird custom in Guajarati weddings in where the groom’s feet are washed with milk and honey by his would-be father-in-law. It is called Madhuparka and what strange is that the groom has to drink that portion.
3. It’s tomatoes and not flowers:In the tribal area of UP, the groom is not welcomed by rose or jasmine flowers but by tomatoes thrown at them. Yes, you read it right. The belief behind hurling tomatoes is that a relationship started with such unfortunate and strange note will surely end in deep love between the groom and the bride.
4. Temporary change of mind:In some Tamil Brahmin families, it’s mandatory for the groom to change his mind a few minutes before getting married and become a sanyasi. He’s told in detail about the significance of matrimony and ‘Grihasthashram’ and his roles and duties as a husband. So, he comes back to his senses and agrees to sit at the marriage altar.
5. Just exchange the garland:One of the simplest weddings is followed by the Rabha tribe in Assam where goom and bride just exchange garlands and they are considered married. Later, this is followed by the feast.
6. Getting married to a tree:You might have heard a word called manglik in India. If a bride is manglik, she has to marry a peepal tree or dog before getting married to a human. The unusual superstitious belief is that either the bride or the groom will die after marriage if the bride does not get married to the tree first.
7. No socialising:A few adivasi communities follow this ritual, which is that when a man and woman get married, the women is kept in a hidden place with her husband and not allowed to interact with people. After a year,the marriage is approved by the senior members of the village. Then, there is a grand function held in the community and they celebrate the wedding.
8. Fish needs to approve:In traditional Manipuri wedding, the bride and groom release two fish in a pond. If the fish move together, it is considered as a good sign.
