LAGNACHYA KATHA - MAHARASHTRIAN WEDDING

With the sound of rising sringas and sambals, the early morning sun blesses the couple, shining bright with the crescent moons on their foreheads - a spectacle at a Marathi wedding.

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Simplicity and serenity beautifully resonate with the auspiciousness of a Maharashtrian wedding. Embellished with mogra and gulab patti the ceremony is filled with the fragrance of the blossoming flowers and age-rich traditions. The exquisite nine yards of paithani silhouette and the richness of a peshwa pagdi or royal pheta symbolise the saffron dynasty's valorous imprint on Indian history. Even though Marathi weddings are known for being simple, each ritual carefully cradles a deeper meaning from its glorious history.

The ceremonies slightly differ for konkanastha brahmins, deshastha brahmins and other Maratha clans. Each lineage has its own set of customs that may seem like a polite upgrade in changing times, but the spirit behind them remains the same.

The commemoration begins with lagnach bedi where a suitable match is found. Since the advent of love marriages, this ceremony is rarely witnessed. Once their hearts match, the only step left to do is to match their stars. This ceremony is more commonly referred to as patrika milan or guna milan. The guna is an attribute the boy and girl have compared to evaluate whether most of their traits match or not, much like a modern-day compatibility chart. With 16 or more matching guna, it is considered an ideal match, again dependent on the priority of attributes. In a broader sense, the attributes like health, happiness and children are given the utmost importance.

Once the couple is deemed compatible, a baithak is scheduled for discussing the shubh muhurat. Like most Indian weddings, Maharashtrian weddings hold the deepest regard towards the shubh muhurat and feel all auspicious events should tend to the same. And so it begins- the ceremonious events that unite not just two people but two families in the sacred bond of love and mutual respect.

PRE-WEDDING RITUALS

Sakhar Puda