Solah Shringar Indian Bride

Solah Shringar for Indian Bride

For an Indian bride the wedding day is the most important day of her life. She has lots of expectations and hope for this day. Most of the girls in our country have lots of dreams for this day since it marks the beginning of their journey into womanhood. Everybody wants to look best on this day. Different kinds of beauty rituals are associated with this day as her female friends and relatives spend the whole day preparing her for the occasion. The full beautification consists of sixteen parts from head to toe. On this very special day of her life she wants to look the best. She epitomizes beauty on this special day. The bride's solah shringar starts from the top with her hair and ends with her toe.

First her hair is washed and oiled and adorned with flowers and other ornaments for the hair. It is decorated with borla. It is a conocal shaped ornaments for the head. Than a paste of turmeric, oil, and gram flower is used as a scrub and a cream for the bride's hands and arms. Then her forehead is decorated with a mang-tikka or bhor ornament, which is worn along the hairline. The face is also adorned. And the eyes are highlighted with kajal to give a beautiful effect. Even make up is applied on face with powdered and lipsticks. Nose rings are worn. It can be made of gold, pearl and diamond. In some regions and community nose rings are never removed and they become symbol of married woman like mangalsutra. Earrings are also worn on ears. They are of different shapes and sizes. Necklaces of different designs and sizes are worn around the neck. It can be of different lengths short, long or choker or collar type. The bride also wears floral garland. On hands bangles and bracelets are worn. It is the most visible part so bangles and bracelets are one of the most important adornments worn by the bride. Bangles can be of different kinds. It can be made of gold, silver, iron, ivory, glass, ceramic or other metals depending upon the custom and rituals of the particular region. Armlets are also worn on the upper arm, which can be made of different metals. Mehndi designs are made on the hands and feet. On the waist elaborate gold or silver belts are worn. The belts serve the purpose of keeping the bride's sari in place. And last but not least the toes are also adorned. Various kinds of toe rings are worn it can be simple or elaborate looking. The bridal wears, which is considered, as the most important part of solah shringar is always red in color because red is considered auspicious. The sari usually has rich and heavy embroidery with gold and silver threads some also has beads work on it.

Hindu Marriage Rituals

In a Hindu arranged marriage there are various rituals and customs. According to Hindu Sastra there are four stages of life and the second stage is Grahastha Ashram (the householder stage), which signifies married life and it begins when a man and a woman come together and marry. Marriage is treated as an institution, which teaches the actual values of life. Every stage in life has its own charm. A married life also has its own charm and importance. In our Indian society there are mostly arranged marriages and arranged marriages has various steps. The first step starts with the selection of the bride and the bridegroom. As in arranged marriages the parents selects the bride and groom. The marriage among Hindus is not only considered an union of two souls but of two families. A Hindu wedding not only involves the bride and groom but the entire community, friends, family and relatives as everybody participates in their coming together.

After the selection procedure is over the family members of both the girl and boy decides an auspicious date for their engagement also known as Misri or ring ceremony. The priest decides the date. Now the engagement ceremony rituals differ from region to region and community to community. But all these rituals are an indispensable part of Hindu wedding. In this ceremony the girl and boy exchange wedding rings among each other. Sweets and garlands are exchanged among the couple. On this day special arrangements for dinner is also done for the friends and relatives who gathers to wish the couple. After engagement the next important ritual is the mehndi party. The bride's family and friends mainly celebrate this ceremony. The female friends and family members of the bride celebrate this occasion by painting henna on bride's hand and feet and on each other while the rest of the family celebrates by singing and dancing. The color of mehndi signifies the essence of love in a marriage so it is put on bride's hand to strengthen that bond of love.

Among the other important rituals are Sangeet parties where all the family members and friends of the bride and groom celebrate by singing and dancing the night away. Along with song and dance there are arrangements for food and drink. It is mostly seen among the Punjabis and Gujaratis. It is a large affair in most of the families. Ghari puja is also another important religious ceremony, which is performed on the eve of the wedding day at the groom and bride's place separately. In many regions ghari puja is combined with Pithi the cleansing ceremony during which the bride and bridegroom are pasted with turmeric powder in a beautification process. These were some of the rituals and customs, which were generally followed in all the Hindu marriages. Only the celebration aspect may change due to different culture and traditions of different regions. On the day of the wedding ceremony the place of the wedding is beautifully decorated with flowers. It is called the mandapa where the marriage is performed. The main wedding ceremony is a long and elaborate affair, which lasts for several hours in that the couple takes the saptapadi or the seven steps together before god symbolized by fire and light. The seven vows speak of the real essence and significance of marriage. Each and every ritual and custom is based on Vedic traditions signifying different aspect of married life.