To this day, India is considered to have some of the strangest wedding customs and traditions. The bride cannot influence the course of the event in any way. She is a forced person who is chosen by the groom.
It is he and his parents who determine who will become the bride. As soon as the relatives have made a choice, they go to the bride’s house, where a conspiracy takes place with her parents. If mom and dad are satisfied with everything, then this will mean that a new family and wedding ceremony are expected soon. After every wedding, in any nationality there is always such a thing as the first wedding night in India.
Wedding customs in India
India is one of the countries in the world where European traditions are least adhered to. This is a truly fascinating, amazing and colorful country with its own traditions and customs. A European who attends an Indian wedding will experience many exciting moments.
Wedding night, India.
A rather interesting custom exists in one of the states of India. This is an ancient settlement that adheres to ancient traditions. A man and a woman spend 3 fruitful nights after marriage. It is believed that during this time fertilization occurs. After this, the spouses separate for several months. At the same time, all this time they are allowed to do whatever they want.
They can have sex with other people, go for walks, travel and relax for their own pleasure. As soon as a few months pass, the husband and wife live a further happy married life. Often during this time a woman realizes that she is pregnant.
In other Indian settlements, not only the Indians’ first wedding night, but also its confirmation was considered obligatory. A woman was chosen from among the bride's relatives. She lay down under the marital bed, where she spent all her time.
In the morning, the woman came out from under the bed and talked about what happened during the intimacy of the newlyweds. Then all people believed that the first sex really took place and from now on it was one family.
One of the Indian settlements had a very unusual ritual, according to which the husband was not supposed to deflower his wife. A man from a neighboring village was invited especially for these purposes.
He came to the village only for one night to deflower his bride. After that, he left, and the bride was supposed to have intimacy with her husband the next night.
Traditions and rituals
At what age do people get married in the world: actually and officially
If you think about the age at which people get married in Russia and other countries of the world, the actual age is very different from the one regulated by law. If in our country there is a trend toward increasing age, then in poor countries, marriage of minors is the norm.
- 19 photos
Chinese wedding traditions, customs and features
A wedding in China is a whole event that requires careful preparation, compliance with many rituals, and can only take place on a favorable date chosen and agreed upon between the families of the newlyweds.
- 15 photos
Wedding night as scheduled
One day, when I was 11 years old, I unwittingly became a participant in a tragicomic story related to astrology and sex. Some of the countless relatives, cousins and second cousins got their children married. The wedding took place in April. But, according to the chart drawn up by the astrologer, the first wedding night between the newlyweds was supposed to take place only in June, three months after the wedding.
Read the previous chapter “About astrology and sex in India” in the full version of the book “The Incredible Story of Mrs. India in Goa”
.
Nothing can be done about this obstacle. Indians live in such a cramped and crowded society that they have no personal space. Every day there are parents, children, many relatives, friends and neighbors in the house. The rooms are not locked, sometimes they don’t even have doors. Anyone can enter the room at any time. Therefore, the young people had no chance of privacy.
Moreover, in order not to violate the astrologer’s prohibition, relatives constantly looked after the young people. They were not left alone for a second and were not even allowed to enter the shower room together. They lived together, ran the household, the wife cooked food, washed things, cleaned the house, and communicated with her husband. Only to sleep they were taken to different rooms, and for protection, one of their parents or relatives slept next to each of them. This went on for three months.
Finally the moment appointed by the astrologer arrived. But even on this day the newlyweds were not destined to remain completely alone. According to some ancient tradition, during the wedding night, five young virgins were supposed to be in the house with the newlyweds, protecting the house from evil spirits and witnessing the purity of what was happening.
Me and four relatives of a similar age were brought to a house where everything was already ready for the wedding night. A festively decorated room was prepared for the newlyweds, the bed was made with silk sheets, candles and incense were placed. But the newlyweds were strictly forbidden to close the door to the room tightly.
In the evening, the parents led the newlyweds into the room, lit candles and incense, but left the door to the room ajar. Virgin girls were forbidden to enter the room or open the door; we had to stay in the living room all night and keep order. In what order exactly, I still don’t understand.
This night was a great show for the young girls! Almost immediately after our parents left, we heard a violent fuss in the room, loud sighs and groans. We did not dare to violate the strict prohibition of our parents and did not open the door, but we approached it closely and absorbed every sound made by the newlyweds.
We constantly looked at each other, clamped our mouths, but couldn’t help ourselves and burst out laughing. This was our first introduction to sexuality. And for the newlyweds - the only night of loving solitude, which, of course, did not smell of any solitude at all. Exactly nine months after that night, the young wife gave birth to her first child.
However, this is not at all the most paradoxical case with astrology; much more curious ones also happen. Thus, the astrologer informed one of the young families that immediately after they entered into a sexual relationship, the groom’s mother would die. The groom's mother was horrified by this news; she was not yet old; dying was not at all part of her plans. The son loved his mother very much and also did not want her death. Only the daughter-in-law could not come to terms with the fact that the path to sexual pleasure that had opened up for her was met by an unexpected ban from the astrologer. Seeing that the daughter-in-law would not calm down, the mother decided to sleep on the newlyweds’ bed, in the middle between husband and wife, until she died naturally.
I cannot say whether this story is true or a myth, because I heard about it, but was not a participant. But, knowing Indian traditions and admiration for astrology, it is not at all difficult to believe in its reality.
How is the wedding night of the gypsies?
The “carrying out of honor” is a key detail of a gypsy wedding. This custom is also called the custom of information. This means that the newlyweds are forever united by marriage. This is the most important and decisive moment in the life of the bride and her entire family. The bride must prove that she is marrying a virgin. If this is not so, then she and her family will be forever disgraced, and the marriage will be dissolved. Such a girl will forever remain an outcast among the gypsies and will never marry, and this is a very difficult fate.
This ritual takes place as follows: the groom, the bride and three respectable women (from the families of the couple) go to a secluded place and check whether the girl has retained her innocence.
However, no one knows exactly how this ritual takes place. A number of assumptions have been put forward:
- The newlyweds go to a room specially designated for the ceremony. There are ladies standing outside who will be given confirmation of the bride's virginity. To prove this, the bride and groom show a sheet on which drops of the bride's virgin blood remain;
- The women who have been chosen to perform the ceremony wrap a sheet around their arm and personally deflower the bride. In this case, the groom does not even touch the bride, he is not even present in the room. This method is very dangerous because it is not about cleanliness and sanitation. And, of course, this procedure will cause serious moral trauma to the bride.
- The betrothed deflowers the bride in front of all the guests, right on the wedding table. However, this version is considered to be implausible and ridiculous.
Once virginity has been established, women place the bloody sheet on a special tray and cover it with red ribbons. The women then leave the room and congratulate the girl's family, especially her mother and father. Red ribbons are distributed to each relative of the groom for ransom. The groom's mother and father express gratitude to the bride's parents for their decent daughter. Then the bride herself comes out wearing a red dress, which symbolizes that she has become a woman.
Modern Hindu traditions
Nowadays, many married couples travel to the shores of India for their wedding. However, in order to organize an event, it is not enough just to accumulate the required amount of money. First of all, you will need knowledge that will help you understand how the life of ordinary people works.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BvmPI51BWo7/
Indian soil is fertile and supportive. But she will be able to respond with kindness and prosperity only to that young family that can observe all the traditions and customs. Try to remove those that are the most outlandish and unusual for you. Let the fundamental rituals be those that are acceptable for our time and generation.
The wedding night of Hindus is as colorful as in any other country. Yet the majority of people in India preserve and enhance all ancient customs and traditions. Those things that are outlandish and strange for modern man are revered and respected by them.
