India is home to one of the world’s richest culture and heritage that have continued to thrive despite the host of changes all throughout the years. This is mainly because Indians adamantly cling to these familiar traditions with such diligent adherence that can be quite impressive and interesting. Most of these are clearly reflected in the Indian wedding traditions that have been continually observed and followed even up to this day.

Indian weddings are naturally bright and festive events that are profusely filled with celebrations and rituals. What is quite astonishing to note here, unlike traditional weddings in other cultures, an Indian wedding is by all means not a simple and small affair. In fact, an average of five hundred to a thousand will attending a wedding, many of which are strangers that have no close connection to wither the bride or the groom. These Indian wedding traditions may slightly vary across caste, religions, ethnicity, and region. While in the ancient times, most of the marriages are predominantly pre-arranged, today people are more open to finding love marriages and Indians are given more freedom to choose and decide the person thaw want to marry.

Indian wedding traditions are normally structured into some pre-wedding ceremonies that are quite complex that features various phases. Prior to the wedding day, the women have a mendhi party, where all attending women and even the bride is adorned with exquisitely detailed henna on their feet and hands. Eggs, money and sweets are staple symbols in any Indian wedding as they represent fertility, prosperity and a sweet life respectively. All Hindu weddings also include some highly elaborate rituals, which are believed to effectively ward off the veil spirits. The wedding usually starts before sunrise and couples are often escorted to the nearest pond by eight to ten married women to get a pitcher of water. This is their way of inviting the goddess of purification known as Ganga to the wedding. When it comes to the Indian wedding dresses, an uncultured eye will probably be astounded with the myriads of rich fabrics and colors that clearly reflect opulence. Traditionally, Indian brides wear red and pink on their wedding day along with an impressive array of body jewelries. No wedding will be complete without the Henna tattoo, which is considered to be a staple in Indian wedding traditions and are largely practiced by all Indian brides even up to this modern day. In fact, on the very even of the wedding, the bride’s hands and feet are expertly painted with henna that features beautiful paisley design or medallion patterns.

Right after the exchange of marriage vows, the father or brother of the groom will shower the newlyweds with some flower petals and holds a coconut over the head of the bride and groom and circles the couple for about three times. Then the Indian groom will wear a turban that has a veil of flowers that streams down his face, which is believed to protect him from any evil spirit. The bride will then be presented with a necklace that would signify her new status as a wife. In order to confirm their union as man and wife, the couple is required to take about seven steps around the cared fire, with each step representing different meanings, which includes, prosperity strength, happiness, friendship, ling life, progeny, and nourishment.

The last and highly important ritual entails the groom to dab some red vermilion powder ion the forehead of his bride that would symbolize his pledge to love her for always and also as some sort of blessing.

Indian wedding tradition can truly be regarded as a cultural legacy that richly reflects their pride and passion as a people and a distinctively symbolic way of exchanging vows.