Kickoff The Tamil Kalyanam

Cheerful, joyous and merry, this is how one defines a Tamil wedding. Popular for their delectable variety of food items and interesting rituals, Tamil weddings are quite a sight to behold and an extravaganza on its own. Not just a social gathering, their wedding ceremonies are clad in age-old customs and rituals. To shed some light on the same, Wedding Affair brings to you the Kalyanam.

Pre-wedding Rituals

Nakshatra Porutham – Like most regional weddings in India, the matching of horoscopes or nakshatrams is considered to be the most vital step towards arranging a wedding. Based on various elements as prescribed by the Vedas, the nakshatrams determine if the man and woman in question are suitable to tie the knot. The matching of horoscopes is also essential as it helps in setting a date for the wedding, the auspicious time of marriage or muhurat and to figure out when would be a good time to set a date for other rituals and functions related to the wedding. After the horoscopes are matched, the family priests of both the bride and the groom are held responsible for drafting the marriage agreement. The two families then exchange their respective agreements on a salver which contains betel leaves, nuts, a coconut and bananas. 

Panda Kaal Muhurtham – A day before the wedding, a puja is held at a place of convenience for the both the bride and the groom’s families. Together they pay homage to the heavenly creator and pray to him in hopes that all the wedding rituals see completion without any hindrances or obstacles and is a smooth sailing one. 

Sumangali Prarthanai – In a puja held specially for sumangalis or married women, the participating women (most of whom would be family and friends) deck themselves up in exquisite nine-yard Madisar sarees. The puja requires the women to be grouped in odd numbers of five, seven, nine and the like. Upon completing the puja, each sumangali is given gifts by the bride as she seeks blessings from them.