We Indians are blessed with the kind of diversity our country has. Isn't it fascinating to travel a few kilometers in the country and enter a completely different world? The people, their culture, geography and so much more make our country unique. So, when it comes to weddings, you are sure to see a huge difference or little variations in wedding customs and traditions across the country. The fact that India is home to many religions also adds to the kind of weddings held here. Even if you look at North India itself, you will definitely notice the difference - from a Kashmiri Pandit wedding to a Punjabi wedding. And here is another one to add to this list - a pahadi wedding! Although there are many versions of pahadi weddings, more specifically we will talk about wedding rituals in the Kumaon region of Uttarakhand in this blog.
In traditional Kumaoni weddings, neighbours of the groom or bride become helping hands during the wedding. In some regions, a meeting is organised with every villager a few days before the wedding. During this gathering, different work is assigned to different people. For example, the task of cooking for the elderly is usually on the shoulders of the Pandit; while for other guests, the task will be allocated to some other person. The final result of the wedding is a perfect example of unity among the villagers. They in fact enjoy the process of preparation and this also comes as a way for them to mingle with other people. They will take their responsibilities seriously without any hesitation.
This is the first ritual performed a few days before the wedding day. This is usually celebrated at the bride's home. Groom and his family visit the place along with the engagement ring and gifts. A small pooja is held in the place and then the couple exchanges rings. Then the groom places bangles on the hands of the bride. This is followed by a photo session.
Traditionally these events were not part of Kumaoni weddings. But now with more interactions with other cultures, Kumaoni people have adopted these two rituals on their own.
Both these events are held on the same day, the first one being Mahila Sangeet. Women from the neighborhood and relatives from nearby places come to the groom or bride's house to kick start the sangeet event. A woman will play a tabla and sing a pahadi song or any song of their choice. Then the rest will recite the same. The bride or groom initiate the dancing ritual on their own at their respective houses. Then their mother will dance on the floor and be followed by other ladies. Dhol dammu is also present at the event, which brings a pahadi twist to the sangeet. These are musical instruments from Uttarakhand which are somewhat similar to tabla, but instead of playing these with hands, wooden sticks are used. Dhol is a bigger instrument than the dammu, which are small in size and cup-shaped in design. The metal used in making these instruments is bronze, and the main part is usually made from wood. Oftentimes the dhol is decorated with small bells, which also sound good. Dhol and dammu are played together and many times they are joined with mshakbeen (bagpipe). There will be a group of few people who will be playing and only these people play these instruments. It is believed that dhol dammu has been developed from the damaru, an instrument played by Lord Shiva. These are also being played during prayers, and while calling out to gods and goddesses. These find huge religious as well as historical significance. These are also played to communicate your happiness to others.In auspicious occasions like weddings and pujas, dhol dammu became an integral part of Kumaoni weddings.
Mehendi is usually designed by the sisters on the hands (as well as feet in case of bride) of the groom and bride. Unlike the bride, the groom usually goes for a small design. Other women also apply henna in their hands.
Both these events are concluded with the traditional pahari dance (khel or Chanchari) performed by all the women. Usually all the women make a chained circle amongst themselves and sing a folk song loudly, while performing the dance. Even men participate in this dance form. The coordination of all the matured ladies is mindblowing. You will be surprised to see the uniformity of the dance. When the number of men will be similar to the number of women in the dance then one line of the song will be sung by men and is repeated by women and so on.
Next day after Sangeet is Ganesha puja. The significance of this puja, like other weddings in India, is to make the wedding run smoothly without any obstacles. The families of the groom and bride separately worship Lord Ganesha in their house. This is an intimate event which is attended by only the family members. Also, the puja is organised by the family pandit (Kumaonis have a family pandit who performs all the rituals of the family). He ties a yellow bandage with a coin inside on the hands of bride-to-be and groom-to-be. This is known as kangan. During the puja, roli, Supari, Turmeric pieces, akshat (soaked rice) and coins are tied together in three pieces of cloth, in which one will be placed in the kitchen, another will be placed at the entrance of the house and the last one is tied to the pan which then will be used for making various dishes for the marriage. The mothers of the bride and groom wear their pichoda, a traditional dupatta of Kumaon people, along with the traditional nath.
Pichoda, also called rangeela pichod or rangai pichoda, is a traditional dupatta with a saffron base colour embossed with brick-red polka dots. It also has a design of swastik, which is unarguably the most central feature of the dupatta. The hem of the pichoda is designed with a variety of floral and paisley patterns. They even come with zari design at the borders these days. Conventionally, the pichoda was hand-made but with the invention of various machinery these can be easily made without much fuss. Still the true essence of it will always lie in the hand made pichoda. It was traditionally made with dyeing and printing using vegetable colours.
These dupattas are made by taking a white cloth as a base. Then these are boiled with a paste of kilmoda plant roots, a little turmeric along with water, which has been left to stand for a few hours. After the required colour is obtained the dupatta is dried under the shade. The process of boiling is called dyeing. The brick red colour for the polka dots is obtained through pithiya (a paste of ground raw turmeric or alternately soaked dried turmeric and lime). The pithiya is then diluted with water and then left overnight in a copper vessel. Next day a paint-like consistency is achieved which will be apt for colouring the saffron dupatta.
These colours have been selected for their cultural significance. Brick red colour signifies the energy (from fire) while saffron is religiously associated with God. A woman wears the pichoda on her wedding for the first time and then she has to wear it on every auspicious occasion.
Pahadi nath, which is originally made in Tehri district of Uttarakhand, enhances the beauty of pahadi women. The big nose ring is made from gold and beautiful pearls. Considering the size and weight of the nath, a chain is attached to it for support. It gives an idea about the status of a woman, as the richer a family is, the more gold they will buy for nath. Traditionally the uncle of the bride gives Tehri nath to the bride on her wedding day.
Haldi ceremony includes the application of turmeric paste on the body of bride-to-be and groom-to-be, a day before their marriage. They are made to stand in a copper vessel and all the relatives with the help of doob ghaas (a variety of grass) apply the turmeric paste on the feet, hands and face of the woman or man. The process is initiated by the parents and the rest follows. The simple ceremony is attended by many relatives. Photographs and videos are recorded side by side and these days people are becoming more conscious of that.
This is one of the unique rituals or traditions of a Kumaoni wedding. An event exclusively attended by women, Suwal Pathai is celebrated on the same day as Ganesha puja and Haldi ceremony. Women in their traditional attire (saree with pichoda along with the nath) gather together in the afternoon. In this ritual wheat flour along with til and rice (the mixture is called laadtelya in local language) is kneaded into dough. These are then rolled into small rotis (suwal) or ladoos. Also, two small structures, which are usually bigger than the rest of the ladoos, are made with the dough which will represent the mother-in-law (samdhini) and father-in-law (samdhan) of the bride or groom. As the event is held in both places they are made separately for each other. These along with the rotis are then dried in the sun and on the next day they are deep fried in the oil. After preparing these they will be offered to the deity. The structures of samdhini and samdhan are then placed in gorgeous baskets. People these days decorate these structures with some props as well to give a tickle to everyone. These are then exchanged with the structures made by the family of the bride or groom on the day of the wedding.
After all the events of the wedding come to an end, the ladoos and suwal are distributed among the neighbors by the family of the newlyweds.
On the very next day of the Suwal Pathai, the wedding will be solemnised. The bride and groom get ready after having their breakfast. Traditionally the groom used to wear dhoti kurti. Nowadays, the groom usually prefers wearing a sherwani along with a pagdi like most of the Indian grooms. The shift in the attire could be related to the outfit design and the royal look that these sherwanis provide. Some grooms opt for a combination of coat pants as well. Groom is often gifted with a garland of money (rupees notes) by relatives and he wears it with his wedding attire. A sehra is placed at the head of the groom by their pandit.
Conventionally, the bride used to wear ghagri with choli or blouse along with the pichoda. Nowadays intricately designed heavy lehengas or sarees have replaced these garments. This may be attributed to the major influence of other cultures of India. But the significance of pichoda cannot be erased by this influence. They have always stood tall with the testament of time. Traditionally brides didn't wear jewelry as these would be gifted to the bride by the parents of the groom. Nowadays, a modern dulhania wears artificial jewelry just to look good at their photo session.
Kurmul is a tradition of making dotted designs above the eyebrows of the groom and bride. An arc shape is created and the design ends below the temples. Alternate dots of red and white are made by the pandit. The white colour is produced by rice while the red one is called pithan, which is a paste of turmeric, suhaag and chukh. This is also a part of the Bengali bridal look. There was a time when these designs were quite popular among all brides-to-be, even bindis with different designs were used instead of paints but currently not many brides opt for these designs.
After getting ready, the bride or groom gear up for a photoshoot and video recording. They are joined by their families and relatives.
Before the groom starts his journey to the bride's home, a ritual called doli parchhan is performed by all the ladies of the house. It is believed that doing this ritual will prevent evil eye to this new journey of groom. In simpler terms this is the blessing each family gives to the groom for succeeding in his journey.
So what happens in this ritual is that the groom sits in a doli, made of wood and decorated with small colourful paper frills along with tree leaves. Then his mother will drop some water around the four corners of the doli. The mother takes five or seven rotations around the doli. She then applies a pitha (teeka) in the centre of the forehead with red colour used as a base to make an elongated teeka, then a circular one is made from yellow and finished by akshat (wet rice). The base is being applied with the tip of the thumb, the yellow one is with the ring finger of the right hand while the akshat is placed using the thumb and index finger of the right hand. She then performs the ritual of sir pujan, held for a long lasting age of the person. A blend of split black gram lentil and rice blended with curd is used to perform this ritual. The mixture is held in both hands by the mother and then she places a portion of the mixture at the feet followed by knees, shoulders and head of the groom. And then she throws the remaining mixture in the air. The sir pujan is performed during bhai-dooj as well by the sister.
The rest of the females then perform this ritual.
After this ritual the groom along with his baraat depart from his home and while doing so a ritual called Phaag (singing songs) is initiated by the lady priest. This tradition is again performed by her after the baraat returns to the house. With the tough terrain of Kumaon region of Uttarakhand, the groom used to walk in the path while baraati danced with the beats of dhol, dammu, mashakbeen and other instruments along with the chaliya. Now with more networks of roads the journey becomes easy.
Chhaliya is a tribe of people in Kumaon region, and the dance they perform is known as chhaliya dance. These people are well trained in singing as well as in dancing. They have a specific attire in which their performance is more enhanced. These are frock-like garments with colourful horizontal broad frills and similar frills are present on the sleeves of their attire. Skin tight bottoms are paired with this. A white cloth is used to cover the head. They wear ghungroo in the ankles for an effective performance. Swords are used in chhaliya dance form. They usually perform this dance before starting off the journey and after reaching the destination as this takes a lot of space to perform.
While going towards the bride's home, one of the chhaliyas will sing two lines of any Kumaoni song, and then the people playing instruments will follow. Then everyone will start dancing to these beats. After a few minutes, the singer chhaliya will again melodiously sing a few lines of another Kumaoni song and the cycle goes on. This is one of the best moments of the wedding where people forget everything and dance to the beats of dhol-dammu.
While many guests become the baraati, some prefer to stay at home. Mother of the groom along with other ladies stay at home and perform the tradition of ratyali. Women dance and play instruments like dholak along with singing songs. They also perform their khel. Modern women play catchy Bollywood songs as well to add extra fun to the party.
Like the Mehendi, the ritual of ribbon cutting is adopted from other cultures. The sister or cousins of the bride will stand at the entrance of their home. Standing there, a kalash (pot) is placed on the top of their head. It is filled with a dessicated coconut along with mango leaves at the edges. Then usually after paying a hefty amount of money, the groom is allowed to enter the place.
The wedding starts with the kanyadaan, giving away the daughter in the goath (the ground floor of the traditional pahadi houses). Jewelry is gifted to the bride here itself by her soon-to-be in-laws. The jewellery includes traditional nath, mangtika, kangal, etc. The quantity depends on the economy of the groom's parents. Also, a mukut is tied around the head of both bride and groom which is bought by the groom's parents.
Anchal or the saat phere is the next ritual after kanyadan. A total number of seven rounds have to be made by the bride and the groom around the holy fire besides the branches of panya (Himalayan wild cherry) and cheed (pine tree).
The groom ties the charyo, a silver wire embedded with black beads, and galobandh, a type of golden choker, around the neck of the bride.
Towards the completion of the rituals, the bride and groom wash each other's feet and then feed each other with a sweet after taking a bit of it themselves.
At the end, the bride throws khil (parched paddy) which are placed in a suppa or winnowing basket. She takes rounds of the mandap and as she moves along she throws the khil in the opposite direction. After completing one round, she propels a coin placed in a stone by the groom in the mandap with her feet. Again the circle begins. The winnowing basket is filled with khil by the brother of the bride.
While all these traditions are going on many guests jump off for lunch. Conventionally, the food is arranged by the relatives of the bride. Guests are made to sit in the open fields of pahad and then people will start serving the dishes to the guests. There are multiple people involved in this service.
The current custom is the buffet system, in which people have to self-serve their food and instead of sitting on the ground they can enjoy the benefits of sitting on chairs.
There was a time when the baraat returned after spending one night in the bride's home. Less development in the remote areas of Kumaon region have resulted in this tradition. Many times the bride's home is located at a far off distance from the initial point. The lack of roads made it difficult for people to reach places easily. So, usually the groom along with the guests stayed in the house of the bride for a night. Next day, early in the morning, the newlyweds returned to the groom's house.
Nowadays, the baraat returns to the groom's house on the same day instead of an overnight stay.
The brothers of the bride also join her while going to the groom's house. This return is usually called dun goon in pahadi.
After reaching the place, a reception is arranged for all the guests. Then in the evening a katha is arranged in the groom's house.
The bride along with her spouse and brother(s) goes back to her parent's home the next day. In the home her kangan is removed by the pandit. She then takes any utensil of her parents and then goes back to her new home with it. This is known as baat doryun.
This is the end of the wedding. There are rituals that have been modified with time and there are some which remain unchanged with time. Even though a tremendous amount of modernisation has changed the lives of people living in mountains, their roots can be easily seen in the traditions and rituals they follow even today during weddings. The amount of significance traditions hold remains the same throughout the years even though they have been slightly altered. You can easily spot a traditional Kumaoni wedding during the wedding season in the villages of this region. So, now that you are already aware of the customs and rituals of it, you are ready to enlighten others during the next Kumaoni wedding you'll attend.
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