We really loved Vasu and Shruthi’s ceremony and all the meaning placed behind each ritual. So, rather than doing a traditional blog entry for the ceremony, we wanted to tell the story of the ceremony and help our readers to understand each moment of the ceremony.
The ceremony took place inside of the main building at the Malibu Hindu Temple and since it was a traditional South Indian Wedding it started at around 6:00am and ended around 11:00am.
The Hindu ceremony called the “Muhurtham” is composed of several smaller rituals, each completely filled with intricate symbolism. The wedding ceremony begins as the groom takes up asceticism or monkhood as his spiritual path, this ritual is an ancient Brahmin tradition called the “Kasi yaatrai” shown below.
The picture below continues with the Kasi yaatrai, as the groom is “convinced” by the bride’s father to return to the world and take up family life so that the wife may assist in the grooms spiritual journey together.
The next ritual in the ceremony called the “Maalai maatral” where the bride and groom place garlands on each other. For sheer enjoyment, this process is often made more challenging as the bride and grooms families hoist them up into the air and try to make it more difficult to place the garlands over each other’s heads as shown below. Which, I do agree was quite enjoyable!
Once the garlands have been placed, the bride and groom are both seated on a swing or “oonjal” (as shown below) in the mandapam. Then the respected womenfolk of each household will sing traditional songs and perform various rituals to ward off “evil eyes.”
After the bride and groom left the oonjal, we proceeded outside where the womenfolk performed rituals, and a traditional dance and song as they walked around the peepul tree. Luckily, the rain did manage to stop for a few minutes during this portion of the ceremony.
Here our bride is breaking a coconut and pouring the milk into the base of the plant to nourish the peepul tree.
Afterwards, we proceeded back inside of the Malibu Hindu Temple to continue with the Muhurtham ceremony. Before proceeding, the womenfolk started off by grinding grains together with a large staff as shown below.
The ceremony is finalized when the bride is seated on her father’s lap, the “kannigadhaanam,” as the groom ties a necklace around the bride’s neck which signifies that the daughter is to be taken care of the by the groom. Meanwhile, the guests shower the bride and groom with their blessings symbolized by throwing rice. Given our positions, we got a good helping of “blessings” tossed at the backs of our heads as well, haha.
Below, the priest is happily introducing Vasu and Shruthi, the newly weds to the entire crowd, which mind you was quite a few people!
Address: Malibu Hindu Temple 1600 Las Virgenes Canyon Rd, Calabasas, CA – (818) 880-5552
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Article written by Lin and Jirsa Photography authors of SLR Lounge and Lin and Jirsa Blog Los Angeles & Orange County Wedding Photographers
