The Kanyadaan – A Marriage Sacrament September 7, 2008

From every human being there arises a light that reaches straight to heaven. And when two souls that are destined to be together, find each other, their streams of light flow together and a single, brighter light goes forth from their united being. – Rig Vedas

The coming together of a Man and a Woman in ‘holy wedlock’, is steeped in tradition. India is no exception.

Kanyadaan, giving away one’s daughter in marriage, is considered the greatest sacrifice a man can perform in his lifetime.

In this emotional sacramental ceremony, the parents pour water to symbolize giving their daughter to her new husband.

By conferring the status of sacrament, Indians have elevated marriage from a physical union to a spiritual dimension.

Marriage, in the Indian tradition, has been defined as ” A physical, legal and moral union between men and women, in complete community of life, for the establishment of the family.”

Ethnic Wedding Traditions September 7, 2008

Traditions!

What are traditions? According to the Merriam Webster’s Dictionary traditions are the customs or ways of behaving that have continued in a group of people or society for a long time without changing.

Ethnic traditions are the spice that flavors all weddings the world over!

That may be true for many things, but when it comes to weddings, traditions are defined as the spice of life itself! It is the traditions, especially the ethnic traditions from all around the world that have added the spice “the very essence of life” to the glorious ceremony of the joining of two souls, the ceremony we call marriage.

There are few customs which unite us all as people, but the custom of marriage has been a part of every culture the world has ever known and nowhere has the custom been more enthusiastic, more filled with the joy of life than in the various ethnic wedding traditions handed down with love and music and dance from every corner of the globe!

And why not? Is not the language of love universal? Are not lovers welcomed everywhere with happiness?

Is there a wedding celebration anywhere that hasn’t borrowed some aspect of one of our many ethnic wedding traditions?

I doubt there is a wedding or a reception anywhere in the world today that hasn’t borrowed at least a little bit of the unbridled passion of life from one or more of the many ethnic wedding traditions around them.

Who doesn’t recognize the joyous life-affirming ethnic music of a Jewish wedding, or what bride hasn’t worn a wedding veil, a tradition begun in the Far East and brought back to the western world by the Crusaders of long ago?

The shoe tied to the back of the wedding car is an ancient ethnic symbol of the father relinquishing his authority over his daughter.

And what wedding would be complete without the wedding cake an ancient, ethnic symbol of fertility?

It is from the melting pot of all the ancient ethnic traditions of peoples from all around the world that our present-day wedding ceremonies and wedding receptions and even the honeymoon owe their very existence. Is there a wedding ceremony anywhere in the world that hasn’t borrowed something old or something new from an ethnic wedding celebration somewhere?

The very ring itself, a circle with no beginning and no ending, is an ancient ethnic symbol of everlasting love and the unending power and joy of marriage.

The ethnic wedding ceremony is a joy to behold and an unbridled affirmation of life. Embrace it. Enjoy it. Live it every day of your lives together until death do you part!