Marriages all over India are celebrated with great celebration and people take great pride in their respective rituals or cultures. People from all over the world also agree that Indian marriages are a true portrayal of the cultural beliefs of the country’s citizens. The rituals and ceremonies of Indian marriages vary according to their religions and the regions to which the people belong. The diversity of cultural beliefs and religious ceremonies is a common practice, which can be observed in all corners of the country. There are many religions in India, which many people don’t even know about; They generally originate from the impact of one or another cultural belief and differences in the type and methods of practicing the same culture and customs.

One of the communities, which is rarely known and practiced in very small places, is Nagarathar. The people of this community belong to the Kaveripoompatinam, also known to originate from the Chola kingdom of India. This is mainly famous as a prominent caste in the southern region of India ie Tamil Nadu. Every person in the Nagarathar community is under the influence of any one of the nine temples, and even marriages in Nagarathar culture take place between the people of different temples. Followers of the same temple are considered brothers, thus marriages between followers of Nagarathar from the same temple are not allowed.

Nagarathar marriages in the early days were a one-day occasion, but with the changing times, the practices and cultures related to marriage have been changing. Nagarathar weddings usually take place in a single day, going to Nagara Village. Although these people stay away from their villages, they prefer to go to the village of their ancestors to perform the marriage ceremonies. Following is an explanation of the ceremonies practiced at Nagarathar marriages:

Before marriage:

Pen paarthal: This is the ceremony, when the bride and groom meet for the first time, with their families. This is the time, when the decision is made, whether families like each other’s son or daughter and accept them as their son-in-law or daughter-in-law or not. If both families agree to the alliance, then they exchange silver buckets filled with coconuts, beetle leaves, and nuts and bananas.

Pesi mudithu kolludhal: After the wedding band is fixed, the family of the bride and groom calls an astrologer and fixes the date of marriage with their consent.

Muhurtha kaal unrudhal: Relatives start arriving four or five days before the wedding day, at the respective homes of the bride and groom. The first ceremony observed before marriage is the placing of a bamboo cane with mango leaves on top, after which puja is performed in both the bride’s and groom’s homes. The bamboo is then placed straight, which means that the marriage takes place in the house.

Veetu padaippu/podhu padaippu: This is the ancestral puja performed jointly by family members in the house of their ancestors to seek blessings from them for the marriage of their son or daughter.

Wedding day:

Mappillai azhaipu: The groom’s family and relatives arrive at the bride’s village, hours before the mahurat, and stay in a communal hall or in some ancestral temple, where the father of the bride goes with a band to give the welcome to the groom’s side. The groom’s side cannot enter the bride’s house before the mahurat.

Pen edukki kattuthal: After the groom arrives at the bride’s house, she is taken outside to meet the groom.

Thirupotuthal: The bride is brought by her maternal uncle sitting on the manai, where both the bride’s maternal uncle and the groom wear a fluorescent pink towel.

Vaevu irakkuthal: This ceremony takes place at the groom’s house, where the bride’s maternal uncle gives her a basket filled with eggplant and rice, denoting the giving of wealth in the form of food grains to the bride.

Mamiyar sadangu: The mother-in-law carries cotton, betel leaves, manjal, and vibhuti, all of which she applies first to herself and then to her daughter-in-law, one by one.

Poo manam choridhal: In this ceremony, the bride and groom receive the blessing of the elder male members of the family, in which the elders bless the bride and groom with flower petals, placing them on their bent legs, shoulders and shoulders. heads.

Manjal neeru aduthal: In this ceremony, the couple’s feet are washed with the turmeric paste by their cousins.

Saman parapudhal: During this ceremony of Nagarathar marriages, the gifts to be given at the time of marriage from both the groom and bride side are displayed in front of the relatives, to show their power in terms of wealth. .

Kumbuttu kattikolluthal: This is the ceremony, where the bride seeks the blessing of all the elders of the family of the bride and groom by touching their feet. The blessings are having a fertile future generation.

Mana pen solli kolluthal: This is the moment, when the eyes of each and every member of the family fill with tears, where the bride leaves her mother’s house and heads towards a new life towards the house of her in-laws.

Pen azhaippu: This occasion signifies the formal welcome of the bride to her new home by the groom’s family. The couple, before being taken to the groom’s house, is taken to a nearby temple, to seek the blessing of the god, to begin a happy and blessed married life.