Bengali Wedding

Information about Bengali Wedding

Bengali wedding refers to both Muslim wedding and Hindu wedding in Bangladesh and West Bengal. Although Muslim and Hindu marriages have their distinctive religious rituals, there are many common cultural rituals in marriages across religion among Bengali people.

Arrangement of the Wedding

A traditional wedding is arranged by Ghotoks (matchmakers), who are typically friends or relatives of the couple. The matchmakers facilitate the introduction, and also help agree the amount of any settlement.

In older times, the settlement was a dowry to be paid by the bride's family to the groom. However, dowry is illegal and is being discouraged. Even then, it persists, especially in rural areas and among Hindus. There is another settlement to make which is called 'Mahr' or 'Kabin' to be paid by the groom to the bride - which is a religious requirement in Muslim marriages. The amount of the settlement is set so as to avoid too many zeroes in the amount, such as 10001 rather than 10000; the final zeroes being said by some to signify bad luck.

Bengali weddings are traditionally in four parts: the bride's Gaye Holud, the groom's Gaye Holud, the Beeya and the Bou Bhaat. Bengali Hindu weddings have another part called the "Phoolshajya". These often take place on separate days. The first event in a wedding is an informal one: the groom presents the bride with a ring marking the "engagement" which is gaining popularity.

Gaye Holud (Pre-Marriage)

Main article: Gaye Holud

Bride's friends and family apply turmeric paste to her body as a part of Gaye Holud ceremony.

The Gaye Holud ("yellowing the body") is in preparation for the Beeya.

For the bride's Gaye Holud, the groom's family - except the groom himself - go in procession to the bride's home. They carry with them the bride's wedding outfit, wedding decoration including turmeric paste and henna, sweetmeats and gifts. They also take a large fish cooked and decorated. The procession traditionally centers on the (younger) female relative and friends of bride, and they are traditionally all in matching clothes, mostly orange in colour.

The bride is seated on a dais, and the henna is used to decorate the bride's hands and feet with elaborate abstract designs. The turmeric paste is applied by the bride's friends to her body. This is said to soften the skin, but also colours her with the distinctive yellow hue that gives its name to this ceremony.

The sweets are then fed to the bride by all involved, piece by piece. There is, of course, a feast for the guests. The groom's Gaye Holud comes next, and has the same form as the bridal ceremony.

Beeya (Marriage)

Bride and groom in a Bengali wedding ceremony

The actual wedding ceremony "Beeya" follows the Gaye Holud ceremonies. The wedding ceremony is arranged by the bride's family. On the day, the younger members of the bride's family barricade the entrance to the venue, and demands sort of admission charge from the groom in return for allowing him to enter.This is however done in fun, and is not an integral part of the wedding. There is a bargaining between groom and bride's family members on the amount of money of the admission. There is typically much good-natured pushing and shoving involved. Another custom is for the bride's younger siblings, friends and cousins to conceal the groom's shoes for money; to get them back the groom must usually pay off the children. Siblings, friends and cousins also plays many practical jokes on the groom.

For a Muslim wedding, the bride and groom are seated separately, and a Kazi (authorized person by the govt. to perform the wedding), accompanied by the parents and a Wakil (witness) from each side formally asks the bride for her consent to the union, and then the groom for his.
For a hindu wedding, a priest makes couple chant mantras from the holy texts that formalises the following :
i)''Kanyadaan (giving away of the bride by the father of the bride or a father figure, could be an uncle).
ii)Saat Phera (The couple walks round the ceremonial fire seven times. See Saptapadi.)''
The actual formalizing of the wedding and the signing of paperworks is now done before the ceremony for convenience. Usually it is carried out on the morning of the wedding and the feast is at night.

At this time, for muslim weddings, the amount of the dowry / Mahr is verified, and if all is well, the formal papers are signed, and the couple are seated side by side on a dais. The brides oorna (headcovering) is draped over both, and a mirror placed in front. The groom is then supposed to say something romantic on what is notionally the first time he has laid eyes on his bride.

Everybody celebrates the union with a feast.

While seated on the dais, the bride's entourage will make attempts to steal the groom's shoes, which they will return for a ransom. Once the return of the shoes is negotiated, the bride takes tearful leave of her family. Finally, the happy couple make their way from the venue to the groom's home, where a bridal room has been prepared.

Bou Bhaat (Reception after Marriage)

The reception, also known as Bou-Bhaat (reception) or Walima among the Muslims, is a party given by the groom's family in return for the wedding party. It is typically a much more relaxed affair, with only the second-best wedding outfit being worn.

It's a lot like the wedding, the bride and groom however receive and see off guests and dine together. After the party, the bride and groom go to the bride's family house for two nights. On the second day, the groom's family are invited to the bride's house for a meal, and they leave with the bride and groom. This meal is called "Firani".

Phul Shajya (Bed of flowers)

Also called "Basor raat", this is considered the last stage of the wedding in Hindu tradition; however, in Muslim marriages, this takes place on the night of the wedding. Phul Shajya literally translates into Bed of flowers.For this ceremony the bride wears a lot of floral ornaments and their marriage bed is decorated with flowers by the groom's family. This is the night of consummation.

Hindu wedding ceremonies are traditionally conducted at least partially in Sanskrit, the language in which most holy Hindu ceremonies are conducted. The local language of the people involved is also used since most Hindus cannot understand Sanskrit.
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Anthem
Amar Shonar Bangla
My Golden Bengal

Capital
(and largest city) Dhaka

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Coordinates: West Bengal (Bengali: পশ্চিমবঙ্গ Poshchimbôŋgo) is a state in eastern India.
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Bengali people are the ethnic community from Bengal (divided between India and Bangladesh) on the Indian subcontinent with a history dating back four millennia. They speak Bengali (বাংলা Bangla
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The word tradition comes from the Latin word traditio which means "to hand down" or "to hand over." It is used in a number of ways in the English language:

Beliefs or customs taught by one generation to the next, often orally.

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A dowry (also known as trousseau) is either the money, goods, or estate that a woman brings to her husband in marriage or a gift of money or property by a man to or for his bride.
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Hindu ( pronunciation (help info ) , Devanagari: हिन्दु), as per modern definition, is an adherent of the philosophies and scriptures of Hinduism, and the
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Mahr (Arabic: مهر; also transliterated mehr, meher, or mahrieh) is gift, mandatory in Islam, given by the groom to the bride upon marriage in Islamic cultures.
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Grooming redirects here.

Groom may refer to:

Offices and jobs:

Groom (horses), a person responsible for the feeding and care of horses

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bride is a female participant in a wedding ceremony: a woman about to be married, currently being married, or, in some uses, very recently married. The term used to mean 'daughter-in-law', as newly married women at one time moved into the husband's family home.
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Zero may refer to:

Mathematics

0 (number) is a number and a placeholder symbol in positional notation.
Zero of a function
Division by zero
List of zero terms

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Gaye Holud (Bengali: গায়ে হলুদ gaee holud "yellowing the body") is a ceremony observed mostly in the region of Bengal, comprised of Bangladesh and Indian West Bengal.
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Decoration may refer to:

Decorative art, the craft of a painter and decorator.
An object or act intended to increase beauty of a person, room, etc.
An object, such as a medal, that is awarded to honor the recipient ostentatiously: see List of prizes, medals, and

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Lawsonia

Species: Lawsonia inermis
L.

Henna or Hina (Lawsonia inermis, syn. L.
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Skin layers: epidermis, dermis, and subcutis, showing a hair follicle, sweat gland & sebaceous gland.]] In zootomy and dermatology, skin is the largest organ of the integumentary system made up of multiple layers of epithelial tissues that guard underlying muscles and organs.
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Color or colour^[1] (see spelling differences) is the visual perceptual property corresponding in humans to the categories called red, yellow, blue, black, etc.
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Yellow is the color evoked by light that stimulates both the L and M (long- and medium-wavelength) cone cells of the retina about equally, but does not significantly stimulate the S
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SweetS (スイーツ Suiitsu
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Nuptial is the adjective of "wedding". It is used for example in zoology to denote plumage, coloration, behavior, etc related to or occurring in the mating season.

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Admission may refer to several things:

In general usage:

Confession, generally.
Ticket to enter an event or movie theater
University and college admissions
Changes in status allowing an entity to become part of a group, see List of U.S.

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Money is any token or other object that functions as a medium of exchange that is socially and legally accepted in payment for goods and services and in settlement of debts.
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Admission may refer to several things:

In general usage:

Confession, generally.
Ticket to enter an event or movie theater
University and college admissions
Changes in status allowing an entity to become part of a group, see List of U.S.

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Custom may refer to:

Custom (law) or customary law, laws and regulations established by common practice
Custom (guitar), a model of guitar made by Fender
Custom (musician), stage name for New York based musician Duane Lavold

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Evidence
Part of the common law series
Types of evidence
Testimony · Documentary evidence
Physical evidence · Digital evidence
Exculpatory evidence · Scientific evidence
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Saptapadi (in Sanskrit, written as सप्तपदी, saptapadī) or Saat phere (in Hindi, written as सात फेरे, sāt phéré
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For the coarsely ground flour, see flour.

A meal is an instance of eating, specifically one that takes place at a specific time and includes specific, prepared food.
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Bengali Wedding

Information about Bengali Wedding

Arrangement of the Wedding

Gaye Holud (Pre-Marriage)

Beeya (Marriage)

Bou Bhaat (Reception after Marriage)

Phul Shajya (Bed of flowers)

See also

Mathematics