The Simplicity of Vishwakarma Matrimony Function

I was invited to attend the Vishwakarma Matrimony function of one of my office colleagues. The Vishwakarma community follows Hinduism and is divided into sub-groups based on their profession. Earlier, the community members were sculptors, blacksmiths, carpenters, coppersmiths and goldsmiths. With the changing times, they have taken to a variety of professions. This particular family hails from the state of Uttar Pradesh. This family is Hindi-speaking people and is vegetarian.  Other states of India like Gujarat, Rajasthan, Bihar, Punjab, Tamil Nadu and Kerala also have members from this community.

Matching of the horoscopes and Gotra are essential for finalizing an alliance. This wedding is also an arranged marriage with parents of the bride and the groom fixing the nuptial. What I learnt from others about the Vishwakarma Matrimony functions is that there are many rituals. Like all Hindu wedding customs and traditions, the rituals for this community begins with an offering to the Hindu gods and goddesses. The bride and the groom get up at early, in dawn and have a bath. Then they sit for the puja and seek blessings of the various Hindu gods and goddesses for a happily married life.

One of the relatives also told me that the Kanyadaan ceremony is an important wedding ritual in Vishwakarma Matrimony. The father of the bride gives her responsibility to the groom. Amid the chanting of mantras by the priest, the father asks the groom to take care of his daughter at all times. Another matrimonial ritual is the pheras. The bride and the groom encircle the fire seven times and take vows while circling around the fire. I saw that the groom took short steps with the bride following him. Guests and relatives shower flowers on the couple. After the pheras, the couple seeks blessings of the parents and other elderly members of the family.

Author: Shipra Sinha