Pre-Wedding Rituals in Devanga Matrimony

Devanga community is purely a Hindu community from Karnataka and the rituals followed in Devanga matrimony are similar to Hindu marriage. The differences are only due to the regional impacts.

The marriages in Devanga community is mainly fixed through mediators or marriage consultants who keep an updated the list of prospective brides and grooms. Such marriage consultants are contacted by the boy and girl’s parents, and arrange meetings between the families as well as the girl and boy. Alike other Hindu communities, Devangas strictly believe in arranged marriages and matching the horoscopes before finalizing any alliance. Engagement is the time when the families of both the girl and boy make a formal announcement of the wedding and the wedding date.

A day before the wedding day in Devanga Matrimony, the bride arrives the marriage hall and seeks the blessings of the god. The first ritual is harisna, wherein the married women of the family apply oil and turmeric on the hands and feet of the bride. Harisna is followed by the bangle ceremony, where the married women as well as the bride wear the new bangles.

The bride is then bathed with the ceremonial water and various other rituals are continued for the whole night. On the wedding day, the groom wears dhoti and carries an umbrella while visiting the temple. This ritual is called as kashiyatra. The parents of the bride meet the groom at the temple and they wash the groom’s feet, on a silver plate. After a number of the pre-wedding rituals, the groom moves to the marriage hall for sacred thread tying ritual, surprisingly called as mangalsutra, which is for the married women in Northern India.

Mangalsutra marks the end of bachelorhood of the groom and a start of the married life. A grand lunch is arranged for all the invitees. After all the wedding rituals a reception is thrown in honour of the bride and the bridegroom, where the invites give their blessings to the newlyweds.

Author: Rashmi Karan

Devanga Matrimony - A Bond of a Lifetime

The Devanga migrated from the Northern Karnataka originally. People belonging to this caste are found in states like Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and some parts of Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra as well. Referred to as Deva-Brahmin, Devanga communities were also named as Prakrut Brahmins. The rituals followed in Devanga matrimonies are very much similar to those followed in the other communities of the Hindu religion. Barring few subtle differences, the Devanga matrimony and Hindu matrimony have many common customs and traditions.

A unique feature of the Devanga marriage is that the brides as well as groom do not wear clothes made from silk during wedding ceremonies. The reason behind this custom is unknown still the tradition is still followed with great respect. Some religious gurus offer an explanation and say that silk is not worn as it is made from silk worms.

In Devanga matrimony, there are marriage consultants or mediators who help the families of marriageable boys and girls to look for prospective bride and groom. The families can choose suitable boys and girls from a long list of candidates maintained by these mediators. Usually, Devanga matrimonies are arranged marriages. Like any other Hindu Matrimony, elders of the community or parents look for the suitable matches based on several factors, like age, education, family background, appearance, status, income etc.

In Devanga matrimony, the first step towards arranging marriages is the “kundli milan” in which horoscopes of the bride and groom are matched by either the family “pandit” or any astrologer. The families meet along with the boy and girl after their horoscopes are matched. Since marriage is a very auspicious occasion meant for lifetime, it is very important that both the girl as well as the boy feel satisfied with the match.

After both the girl and the boy are ready for the match, the families meet with each other and decide the date of the engagement and wedding after consulting a priest. After the engagement ceremony, the couple seeks blessings from their elders. They are showered with gifts and best wishes as well.

Marriages are generally held at ‘choultries’ popularly known as marriage halls. Lasting 2-3 days, the Devanga matrimony is an elaborate ceremony. The bride reaches the marriage hall a day prior to the ceremony where she prays to the divine deity and seeks their blessings. “Harisna” is the first ritual after the prayers wherein the hands and feet of the bride are massaged with turmeric mixed with oil. The married women carry out this ritual.

Next ceremony is the bangle ceremony wherein a bangle woman comes to the marriage hall and all women buy new bangles. Several other rituals continue whole night and the next day, the groom goes to a temple to seek blessings from the deities. On his way to the temple, the parents of the bride intercept him and they wash his feet on a silver plate.

After this ceremony, the groom comes back to the marriage hall where the sacred thread tying ritual takes place. This indicates the culmination of bachelorhood and beginning of married life in the Devanga matrimony. A grand reception is held in the evening followed by elaborate dinner after which the newlyweds are offered best wishes for their happy married life.

Sonali writes on behalf of Jeevansathi.com, which is India’s fastest growing Matrimonial website.