This is a continuation of my previous posts. Please read the previous posts here.
As soon as the Janti left the wedding venue, it started raining. I was happy that we were so lucky that we were able to finish all the rituals without getting interrupted by the rain. It was important that there was no rain otherwise we all would have been soaking when my brother was taking me around the car. I was telling AS that the gods are crying with me as well because I was crying as it is such a sad day for my parents. I know that they are very happy that I got married but at the same sad that I will be a part of a new family from then on.
It was only a short drive to AS’s house from the venue so it was still raining very heavily when we reached there.
The wedding car stopped in front of the house where most of the groom’s family members had gathered. As it was raining, there were umbrellas everywhere. When we got off the car, one of AS’s brother and aunt came out with a big umbrella and escort us to the main door of AS’s house.
At the house my mother in law, along with other female members of the family, was at the door to welcome us in, which is called Vitryaune, a welcoming ceremony for the bride.
They performed some Puja and put Tika on my and AS’s foreheads. It was followed by some more rituals as per the priest’s instructions.
Aarati was done to keep away evil spirits and usher in good fortune. Then I entered the house holding one end of a special key (symbolising the key to the house) and the other side was held my AS’s eldest aunt. At this point the Groom has to hold the Bride’s shawl and follow her into the house. This is a tradition in Newari / Nepali wedding.
At the main door, there were ten of AS’s cousin sisters standing blocking the door, with other family members watching. They demanded money before they would allow us to proceed into the house. Everyone was having a lot of fun haggling about the price of entry. They negotiated how much they wanted and this time AS had to shell out RS 10,000. Once they let us in, I continue following his aunt to the prayer room in the house. There we prayed for a while and left the key there.
Now, we sat for the Supari ceremony. In this ceremony, AS would introduce me to his family members and I have to give them the Supari and touch their feet (if they are older than me). They would then give me money or jewellery as a welcome present.
As AS has a big family, this ceremony took quite a while. It started with his grandma, parents, brothers then continued with his uncles, aunts and cousins. I got many types of jewellery from the family and money too.
It was followed by some more ritual Puja and “Thaa Bu” eating as in the Kanyadan ritual.
Then we started the Sagun ceremony. Sagun typically consists of a boiled egg, smoked fish, a “bara” (deep-fried black lentil patties), “haku chhoila” (smoked buffalo meat) and “ayela” (wine) and ends with “dhau” (yogurt).
All the close member of groom’s family bring Sagun along with gifts for the newly wed. Sagun is also given to the groom’s parents.
Finally, all the rituals were over and I was asked to go and rest in our room. I was really tired as the rituals has been going on for more than 12 hours by then but I knew that I could not sleep yet as there were a lot of relatives still upstairs. However, I was glad to be in our room anyway so I could stretch my legs and rest for a while.
When I entered our room, I was really happy as it was decorated with flowers everywhere. On the door, they had garlands of chrysanthemums, and on the walls, there were lots of roses. The Dressing table and the coffee tables were also decorated with flowers and there were lots of rose petals scattered on the bed.
This was going to be our room for the rest of the time I would be in Nepal. Next is Groom side Reception and I will write about it in my next post.
Till then, take care.
M from nepaliaustralian
XOXO
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