Marwari Pre Wedding Customs

•  Engagement Ceremony 
  The engagement ceremony normally takes place at the groom's residence or any other hall where functions can be done, all the arrangement done by Grooms family. It is attended by the bride's father, brother,sister and other close relatives.
  None of the ladies including the bride accompany the men folk for the tilak ceremony. In this ritual, the bride's father applies tika/tilak on the groom's forehead. Clothes, fruits, sweets, sword and other gifts are presented to the Groom

• 
  Ganapati Sthapna & Griha Shanti Ceremony
   Ganapati sthapana & griha shanti takes place some days before the wedding. A “havan” is conducted by the bride & groom's family, which involves the installation of the idol of Lord Ganesha,

• 
  Pithi Dastoor:
  In Pithi Dastoor ritual, paste of turmeric and sandalwood is applied to the bride and groom in their respective homes, after which they cannot move out of the house and bride and groom have to put a knife with themselves till the last day of wedding . The bride wears an orange color poshak. She is then brought under a silken canopy. It is held by four women belonging to the same clan as the bride, using swords in the four corners.
  Mehfils :
  Separate Mehfils are conducted for gents and ladies, in which people share joyous moments together. They play dholak and sing traditional pre wedding songs. In ladies mehfil, females wearing stunning dresses perform special folk dances called ghoomar

• 
  Mahira Dastoor Custom 
  Wedding is the occasion that demands lavish spending. In the ceremony called Mahira Dastoor, the bride as well as groom's maternal uncles come amidst the celebrations and give gifts and cash to the people of the house.
  Janev In the Janev ritual, the bridegroom dresses up in saffron clothes. Before wearing the thread, he is asked to perform the havan. The purpose behind wearing saffron color clothing is that he is given two options. He can either becomes an ascetic or else choose to assume the responsibility of a householder. After the completion of havan, the groom tries to escape from the institution of marriage, while his maternal uncle tries to persuade him to assume his responsibility.

• 
  Palla Dastoor
  On the wedding day, or one day before it, some of the groom's relatives bring the palla dastoor to the bride's home. The palla dastoor includes clothes, jewelry and presents from the bridegroom. The bride have to wears this at the time of her wedding ceremony. Traditional Poshak is usually red in color. However, it can also be in the colors of orange, gold ,yellow or pink.
  In the jewelry section, there is Rakhdi (jewelry for the forehead), ear danglers,AAD (Jewelery for Rajput wedding for her neck ), timaniyaan (choker necklace studded with diamonds), chooda (a set of ivory and gold bangles), gold armband, gold anklets and gold toe-rings and stone-studded nose-ring.

• 
  Rajput Baraat
  In the Rajput baraat, there are only male members. The groom usually wears a gold achkan and churidar or jodhpurs along with an orange turban. Footwear consists of traditional jootis. Baraatis also wear achkans or sherwanis with jodhpurs and safas (colorful turbans). The groom's marriage procession looks royal and majestic. There is street dancing by the baraatis. Everyone including the bridegroom rides an elephant or a horse. They also carry swords in their hands.

• 
  Toran
  The entrance of the wedding place is adored with toran. In this ceremony, the bridegroom has to hit the toran with a stick of neem. The act of 'toranachar' signifies warding off of evil eyes.

• 
  Traditional Aarti & Var Mala
  When the marriage procession of the groom arrives at the bride's residence, the bridegroom is taken inside by the ladies. He is given a warm welcome by his mother-in-law by performing the traditional aarti. The bride then enters the marriage place and the two exchange wedding garlands. Thereafter, the mama or the bride's maternal uncle holds the bride in his arms and take the first three pheras around the groom.