Manipuri Wedding
Traditional Manipuri Wedding Attire (Source: chillibreeze)
The people from Manipur cherish and love their culture and traditions and they abide by them wholeheartedly. The same wholeheartedness can be observed in a traditional Manipuri wedding which is an amazing fusion of color and traditions. Just like any other Indian wedding, a Manipuri wedding is also packed with many rituals that begin days before the wedding day. The north eastern state of Manipur is well known as the land of gems and the Manipuri weddings are known for their grandeur.
Background
The Manipuri community celebrates the wedding ceremony with a lot of joy and as a grand event. The process of the wedding generally begins with matchmaking and most of the Manipuri tribes are open towards inter-caste marriages as well. It is observed that the boys and girls get a golden chance to meet their prospective life partners at the New Year celebration. The wedding process begins with a ritual called Hinaba which refers to the first meeting of the parents of both bride and the groom. The horoscopes of the couple are matched at this ritual and the date for the wedding is set.
Mangani Chakouba is the last custom of a traditional Manipuri wedding and this ritual is held after a span of five days from the wedding. There are many more interesting and meaningful rituals that are held in between this time. There are primarily pre-wedding rituals, wedding rituals and post-wedding rituals that form the entire Manipuri wedding. A traditional Manipuri wedding is a symbol of immense joy and the levels of it can be easily seen by the style of celebration.
The Manipuri wedding is celebrated with great splendor and varieties of exceptional food is offered to the gods. The Manipuri people hold a belief that by doing this, the gods will be pleased and extend their blessings to the newlyweds.
Ceremonial Manipuri Attire
Style and Attire
It is needless to say that a wedding ceremony is truly incomplete without proper outfits and this stands true for both bride and the groom. The wedding marks the beginning of their new life and is a happy occasion and hence both of them dress up to look their very best. The outfit of a Manipuri bride is colorful and has a distinct style which is hard to find in any other community.
A traditional Manipuri bride dons a skirt called Raslila on her wedding occasion. The Chakmas brides also wear black and red sarong which is better known as pindhan in the local language. This entire outfit is teamed up with a blouse known as silum. The Magh brides from the Manipuri community don the thami sarong that covers almost the entire body and is coupled with a choli or a blouse which is full sleeved.
The outfit of a Manipuri groom is also quite unique and differs from tribe to tribe in Manipuri community. The usual costume of a groom comprises of a white kurta, dhoti and he wears a turban on his head. The grooms belonging to santal tribe address to their outfits as panchi, matha and panchatat. The chakmas grooms generally wear a lungi teamed up with a shirt.
Global wearability
The glory of Indian weddings have spread across the globe and foreign people take special interest in the colorful and lively rituals that are held in Indian weddings and how they change from community to community.
Accessories
The traditional outfit of a Manipuri bride is teamed up with jewelry but the only difference you will find is that a Manipuri bride does not wear too much heavy jewelry. You will observe that in spite of the fact that Manipur is regarded as the land of jewels the bride accessorizes with the basic ornaments such as bangles, nose rings, necklaces and earrings for her wedding day.
The groom is also minimally accessorized and wears almost no jewelry at all.
References
Categories: Wedding Types, Weddings & Festivals