12 / JUNE /2023
Wedding Rituals
Indian wedding rituals hold sacred and traditional values. North Eastern wedding rituals are truly beautiful and a sight to behold. Let’s know a little more about the different wedding rituals in North East India.
Arunachal Pradesh
Here, the groom pays a hefty price to the bride's family that includes cattle, cookware, clothes etc. to accept the bride into the groom’s family. This is known as the “bride’s price”.
Manipur
The bride makes the garland for herself and her husband on the wedding day and is also asked to pray for a peaceful and happy marriage. This ritual is known as Leilanga.
Nagaland
In the Ao tribe of Nagaland, when the groom decides to marry a girl of his choice, he offers fish to the bride’s parents. Fowls are also sacrificed during the many stages of the wedding.
Assam
In the Ahom community in Assam, 101 lamps are lit up in a circle within which the bride picks up the Hendang i.e sword on a platter and then offers it to her husband. This signifies that the husband should defeat his enemies and protect his wife and family.
Karbi Community - Assam
Here, after the bride and groom are married and are travelling to the groom’s home, they take a short rest near a river and eat the food sent by the bride’s family. This tradition is known as Angdeng Kecho.
Meghalaya
The men are the ones who go to stay at their wives’ home after marriage and stay there for the rest of their lives.
Garo Tribe - Meghalaya
Here, once the bride chooses the man she wants to marry, the groom is abducted and confined in a separate home with his to-be bride. He has to show unwillingness to marry her and then run away twice, only to be recaptured, to get married!
Mizoram
The bride gives a Puandum i.e a type of rug to the groom. This rug will be used to wrap the groom during the time of his burial.