What Are the Various Oriya Wedding Rituals?

In an Oriya wedding tradition, the bridegroom’s mother does not take any part in it. Mostly the Utkala Brahmins have their wedding ceremony during the morning or mid-day. But the other caste marriage ceremonies are conducted during evening or night time.

In an Oriya family, the matchmaking is mainly done by the family members themselves.

The Oriya Matrimonials usually continues for many days. Their traditions and rituals truly reflect their culture.

Some of the matrimony Oriya traditions are-

Jayee Anukolo Ceremony-

• This is the very first ceremony of an Oriya marriage. This ceremony involves giving a wedding card to Lord Jagannath. After sending the first invitation to the Lord, the rest of the invitations are sent to friends and family.

Nirbandh-

• In Oriya Matrimonials the Nirbandh is an engagement ceremony. In this ceremony both the fathers of the bride and the groom make a promise wed their children with each other.

• The Nirbandh ceremony is either conducted at a temple of at the bride’s residence. This ritual is a sign of commitment and it is celebrated between the families by exchanging gifts.

Jairagodo Anukolo-

• In an Oriya Brahmin Matrimony, this Jairagodo Anukolo is a ritual which begins by stoking the fire, and hence followed by the Mangano. This is when the bride is made to sit, and there is a paste of sandal and turmeric which is applied to her face and body.

• This paste helps in keeping the bride radiant and glowing. It is basically where the bride gets a little skin pampering before the Oriya Shadi.

Barajatri And the ritual of Baadua Pani Gadhua-

• In an Oriya Matrimonial the arrival of the groom with his Baraat is said to be the arrival of the Barajatri. The groom is then greeted with Tilak and Aarti. A major component of aarti is rice.

• After that, the groom’s feet are nicely washed with some coconut water, after which an offering of curd is made with ghee and honey.

• According to the rituals, the bride is beautifully dressed in a yellow saree with a red border called Boula Patta. But now due to modernism, there are many Oriya Brahmin Matrimony where

the brides are seen wearing, red, blue, orange, and many other different coloured sarees.

• Once, the bride is told about the groom’s arrival, she is immediately headed for her holy bath, and it’s called the Baadua Pani Gadhua.

Kanyadana-

• This is the ritual where the bride’s father, hands her over to the groom for the rest of their life. This ceremony is done at the Vivahavedi.

• In the mandap there is a total of seven rice heaps each symbolises seven hills. During the ritual of saptapadi, the saptakulaparwata are worshipped.

• After which the couple has to take seven rounds of the holy fire. Here at the wedding, the fire acts as a witness to their marriage.

The Rice ritual-

• The bride is always considered to be promising for the groom and their house. A bride is also considered to be a form of Goddess Lakshmi. Therefore, all the guests present there, shower rice on the bride, for wishing her a life full of prosperity and happiness.

• After the completion of this ritual, the bride once reaches her new home, she has to spill a pot full of rice which is kept at the entrance. Once she spills the rice for good fate then she finally enters.

These were some of the simple yet traditional rituals which are strictly followed in a Matrimony. Their marriages are filled with their heritage and culture.

There are many Oriya Matrimonial sites where one can look for the groom and bride according to their caste and culture.