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| Home > What is Wedding > Traditional Rituals
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| | Traditional Rituals in Indian Wedding
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 The custom of the bride and the groom wearing garland to each other in formal mutual acceptance has become a very important part of the wedding ceremony though is not mentioned in the Vedas. It originates from the Svayamvara practice prevalent in early centuries. After this, the bride and groom sit in the mandapa next to each other before a sacrificial pit and the ritual of Kanyadana takes place. The bride is given to the groom by her parents - the father of a father figure in the family in abscence of her father. The bride`s father first symbolically gives her to God. The bride`s guardian takes her hands and places them in the groom`s, transferring his responsibility for her to the groom. The groom assures her father that he will not be false to her in dharma, artha, or kama. After this, the groom ties Mangalasutra around the bride`s neck. The marriage ceremony then enters its most important phase, the saptapadi - taking seven steps together. With the sacred fire as the witness, they exchange the wedding vows. Legally, the marriage is now final and binding.
 Legend behind the saptapadi goes that during the wedding of Lord Shiva and Parvati, Shiva asked Parvati to come to his left after the agni pradakshina, symbolizing that they had been married. Parvati said she would not accept this as a marriage until Shiva granted her seven wishes. Shiva did so, and then made seven stipulations, which Parvati accepted.
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