Saat Phere

Heya!

It's the wedding season... and it's a nice and cold and cozy time to get married :-D
Hence this post... Hope next year I join the happily married crew... but until then, let's just google and share trivia!

By the way, it's my parents' wedding anniversary today... Leme see... 33 years and going strong! Congrats Papa-Mummy... You're both super awesome and I totally love you :-)

Read about funny wedding traditions in my previous post?

This time let’s get a tad serious… After all, an Indian marriage is one of the most serious and sacred affairs in society.

Seen the austerity with which it is performed? A Hindu marriage in particular is all about rituals and customs. A number of them are followed before and after the wedding, making it an elaborate ceremony. Every ritual and rite has its own meaning, and cannot be done away with. However, the most important ones are preformed on the day of the wedding itself. One such custom is solemnizing seven vows or “pheras” (circles around the holy fire).

Most of you married folks must have gone through these rituals without really comprehending their need or essence. I can totally imagine and empathize that you were tired and hungry and stressed, maybe even nervous. And those of you who shall go through the same in the recent or distant future… For that matter, even you’all who plan to never get hitched. This is good to know, so read on…

The seven vows (“Saptadi”) spoken and taken while performing the pheras (“Mangalpheras”) can be said to contain the crux of the practice of marriage. These seven vows are the seven promises which the bride and the groom make to each other for a happy and prosperous life. They are bound together by an unseen bond protected by these promising words. Any marriage is incomplete without these vows and is deemed complete once they are conducted.

On the day of the wedding, the bride and the groom sit under the Mandap (the scared canopy) for this ritual. The bride is seated on the left of the groom before the pheras, and on the right after they are complete. So what are The Seven Vows, let’s check them out…

Vow 1:
Groom: You will offer me food and be helpful in every way. I will cherish you and provide welfare and happiness for you and our children.
Bride: I am responsible for the home and all household responsibilities.

Vow 2:
Groom: Together we will protect our house and children.
Bride: I will be by your side as your courage and strength. I will rejoice in your happiness. In return, you will love me solely.

Vow 3:
Groom: May we grow wealthy and prosperous and strive for the education of our children. May our children live long.
Bride: I will love you solely for the rest of my life, as you are my husband. Every other man in my life will be secondary. I vow to remain chaste.

Vow 4:
Groom: You have brought sacredness into my life, and have completed me. May we be blessed with noble and obedient children.
Bride: I will shower you with joy, from head to toe. I will strive to please you in every way I can.

Vow 5:
Groom: You are my best friend, and staunchest well-wisher. You have come into my life, enriching it. God bless you.
Bride: I promise to love and cherish you for as long as I live. Your happiness is my happiness, and your sorrow is my sorrow. I will trust and honour you, and will strive to fulfil all your wishes.

Vow 6:
Groom: May you be filled with joy and peace.
Bride: I will always be by your side.

Vow 7:
Groom: We are now husband and wife, and are one. You are mine and I am yours for eternity.
Bride: As God is witness, I am now your wife. We will love, honour and cherish each other forever.

Seven sentences are pronounced by both:

1. Always remember the divine.
2. Always took upon each other with sympathy, love and compassion.
3. Help in all good deeds of each other.
4. Keep mind pure and virtuous. Be strong and righteous.
5. Show goodwill and affection to parents, brothers, sisters and other family members.
6. Bring up the children in such a manner that they are strong in mind and body.
7. Always welcome and respect guests.

Pls pardon and correct me in case you find any error in the above. As you know, the web’s my knowledge base and I cannot assure you that the above is 100% accurate. However, it is certainly interesting, and pretty sensible as well. Wonder who first thought of this ritual, and the vows, and why only 7.

Maybe another time…!!!

G’day!
Princess