Marriage is a reality clothed in the magical attire of fantasy. It is a fairy tale that has its charming tentacles all over our minds and matter. Most often parents live to see this auspicious occasion in their young one’s lives. Sons and daughters wait to receive blessings from their elder generation on this day. This is the day when two minds unite in a bond of infinite love and endless possibilitiess of all their “firsts.” She then found Anil who was down on his knees holding a diamondring.

Different cultures have different ways of celebrating this spotlight-occasion. The Indian way of marriage is well-known throughout the world as one of the most extravagant and lavish ceremonies. Its charm and brilliance draw people even from other parts of the world to celebrate their one and only best occasion in the Indian way.

One important aspect of the Indian marriage is the varmala. Varmala is also known as jaimala. This is a garland, sewn with flowers of different colours. Although there are different occasions in which such garlands are being used, like welcoming a guest into the house or respecting a chief guest or in order to celebrate the victory of a person in some competitions, varmala is the specially made marriage garland. Varmala is exchanged between the bride and groom during the marriage.

Marriage is the occasion of the first big and socially accepted exchange between two people. The two human beings who expect a life together with dreams and many prospects come together and through the exchange of the varmala to become one. The concept of varmala is as old as the Indian civilization.

Several details of garlands and Varlama ceremony can be traced back to ancient Indian epics, where not just humans, but even gods and goddesses have the Varmaala ceremony before marriage. This proves that Varmala exchange is a ritual that was part of the Vedic culture. The ritual started in prehistoric times when husbands were chosen in “Swayamvar”. In swayamvar, it is said that a list of suitors would be invited and when the girl from the list of suitors would identify the husband she wishes for she would garland them. This ritual was called Jaimala. It is an important ritual in Hindu matrimonial ceremony since it is the first ritual which signifies that socially the bride has accepted groom has her husband.

Mostly, varmalas are made of rose flowers and jasmine along with other decorative shiny adornments. The fragrance of roses is kept intact and jasmine flowers add to the beauty of it. These days’ artificial flowersvarmalasare in fashion too, these are usually made of fabric, net, embellishments and foil. Apart from being a cheaper, viable option, and having a longer shelf life, the benefit with these varmalas is that they do not leave color stain on expensive trousseau unlike the real flowers.

The first turn is of the bride’s to garland her prospective husband and welcome him with flowers. She has to put the garland around the groom’s neck. In North Indian marriages, there would be a friendly hassle between the party with bride and groom in an attempt to help each of them put the varmala on each other. Finally, the groom decorates the bride’s neck with the varmala in his hand too.

This denotes the commencement of the matrimonial ceremony. The jaimala ceremony indicates the value of sharing and suggests the magnitude of love and harmony. Only through the fragrance of love can they conquer each other. This being the message of jailama ceremony, it still continues as a legacy of the Vedic tradition.

Wedding Garland: The Ritual of Varmala

Can two people from different parts of the world find one another? Hard to believe, but it is possible. Parita Gohil lived in New Zealand with her parents when Rajdeep Parmar was in the US on a student visa studying pharmacy. The couple and their families belong to BAPS Swaminarayan, and through santos, biodatas were exchanged. With all the details looking favorable, a meeting was arranged between the families. After much traveling to India and the United States so that Parita and Rajdeep could meet one another and their respective families, the match was made!

Once engaged, wedding planning began immediately and lasted seven months. Parita went to India to do much of her wedding shopping, though the 20-day trip went by very quickly. Rajdeep began organizing the wedding, which was to be held at the BAPS Swaminarayan mandir in Boynton Beach, Florida.

The special day came on February 2, 2013, and the couple felt blessed to be married in the mandir in the midst of splendid decorations.

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Meeting online, falling in love and actually getting married sounds like a perfect 21st century fairy tale that begins with “once upon a time” and ends with “happily ever after.” For Ankita Mithaiwala and Dhimant Doshi, theirs is a real life love story. Ankita and Dhimant met online at shaadi.com, a popular matrimonial website. After a romantic courting period of one year, Dhimant popped the question on their first anniversary on 1st April 2011 at Asheville, NC. Dhimant whisked Ankita off to the Biltmore Estate where he waited until sunset to make his proposal. It was a wonderful plan and Ankita most certainly said yes!

The proposal was the easy part. The wedding planning process took the couple an entire year. Even with a rather comfortable guest list of three hundred people, they went over each and every detail with their parents to be sure that the wedding was picture perfect. They chose the Knoxville Expo Center for their wedding and reception location. The Knoxville Hindu Community Center became the ideal location to host the sangeet/raasgarba.

After the locations, the wedding décor was next big decision. With Mandap World coming to the rescue, the couple was able to decorate the ceremony venues according to their taste. The wedding hall and the mandap were decorated in the traditional hues of red, gold, white. Details at the wedding were immaculate. Everything was planned to perfection, including the red and orange wedding programs given to each guest.

The couple arrived at the wedding venue in a 1957 Bentley rented specially for the occasion. They walked down the aisle to tunes churned out by DJ Jaz from Atlanta. Ankita matched her graceful steps to “Aapki Nazaron Ne Samjha” chosen for her by her parents. Dhimant made his way to his lady love as the song “Baharon Phool Barsaao” played in the background. The couple tied the knot amidst the romantic set up and vowed to spend the rest of their lives together.

Just like the wedding, the reception was an affair to remember. The evening’s theme was centered around the peacock, and all decorations were elegantly woven together. The centerpieces comprised of beautiful crystal trees and peacocks. Even the lighting was color coded to match the theme and gave the room a beautiful blue and green ambience. The sweetheart table designed especially for Dhimant and Ankita flowed with theme. It was an evening of fun and entertainment as their friends presented a flash mob at the wedding. Even Dhimant was in the mood to groove and prepared special choreography to the popular number “Chammak Challo” and surprised Ankita. The couple shared their wedding dance to “Because You Love Me” by Celine Dion. The rest of the evening was under the DJ’s control who played peppy hip hop and Bollywood music.

Dhimant and Ankita remind all brides and grooms-to-be to communicate, respect and trust each other. The lovely couple says that a perfect marriage is one where the couple can laugh together, be less angry and stand by their vows for the rest of their lives.