Sikh wedding rituals

Punjabi Wedding Traditions are very interesting. Punjabi wedding include many rituals. All the rituals are fun filled. In Punjabi Traditions First the people do “Roka” means to stop. Roka is to stop the search partner as the perfect match has been found. The next ritual is Taka means “set the date”  after the roka ceremony conceded at bride place to set wedding date and preparations are made for engagement. Then they do Kurmai means which is formal engagement. Engagement ceremony started with a short prayer by granthi (sikh priest). And then they set date of marriage. So they rituals begin 30 days before the marriage. Then in Punjabi tradition people do chunni ceremony after the engagement and this is performed by mother of a groom who cover the bride’s head with chunni (red scarf) which represents that from now she is responsible for upholding the honor and pride of her family. And there is ceremony called mehandi . The bride and groom both applied henna hand and feet. Choora ceremony is performed at bride home by her uncle giving her 21 bangles with red and cream color which is bath by yoghurt milk and rosewater. On the wedding day's first they do Sehra bandi it performed at groom's home. Sehra means a heavy embroidery veil is fixed onto the groom's head which is then tied on turban. Then the Anand karaj means “ceremony of bliss” which starts with kirtan- traditional singing of hymns. last doli which the bride sits in car and push the car by four people. This is very emotional moment for her parents as their daughter is leaving from her house to start new life.

   

Sikhism Beliefs

I belong to sikh culture. I love my culture and its traditional values. In this blog I will tell you the facts about what sikh believe. Sikh believe that everyone (men and women) are equal and have equal status before God, who created the whole universe. The name of the sikh holy book is Shri Guru Granth Sahib Ji. We worship 10 Gurus. Sikh people wore a steel bracelet called "kara". The place where sikh people worship is known as Gurudwara and it is where the sikh holy book "shri Guru Granth Sahib Ji" is kept. In gurudwara all sikh people remove their shoes and all of us cover our heads as a sign of respect. "Golden Temple" is the central Sikh shrine which is in amritsar, India. In gurudwara there is a langar hall in which sikh participate, it's a communal meal, of Punjabi food which is cooked and served by volunteers. The traditional dress of sikh culture is salwar suit in women and kurta pajama in men. Punjabi folk dance is bhangra (performed by men) and giddha (performed by women). Sikh wedding includes various rituals. Engagement ceremony is called “Kurmai” which is performed a week before the wedding. This ceremony is performed in gurudwara (sikh Temple) or can be performed at bride/groom house. This ceremony involves ardas, kirtan and langar- which is a common meal. In the marriage we wear traditional dresses and it’s lots of fun. All of the family members and relatives together enjoyed a lot. So there are lot of more good things about this culture which I enjoy the most.

                             

The importance of festivals

                 I am from India and I love the Indian traditions and festivals which we celebrate in our culture. Every festival we celebrate has its own uniqueness and specialty. There is something which makes every festival unique. My family starts off each day with a prayer to thank God for what he gives us and what we are. Also, Holidays mean a lot to my family because in that day we can spend time together, share our thoughts to each other, play some games or watch a movie.

                  Some important holidays/festivals in our culture are Gurpurab, Diwali and Dussehra. Each festival has its own meaning and importance. People celebrate them with traditions which makes people to enjoy more. After celebrating a festival together than all of the  family members and relatives sit together and eat dinner. The dinner time conversations valued in my family because we share our thoughts to each other or plan to make some plan on holidays and everyone give their opinion.

             My favorite festival is Diwali. On that day, my family do lot of things. We go to shopping, clean our house, make lot of Punjabi traditional food. My family plan to give something to our relatives. We do lot of fun on that day because on that day my cousins came to our house and celebrate together. We plan to do something to make our Diwali special. We decorate our house with colorful candles. At evening time, we do huge fireworks and mom makes different kind of sweets. In our culture, we wear colorful traditional dresses on festivals like Diwali, dussehra and everyone want to look beautiful on that day. So, every festival brings enjoyment, happiness to our houses. I wish that the new generation will also give importance to these festivals and continue celebrating these festivals by learning its importance in our life.

               

Small happy family

Family is something which plays an important role in our life. I believe that a person without family is not complete in this world because family is a very important part of our life. Every member of the family emotionally attaches to their family members in their happiness as well as sadness. When you live in happy family than you feel secure and help each other in their bad time. I live in small and happy family, where we live for each other’s. When I get home after my school and my younger brother is not at home than I feel like something is missing because even though we fight a lot but still we care for each other. My Mom is the world best mom. She is very nice, pure hearted and always help people. I want to thank god for giving me such a nice mother. She makes me fresh and my favorite food when I get home and she always make sure that I eat healthy. My dad has always given me whatever I want from him. They guide me to the right direction if I ever need their help.  So, my parents are the best. My grandmother is my angel. She is India right now but I think I am very lucky to have a grandmother like her because she always supports me and always ready if I need her help. This is my small and happy family and my family members are everything for me.