Gandhrava vivah or gandhrava marriage is mainly a simple wedding ceremony where the bride and the groom just exchange flower garlands to mark their marriage. These are mainly the love marriage where not many rituals are performed. It is mainly a solution for love marriages where families don’t agree for their relationship. There are various variants of gandhrava marriage. It can be a situation when only family of one side agrees to marriage and wedding takes place with their blessing and acceptance. Also in this marriage the base line is that if a girl and a boy choose to live together then they should be married together.
What is gandhrava marriage?
The method of gandhrava marriage is done by yajna and chanting of many mantras together. Also there are various mutual promises made by the wedding couples to each other. Gandhrava marriage can also be considered as a mutual love marriage where parents are not approving or are against the marriage ceremony. Also there are various constraints related to the gandhrava marriage ceremony that the garland which will be exchanged should be made of roses only. Another point is that this wedding ceremony is only performed during the day hours and night hours are avoided. But it is different than other marriage ceremonies as the presence of a priest or purohit is not compulsory in these weddings.
History of this marriage
Going through the heritage and history the marriage is a very old art of connecting people and performing marital rituals. According to people king Dushyantha and Shakuntala were knotted together according to gandhrava marriage. Also it is said that Dushyantha secretly escaped Shakuntala from his father’s ashram and got married together by exchanging rose garlands. Also gandhrava marriage documents in several royal wedding ceremonies where either sides or one side did not agree to mutual martial ceremonies. Gandhrava marriage is also found in many sacred stories where the royal prince or princess falls in love with a simple or substandard girl or boy and marries without parental approval or guidance.
How is this wedding done?
The main ritual constituting gandhrava marriage is just exchanging rose garlands and reciting marital promises. Many couples performs rituals like pherays that is circling around the yajna and reciting marital promises or bidaai that is departure of the bride from her home to her in-laws house. But these are not mentioned in gandhrava marriage ceremony but are a part of Brahma wedding ceremony. These should be avoided as here they are considered as unnecessary constraints. Also it is believed that gandhrava marriage ceremony is the simplest and easiest wedding ceremony for love couples.
Gandhrava marriage ceremony has its own history and importance. It follows its own culture, tradition, rituals and lifestyle. Also there are various musical performances done after the marriage ceremony to celebrate and enjoy. There are still people who consider this wedding ceremony as heritage and strive to maintain this as their identity. In this bust world there are still people who encourage his wedding and promote it in the small minds of the society that exists.
