Muhurtam :

This involves determining the auspicious part of the day for the marriage. The period that is considered auspicious starts from 7.00 p.m. and goes on till the next day until about 11 am. Weddings don't usually take place in the months of Aashad, Bhadrapad and Shunya.

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Pendlikoothuru :

This ceremony involves anointing the bride and the groom with oil and turmeric. This is followed by a bath. The couple don new clothes following the bath. The bride-to-be wears flowers in her hair. She adorns her forehead with a bindi or vermillion dot and wears bangles on her wrists.

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Snathakam :

This ritual is performed at the bridegroom's house before the muhurtam. It is a sort of thread ceremony that involves making him wear a silver thread on his body.

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Kashi Yatra :

After the recitation of Vedic verses, the groom pretends to leave for Kashi, a pilgrimage centre to devote himself to God and a life of prayer. He carries a walking stick and other spartan essentials with him and implies that he is not interested in becoming a householder anymore. He relents and agrees to the marriage only after he is stopped and persuaded by the bride's brother to fulfill his responsibilities as a householder.

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Mangala Snaanam :

The bride and groom must take a Mangala Snaanam or an auspicious bath on the day of the wedding. The bath is believed to cleanse and purify them and make them ready for the sacred rites that are to follow.

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Aarti :

After the bath, the bride and groom are anointed with oil at their respective homes. Their families perform aarti - a ceremony that involves placing a lit oil lamp or diya on a plate and circling the plate around a person in a clockwise direction. The clockwise movement is followed to imitate the earth's movement round the sun. The ceremony is significant as it carries with it the family's prayer that the mind of the bride/groom be illuminated by wisdom.

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Gauri Pooja :

The bride worships the Goddess Gauri by performing Gauri Pooja. The Goddess Gauri is highly revered as it is believed that she is a manifestation of Shakti, the mother of the universe and the power and energy by which God creates, preserves and destroys the world. She symbolises motherhood, fertility and the victory of good over evil.

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Ganesh Pooja :

The bridegroom performs Ganesh Pooja in the mandapam or wedding hall just before the marriage ceremony. Worshipping Ganesha, the elephant-headed God is an important part of most Hindu rituals as he is revered as the remover of all obstacles.

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