Re: Excellent article on Karachi Hindus…
A Hindu marriage takes place in full traditional style after 18 years in Lahore. This shows how Hindus in general live in fear in the Islamic Republic of Pakistan.
Most of the article describes the rituals, but at the end, the Pandit tells of his fears and why traditional Hindu weddings are so rare.
I have also marked spelling mistakes with a ‘*’ and written the correct word in brackets.
Read on:
Amidst mantras, Lahore witnesses first traditional Hindu wedding after 18 years
By Shahnawaz Khan and Harris Munawar
LAHORE: **“It’s been 18 years since I’ve seen such a magnificent Hindu wedding in Lahore,” said Hindu priest Bhagat Lal, **looking at the sari-clad bride come into the Avari Hotel hall, as other priests and relatives set up the mandap with sandalwood and ghee.
Munawar Chaand, the bride Rama’s father, waited for the baraat to arrive as he continued to look into the mirror nervously, wondering how his pink turban looked. Sunil, Rama’s brother, had matched his tilak with his orange necktie. A priest, Pandit Gudas Ji, had been called especially from Karachi, for the wedding.
Javed, the groom, leading the baraat with his parents, arrived slightly late. As the agni was lit in the hall, the bride’s relatives welcomed the baraat with a chador for each of the groom’s relatives, who responded with a Rs 100 token gift money for each of the bride’s relatives. The priests recited hymns as the groom sat by the fire, after which the bride was called to the mandap where she gave Javed the warmala. Pandit Gurdas then began reciting the Ashlok* (shlok) as Javed and Rama, tied together with an orange cloth moved around the fire.
The bride and the groom then took ashirbaad* (aashirvaad) from each other’s parents and elders, to end the religious rite.
The world’s third largest religion, Hinduism began about 6,000 years ago in India. Hinduism, a polytheistic religion also known as Brahmanism* (Vedantism), is rich in ceremony and the smell of sweet incense.
According to Dr Krishna Nath Chatterjee, author of the Hindu Marriage Past and Present, the purpose of the Hindu marriage is to have sexual relations, continuity of the race, and discharging of religious, and social duties. The Path of Desire, consisting of achieving religious duty, attaining prosperity, worldly pleasures, and salvation, are the goals of marriage. The Hindu marriage is a sacred institution with the couple becoming one in spirit. A Hindu man has not attained his complete self unless he is married and has the cooperation of his wife.
Hindu marriages are arranged by the parents because their concepts of reincarnation and karma keep the Hindu caste system alive, the people accept their station in life and thereby marry within their caste.
As the bride and the groom circle around the sacred fire pot, they agree to: Earn a living for their family and respect their abundance, live a healthy lifestyle for each other be concerned for the partner’s welfare, happiness and friendship throughout their religious-centered lives, eat and drink together and be with each other on special occasions, desire children for whom they will be responsible and love, adapt to the other person at any given time and place. Then, the bridegroom recites the traditional mantras to the bride, including: ‘I am the words and you are the melody, I am the melody and you are the words.’
The last traditional Hindu marriage was held about 18 years ago at the Neela Gumbad Mandir, between Jogindar and Mohlay**. Mohlay’s brother, Pandit Bhagat Lal of the Neela Gumbad Mandir, said things had not been as hard for the Hindu community during the two wars with India,** as they were after the Babri Masjid incident. He said several Hindus gave in to social pressure and converted to Islam or Christianity for better lives, which was why the community’s size had been decreasing. However, he said religion was everyone’s personal matter and marriages between people of different religions promoted unity. He said Hindus had never been stopped from following their religion and hoped that things would improve for Pakistani minorities, resulting in Pakistan’s unity and prosperity.
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2006/04/22/story_22-4-2006_pg13_8