Gana ceremony takes place the morning of the wedding day. It is a part of a sikh wedding tradition.
The Gana ceremony is performed separately for both the groom and the bride. A priest does pooja and ties a red thread to the bride’s right wrist in her house. The same custom is repeated with the groom in his house but it is tied to his left wrist. The bride’s thread has auspicious items like supari/sugar, an iron ring/key chain, a cowrie shell, pearls and beads of mustard tied to it in a small cloth. This is called the gana. This is for protection and to ward off an evil eye. After this the bride or the groom do not step out of their respective houses till the wedding ceremony is over.
This platter (Thali) is set up for a traditional Indian ritual called “Mahiya/Haldi Ceremony” The Thali is set up with a diva(Lamp), Haldi(Turmeric), and the gold colored tread next to the Haldi bowl is a Gana(sacred thread). The gana is tied on the groom and the brides the right wrist at their own homes. The Gana has ‘kaudis’ (shells) tied on it. “Mahiya/Haldi Ceremony” aka Turmeric paste, it’s used as a gesture of cleansing and blessing for the first 2 days before the actual wedding.
These are kaleeras. The bride’s uncle and aunty then place the gold ‘kaleeras’ in the bride’s hands after the gana ceremony. When the bride leaves the room, she playfully touches any young girl with the kaleeras. That girl will be the next lucky young bride.
lovely4, do mean gajras?