Traditional Nasrani Syrian Christian (East Syriac) Wedding

[Thomas48]

I found this very interesting but a Syro Malabar couple decided to have their wedding celebrated in the traditional way using the Syriac form of the Holy Qurbana. Whats even more interesting is that they have incorporated both Syriac and Malayalam into the Holy Qurbana which is a really hopeful sign for those of us traditional Syro Malabar Catholics who wish to see future Holy Qurbanas in this way. I have posted the link to the traditional Syro Malabar Wedding as well as a link to a traditional Knanaya Catholic wedding for those of you who are interested.

youtube.com/watch?v=pXDIag2FAq4
youtube.com/watch?v=QEN1UW86xdI

 

[Medical_Student]

Wow, awesome.

The Knanaya video is sooo fascinating. Is that really only from 1980?

 

[Thomas48]

It is very interesting to see the different customs and traditions in both the videos. St. Thomas Christian weddings are often very similar to other Christian Weddings, two of the only major differences being the “crowning ceremony” and the “tying of the thali”. The crowning ceremony (which is very out of use, at least for Catholics) was a ceremony in which the priest would crown the couple as man as wife. Tying the thali was a Hindu custom borrowed by the St. Thomas Christians, in which the man would take the wife under his protection by tying the beaded necklace or “thali” around her neck.

Knanaya Weddings are distinct in the fact that there are a list of numerous traditions and customs that take place during the course of the marriage ceremony on the days before and after the actual wedding. Though the origins of these vast customs are unclear, many researchers have noted Knanaya wedding traditions to be a mix of Hindu, Middle Eastern, and Christian culture which blended throughout the age old existence of the community. The video I shared is speculated to be dated around the 1960’s, due to the quality of the camera as well as the clothes worn in the video. The video only seemed to show snippets of the various customs that take place, in reality all the ceremonies take about three days.