T
Thomas48
Guest
Are there any distinct marriage traditions in your Eastern Catholic Church? The Knanaya Catholics of the Syro Malabar Church have highly distinguished and distinct wedding traditions which reflect Middle Eastern - Judeo - South Indian custom.
Aspects of the Knanaya Wedding and Correlating Tradtions
1. Knanaya Vazhu Pidutham
The rite of giving God’s blessing to bride and groom by the mother of the bride by placing her hands in the form of a cross on their heads.
The Middle Eastern - Judeo Tradition
“Some parents put their hands on the head of the bride and groom at the bedekin when they give them this blessing, just as many parents do on Friday night at the Shabbat table. The custom of putting one’s hands on another as they are blessed is an old practice, perhaps going back as far as Moses and Joshua.”
View attachment 17199
2. Knanaya Mylanchi
Beautification of the palms and feet of bride by the leaves from “Mylanchi” shrub on the eve of marriage. This signifies the purification of hands and feet from the original sin committed by Adam and Eve.
The Middle Eastern - Judeo Tradition
“Yemenite and other Eastern Jewish communities also perform a henna ceremony, an ancient ritual with Bronze Age origins, a few weeks or days before the wedding. In the ceremony the bride and her guests hands and feet are decorated in intricate designs with a cosmetic paste derived from the henna plant.”
View attachment 17204 View attachment 17200
**3. Knanaya Mylanchi (Beautification of the Bride and Ritual Bath)
**
The Middle Eastern - Judeo Tradition
“Just prior to the wedding, a bride immerses herself in the mikvah (a ritual bath), with the purpose of spiritual purification.”
**4. Knanaya Wedding Songs **
Most explain marriage life and the Old Testament.
The Middle Eastern - Judeo Tradition
“Songs are sung as a central part of a seven-day wedding celebration and their lyrics often tell of friendship and love in alternating verses of Hebrew and Arabic.”
5. Knanaya Wedding Canopy
Put above the bride and groom as they leave the parish after the Wedding Ceremony.
The Middle Eastern - Judeo Tradition
A chuppah also huppah, chupah, or chuppa, is a canopy under which a Jewish couple stand during their wedding ceremony. It consists of a cloth or sheet, sometimes a tallit, stretched or supported over four poles, or sometimes manually held up by attendants to the ceremony.
**
6. Knanaya Wedding Crown and Turban **
Crown worn by bride and turban by the Groom.
The Middle Eastern - Judeo Tradition
Similar crowns worn by the bride and turban by the groom.
View attachment 17201 View attachment 17202
**
7. Knanaya Ven Pachor (A special sweet rice pudding)**
The Middle Eastern - Judeo Tradition
“Sephardic Weddings often begin with a first course called sutlach a sweet rice pudding featuring coconut milk, honey, and almonds called stulac”.
View attachment 17203
**
8. Knanaya Aduchu Thura (Shutting and opening of the bride’s chamber at the end of the marriage festivities at home)**
The Middle Eastern - Judeo Tradition
“When they reached the house of the groom’s father, the couple would go into the bridal chamber which the groom had prepared and shut the door. The wedding guests would be assembled in the father’s house to celebrate the marriage. The wedding was actually going to take seven days (until the appearance of the bride and groom from the chamber). But the celebrating could not start until the marriage had been consummated. The groom’s “best man” would stand outside the door and when the groom told him (through the door) the marriage had been consummated, the celebration of the wedding guests would begin and continue for a week!”
Aspects of the Knanaya Wedding and Correlating Tradtions
1. Knanaya Vazhu Pidutham
The rite of giving God’s blessing to bride and groom by the mother of the bride by placing her hands in the form of a cross on their heads.
The Middle Eastern - Judeo Tradition
“Some parents put their hands on the head of the bride and groom at the bedekin when they give them this blessing, just as many parents do on Friday night at the Shabbat table. The custom of putting one’s hands on another as they are blessed is an old practice, perhaps going back as far as Moses and Joshua.”
View attachment 17199
2. Knanaya Mylanchi
Beautification of the palms and feet of bride by the leaves from “Mylanchi” shrub on the eve of marriage. This signifies the purification of hands and feet from the original sin committed by Adam and Eve.
The Middle Eastern - Judeo Tradition
“Yemenite and other Eastern Jewish communities also perform a henna ceremony, an ancient ritual with Bronze Age origins, a few weeks or days before the wedding. In the ceremony the bride and her guests hands and feet are decorated in intricate designs with a cosmetic paste derived from the henna plant.”
View attachment 17204 View attachment 17200
**3. Knanaya Mylanchi (Beautification of the Bride and Ritual Bath)
**
The Middle Eastern - Judeo Tradition
“Just prior to the wedding, a bride immerses herself in the mikvah (a ritual bath), with the purpose of spiritual purification.”
**4. Knanaya Wedding Songs **
Most explain marriage life and the Old Testament.
The Middle Eastern - Judeo Tradition
“Songs are sung as a central part of a seven-day wedding celebration and their lyrics often tell of friendship and love in alternating verses of Hebrew and Arabic.”
5. Knanaya Wedding Canopy
Put above the bride and groom as they leave the parish after the Wedding Ceremony.
The Middle Eastern - Judeo Tradition
A chuppah also huppah, chupah, or chuppa, is a canopy under which a Jewish couple stand during their wedding ceremony. It consists of a cloth or sheet, sometimes a tallit, stretched or supported over four poles, or sometimes manually held up by attendants to the ceremony.
**
6. Knanaya Wedding Crown and Turban **
Crown worn by bride and turban by the Groom.
The Middle Eastern - Judeo Tradition
Similar crowns worn by the bride and turban by the groom.
View attachment 17201 View attachment 17202
**
7. Knanaya Ven Pachor (A special sweet rice pudding)**
The Middle Eastern - Judeo Tradition
“Sephardic Weddings often begin with a first course called sutlach a sweet rice pudding featuring coconut milk, honey, and almonds called stulac”.
View attachment 17203
**
8. Knanaya Aduchu Thura (Shutting and opening of the bride’s chamber at the end of the marriage festivities at home)**
The Middle Eastern - Judeo Tradition
“When they reached the house of the groom’s father, the couple would go into the bridal chamber which the groom had prepared and shut the door. The wedding guests would be assembled in the father’s house to celebrate the marriage. The wedding was actually going to take seven days (until the appearance of the bride and groom from the chamber). But the celebrating could not start until the marriage had been consummated. The groom’s “best man” would stand outside the door and when the groom told him (through the door) the marriage had been consummated, the celebration of the wedding guests would begin and continue for a week!”