Indian wedding glossary · The functions
What is Haldi kumkum?
Also written: Haldi kunku, हळदी कुंकू
Haldi kumkum is a Maharashtrian gathering where married women apply haldi and kumkum to each other's foreheads and exchange small gifts, wishing each other a long married life.
- Who keeps it
- Marathi and some Kannada and Gujarati families.
- When
- Around Makar Sankranti and other festivals, and in some families after the wedding to welcome the bride.
About Haldi kumkum
What should you know about Haldi kumkum?
In many Maharashtrian families it is held around Makar Sankranti, and the host gives each woman a small gift, often called vaan. Some families hold a haldi kumkum for a new bride so the women of the family and neighbourhood can meet and bless her.
It is a women's gathering, not a wedding rite, but it is often part of a new bride's first months in her new home.
In the order of functions
Where does Haldi kumkum come in an Indian wedding?
Around Makar Sankranti and other festivals, and in some families after the wedding to welcome the bride.
- Before the weddingFixing the match, the engagement, the date and the card.
- The functionsPujas, haldi, mehndi, sangeet and the family days before the wedding.
- Wedding day ritualsFrom the baraat to the pheras, nikah and anand karaj.
- After the weddingVidaai, the new home, the reception and the first visits.
Planning your own days? The free wedding function order planner puts your functions in a sensible order with dates.
On the card
What do families write on the invitation for Haldi kumkum?
Haldi kunku at our home for our new sunbai Riya, Sunday, 18 January, 5 pm.
Related words
Words that go with Haldi kumkum
- Mangalsutra
A mangalsutra is the sacred necklace of black beads and gold that the groom ties around the bride's neck during the wedding, which many married women wear every day.
- Ukhana
An ukhana is a short rhyme in which a Marathi bride or groom says their spouse's name, a custom asked for at the griha pravesh and at many family gatherings after the wedding.
- Griha pravesh
Griha pravesh is the welcome of the new bride into her husband's home, when she gently tips over a kalash of rice with her right foot at the threshold and steps inside.
- Sakharpuda
Sakharpuda is the Maharashtrian engagement ceremony, named after the packet of sugar (sakhar puda) that the groom's family gives the bride along with a saree and jewellery.
- Haldi
Haldi is the ceremony where relatives apply a paste of turmeric, gram flour and oil or rose water to the bride and groom, each at their own home, to bless them and make them glow.
Questions
Haldi kumkum, answered
What is Haldi kumkum?
Haldi kumkum is a Maharashtrian gathering where married women apply haldi and kumkum to each other's foreheads and exchange small gifts, wishing each other a long married life.
Which families celebrate Haldi kumkum?
Marathi and some Kannada and Gujarati families.
When does Haldi kumkum happen in the order of wedding functions?
Around Makar Sankranti and other festivals, and in some families after the wedding to welcome the bride.
What do families write on the invitation for Haldi kumkum?
Haldi kunku at our home for our new sunbai Riya, Sunday, 18 January, 5 pm.
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