Indian wedding glossary · Wedding day rituals
What is Joota chupai?
Also written: Joote chhupai, जूता छुपाई
Joota chupai is the playful custom where the bride's sisters and cousins hide the groom's shoes during the wedding and ask for money or gifts to return them.
- Who keeps it
- North Indian Hindu, Sikh and some Muslim families.
- When
- During the pheras or anand karaj; the bargaining happens before the groom leaves the mandap.
About Joota chupai
What should you know about Joota chupai?
The groom takes off his shoes to enter the mandap, and the bride's side tries to steal them while his brothers and friends try to guard them. After the rites, the bride's sisters bargain for a price, and the groom usually pays up with a laugh.
It is a light moment in a long night and one of the most remembered parts of many weddings.
In the order of functions
Where does Joota chupai come in an Indian wedding?
During the pheras or anand karaj; the bargaining happens before the groom leaves the mandap.
- 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 Joota chupai?
Not printed, though many sisters announce it on the family group: Jiju, keep your wallet ready!
Related words
Words that go with Joota chupai
- Pheras
Pheras are the rounds the bride and groom take around the sacred fire, tied together, with a vow made in each round; in most North Indian weddings there are seven.
- Kangana
Kangana is the sacred thread with small charms tied on the wrists of the bride and groom before the wedding, which they later untie for each other in a playful game.
- Vidaai
Vidaai is the farewell of the bride from her parents' home after the wedding, when she leaves with the groom for her new home.
- Mandap
A mandap is the canopy, usually on four pillars, under which a Hindu wedding's main rites, such as kanyadaan and the pheras around the sacred fire, are performed.
- Nalangu
Nalangu is a set of playful games in Tamil weddings, played by the bride and groom with relatives watching, to break the ice after the formal rites.
Questions
Joota chupai, answered
What is Joota chupai?
Joota chupai is the playful custom where the bride's sisters and cousins hide the groom's shoes during the wedding and ask for money or gifts to return them.
Which families celebrate Joota chupai?
North Indian Hindu, Sikh and some Muslim families.
When does Joota chupai happen in the order of wedding functions?
During the pheras or anand karaj; the bargaining happens before the groom leaves the mandap.
What do families write on the invitation for Joota chupai?
Not printed, though many sisters announce it on the family group: Jiju, keep your wallet ready!
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