Indian wedding glossary · Wedding day rituals
What is Maalai maatral?
Also written: Garland exchange
Maalai maatral is the Tamil garland exchange, where the bride and groom exchange flower garlands three times, often while their relatives lift them up to tease each other.
- Who keeps it
- Many Tamil Hindu families.
- When
- On the wedding morning, after the kashi yatra and before the oonjal.
About Maalai maatral
What should you know about Maalai maatral?
Uncles and cousins carry the bride and groom on their shoulders and move them away just as the other tries to place the garland. After three exchanges the couple is led to the oonjal.
The garlands are usually fresh jasmine, roses and other flowers, and they are kept on through the rites that follow.
In the order of functions
Where does Maalai maatral come in an Indian wedding?
On the wedding morning, after the kashi yatra and before the oonjal.
- 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 Maalai maatral?
Muhurtham: Sunday, 15 February, 9:00 to 10:30 am. (The garland exchange happens before it.)
Related words
Words that go with Maalai maatral
- Oonjal
Oonjal is the Tamil ritual where the bride and groom sit together on a decorated swing while married women sing songs, offer them milk and banana, and in many families circle coloured rice balls around them to ward off evil.
- Kashi yatra
Kashi yatra is a playful ritual in many Tamil and Telugu weddings where the groom pretends to leave for Kashi to become an ascetic, and the bride's father persuades him to stay and marry his daughter.
- Thali
In South Indian weddings the thali, or mangalyam, is the sacred pendant on a yellow thread or gold chain that the groom ties around the bride's neck at the muhurtham.
- 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.
- Varmala
Varmala, or jaimala, is the exchange of flower garlands between the bride and groom, which marks their acceptance of each other in front of the guests.
Questions
Maalai maatral, answered
What is Maalai maatral?
Maalai maatral is the Tamil garland exchange, where the bride and groom exchange flower garlands three times, often while their relatives lift them up to tease each other.
Which families celebrate Maalai maatral?
Many Tamil Hindu families.
When does Maalai maatral happen in the order of wedding functions?
On the wedding morning, after the kashi yatra and before the oonjal.
What do families write on the invitation for Maalai maatral?
Muhurtham: Sunday, 15 February, 9:00 to 10:30 am. (The garland exchange happens before it.)
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