Indian wedding glossary · Wedding day rituals
What is Mandap?
Also written: Mandapam, chori, मंडप
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.
- Who keeps it
- Hindu and Jain families across India.
- When
- Set up a day or more before; used for the rites after the varmala.
About Mandap
What should you know about Mandap?
The four pillars are often said to stand for the four parents. A sacred fire burns in the centre, and the bride, groom, parents and priest sit under it. Families decorate it with flowers, fabric and kalash.
In Gujarati weddings the mandap is called the mandvo or chori. South Indian weddings are often held in a hall called a kalyana mandapam.
In the order of functions
Where does Mandap come in an Indian wedding?
Set up a day or more before; used for the rites after the varmala.
- 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 Mandap?
Pheras in the mandap at the shubh muhurat, 11:15 pm.
Related words
Words that go with Mandap
- Mandvo
Mandvo is the Gujarati word for the wedding canopy, and the mandvo or mandap mahurat is the puja when that canopy is set up and blessed before the wedding.
- Havan
A havan is the sacred fire lit in the centre of the mandap; in a Hindu wedding Agni, the fire, is the divine witness to the vows, and the couple make offerings into it.
- 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.
- Kalash
A kalash is a metal or clay pot filled with water, topped with mango leaves and a coconut, placed at a wedding puja or in the mandap as a symbol of abundance and blessing.
- Kanyadaan
Kanyadaan is the ritual where the bride's parents place her hand in the groom's hand, asking him to care for her as an equal partner, while the priest chants mantras.
Questions
Mandap, answered
What is 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.
Which families celebrate Mandap?
Hindu and Jain families across India.
When does Mandap happen in the order of wedding functions?
Set up a day or more before; used for the rites after the varmala.
What do families write on the invitation for Mandap?
Pheras in the mandap at the shubh muhurat, 11:15 pm.
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