Indian wedding glossary · Before the wedding
What is Nichayathartham?
Also written: Nischayathartham, Tamil engagement
Nichayathartham is the Tamil engagement ceremony, where the two families formally agree to the wedding and the date is read out in front of relatives.
- Who keeps it
- Many Tamil Hindu families, including Tamil Brahmin families.
- When
- Weeks or months before the wedding, after the families agree to the match.
About Nichayathartham
What should you know about Nichayathartham?
The groom's family usually visits the bride's home or a hall with gifts: a saree for the bride, fruit, flowers, betel leaves and coconuts on trays. The families exchange these trays, and the wedding date and muhurtham are read out from a letter, the lagna patrikai.
The bride often wears the saree the groom's family brought. In many families today the couple also exchange rings. It is a family occasion, smaller than the wedding.
In the order of functions
Where does Nichayathartham come in an Indian wedding?
Weeks or months before the wedding, after the families agree to the match.
- 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 Nichayathartham?
We request your presence at the nichayathartham of Riya and Arjun on Sunday, 12 January, at 10 am.
Related words
Words that go with Nichayathartham
- Sagai
Sagai is the Hindi word for the engagement ceremony, where the bride and groom exchange rings in front of both families and the wedding is formally announced.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
Questions
Nichayathartham, answered
What is Nichayathartham?
Nichayathartham is the Tamil engagement ceremony, where the two families formally agree to the wedding and the date is read out in front of relatives.
Which families celebrate Nichayathartham?
Many Tamil Hindu families, including Tamil Brahmin families.
When does Nichayathartham happen in the order of wedding functions?
Weeks or months before the wedding, after the families agree to the match.
What do families write on the invitation for Nichayathartham?
We request your presence at the nichayathartham of Riya and Arjun on Sunday, 12 January, at 10 am.
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