Key rituals
There is no single standard Hindu marriage ceremony. Regional variation is prevalent in the sequence of rituals comprising the ceremony. There is also considerable flexibility within each ritual. Variation reflects family traditions, local traditions, resources of the families and other factors. Three key rituals predominate, as follows. Two are yajna.
· Kanyadana – the giving away of his daughter by the father.
· Panigrahana – a ritual in presence of fire, where the groom takes the bride's hand as a sign of their union.
· Saptapadi – the crucial ritual. The term means 'seven steps', with each step corresponding (in the Long Form) to a pair of vows: groom to the bride, and bride to groom. The vows are pronounced in Sanskrit; sometimes also [in the language of the couple. (For the Short Form see below.) Like Panigrahana, Saptapadi is performed in presence of fire, and in many weddings, after each of their seven oaths to each other, the groom and bride perform the ritual of agnipradakshinam: walking around the fire, with hands linked or with the ends of their garments tied together. The groom usually leads the bride in the walkFire is the divine witness (to the marriage), and after Saptapadi the couple are considered husband and wife.
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