Old Kodava weddings stage a comeback

Weddings are perhaps the grandest celebrations in any community. This is especially true of the Kodava wedding which is strikingly unique in the fact that the weddings are not solemnised by priests but by family elders.

While the modern-day weddings are typically held in convention halls, the current restrictions due to Covid-19 have led to people reverting to simpler ceremonies, offering a glimpse of how Kodava weddings, called mangala, took place a few generations ago.

In the earlier days, the wedding would be conducted at ainmanes – the ancestral homes of the groom and the bride – and was purely a family affair. Unlike common perception, there is more to Kodava weddings than just merriment, and each ritual is invested with a deeper meaning.

The wedding ceremonies are held for two-days. On the day before the wedding, Karik Muripa, Punda Pani and Oor Kooduvo ceremonies are held separately at the groom’s and the bride’s homes. It is interesting to note that, Karik Muripa means cutting vegetables for curry; Punda Pani means erecting bamboo stumps as pandal and Oor Kooduvo means gathering of villagers.

On this day, all the villagers and family members of the groom and the bride gather at their respective homes and make all the arrangements for the wedding to be followed the next day.

The bride and the groom offer prayers to the gods and the ancestors before the nellakki bolcha (sacred lamp) at their ainmanes and seek blessings from their parents and all the elders assembled there. The groom’s mother then puts a pavala (coral) mala around his neck, and similarly the bride’s mother ties a pathaak (necklace) around her neck, to solemnise the wedding.

While people pitch in to help during the day, the evenings are reserved for festivities. There’s good food, liquor, music and dance.

On the day of the wedding, the groom dressed in traditional white Kupya Chele goes to the bride’s home, along with other family members, where the Baale Kethuva ceremony is held. In this ceremony, maternal uncles of the groom and the bride cut a row of nine or more banana stumps (in multiples of three) symbolising the obstacles that had to be conquered and the ultimate victory of the groom over other suitors.

The groom is then led inside the bride’s home by the bojakara (the best man), and the bride draped in Kodava sari is accompanied by the bojakarthi (bridesmaid). They offer prayers, are blessed by the elders and exchange garlands during the muhurtha.

The bride is granted all the rights at the groom’s home by the elders. The groom also gives her a bag containing gold, silver and copper coins to symbolise the sharing of his wealth with her.

A bride fetches a pot of water from a well during the 'neer edpo' ceremony.

The bride then embarks on a journey to her new home with the groom and his relatives. There, as part of the Ganga Pooja or Neer Edpo ceremony, which literally means fetching water, she has to draw water from the well. As a symbol of becoming a part of her husband’s family and taking up the household work, she carries two pots of water from the well to the kitchen. However, the path is blocked by members of the groom’s family, to imply that as a married woman she may have to face hardships. Meanwhile, the youths dance to volaga (traditional music) in merriment.

After her way is cleared, she enters the house and places the pots near the sacred lamp. She is now formally the lady of the house.