HINDU WEDDINGS-THE 13 RITUALS

VARA SATKARA - Reception of the bridegroom and his kinsmen at the entrance gate of the wedding hall where the officiating priest chants a few mantras and the bride's mother blesses the groom with rice and trefoil and applies tilak of vermilion and turmeric powder.
MADHUPARKA CEREMONY - Reception of the bridegroom at the altar and bestowing of presents by the bride's father.
KANYA DAAN- The bride's father gives away his daughter to the groom amidst the chanting of sacred mantras.
VIVAH HOMA - The sacred fire ceremony ascertaining that all auspicious undertakings are begun in an atmosphere of purity and spirituality.
PANI GRAHAN - The groom takes the right hand of the bride in his left hand and accepts her as his lawfully wedded wife.
PRATIGNA KARAN - The couple walk round the fire, the bride leading, and take solemn vows of loyalty, steadfast love and life-long fidelity to each other.

SHILA AROHAN - The mother of the bride assists her to step onto a stone slab and counsels her to prepare herself for a new life.
LAJA HOMAH - Puffed rice offered as oblations into the sacred fire by the bride while keeping the palms of her hands over those of the groom
MANGAL PHERA- The couple circles the sacred fire seven times. This aspect of the ceremony legalizes the marriage according to the Hindu Marriage Act as well custom.
SAPTAPADI- Marriage knot symbolized by tying one end of the groom's scarf with the bride's dress. Then they take seven steps representing nourishment, strength, prosperity, happiness, progeny, long life and harmony and understanding, respectively.
ABHISHEK - Sprinkling of water, meditating on the sun and the pole star.
ANNA PRASHAN - The couple make food offerings into the fire then feed a morsel of food to each other expressing mutual love and affection.
AASHIRWADAH - Benediction by the elders.

Literal meaning of MARRIAGE

Marriage (or wedlock) is a social union or legal contract between people that creates kinship. It is an institution in which interpersonal relationships, usually intimate and sexual, are acknowledged in a variety of ways, depending on the culture or subculture in which it is found. Such a union, often formalized via a wedding ceremony, may also be called matrimony.

People marry for many reasons, including one or more of the following: legal, social, libidinal, emotional, economic, spiritual, and religious. These might include arranged marriages, family obligations, the legal establishment of a nuclear family unit, the legal protection of children and public declaration of commitment.^[1][2] The act of marriage usually creates normative or legal obligations between the individuals involved. In some societies these obligations also extend to certain family members of the married persons. Some cultures allow the dissolution of marriage through divorce orannulment.

Marriage is usually recognized by the state, a religious authority, or both. It is often viewed as a contract. Civil marriage is the legal concept of marriage as a governmental institution irrespective of religious affiliation, in accordance with marriage laws of the jurisdiction.