SAPTAPADI – SEVEN STEPS | INDIAN WEDDING CEREMONY
Saptapadi- The Seven Steps
The commitment and vows made by the couple to each other during the Mangalsutra are established and confirmed with the Saptapadi, which is the Sanskrit word for Seven Steps. While most people readily associate Indian weddings with the famous bride and groom walk around the kund containing the wedding fire (the Angi), few people understand what the seven steps actually stand for.
The Saptapadi involves the couple walking seven steps in a clockwise direction around the Angi near the Mandap. Each of the steps is called a ‘Phere’, and each Phere stands for the seven promises and principles made by the couple to each other during the exchange of vows. Dupattas and Chunis which were used during the GranthiBandhanam are also used to hold the couple together while they’re taking the 7 steps.
A list of the Steps
As we’ve previously mentioned, each of the 7 Pheres taken during the Saptapadi represent a particular promise or commitment made between the couple and the priest spell each one out while the couple are on the walk. During the first 4 Pheres, the groom takes the lead, holding the bride’s hand (or sometimes just the pinky finger). For the remaining 3 Pheres, they change positions and the bride takes the lead until the steps are completed. Below is a list of the different promises implied by each of the Pheres:
1. We will fulfill our duties and responsibilities to each other and to our community, and look after each other’s (and our children’s) health.
2. We will improve on ourselves spiritually and mentally
3. We will get richer and be more comfortable in legal and moral ways
4. We will become wiser, happier and more united by loving each other and having mutual trust and respect for each other.
5. Our family will be blessed with strong, moral and heroic children
6. We will be blessed with long life
7. We will forever remain true to our vows and stay faithful to one another
As the couples take their steps to complete the Saptapadi, family members and friends in the Mandap spread rose petals and rice around to bless the couple. When the couple are done with the seven Pheres, they pray for blessings from Lord Vishnu, believed to be the preserver, and from Lakshmi, the goddess of wealth. Folklore has it that the tying together during the Saptapadi joins the couple for the next seven lifetimes, implying that the wedding lasts beyond death. In some parts of India, the Saptapadi is concluded by making the bride touch seven bettlenuts with her toe while leaning on the groom for support, and photography is important for weddings and that’s when services like photo booths in New Jersey are great to use in weddings so everyone can take pictures as well.
The beauty of the Saptapadi is that there are different variations of it depending on the part of India where it is being carried out. Some communities down south insist that the Groom takes the lead during all 7 Pheres while holding his bride by her pinky finger, others alternate the position with the bride in the lead. Whichever way, the Saptapadi remains a very interesting and significant part of any Hindu wedding.
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