Significance of tatwa in a bengali wedding

SIGNIFICANCE OF TATWA IN A BENGALI WEDDING Bengali weddings like all Hindu marriages are full of vivacity and grandeur. Though the entire pandemonium isn’t a gaudy affair yet the elaborate rituals are needed to be performed with meticulous care. Some of these elaborate rituals take enormous amounts of preparation so that on the day of the wedding they could be executed in a precise manner. Naturally, for today’s youth these rituals are confusing and demand a lot of effort and time. So, the next time if you find yourself completely at sea unable to fathom as to what to give or what to do, we are compiling a list of things and arming you with creative ideas to help you to decorate a wedding tatwa.

For the uninitiated, on the day of the wedding, there is a gaaye holud ceremony. So, on the morning before the ceremony, the groom’s family sends gifts to the bride’s family which is called the “Gatraharidratatwa”. The groom’s family brings along with them a new saree which is to be worn at the gaaye holud ceremony by the bride. The other gifts which are sent along with the saree are some personal grooming products for the bride, cosmetics, some sarees, sweets, dry fruits, shoes and other clothes that the bride might wear or need after the marriage. Also, a bowl of turmeric paste is sent with the gifts. This turmeric paste which comes along with the tatwa, has already been earlier applied on the groom and thereafter is also applied on the body of the bride.

On the third day of the marriage or usually on the day of “bou bhaat” or the reception ceremony, the bride’s family sends the “fulshojjatatwa” which is considered as blessings to the newly wedded couple and also a kind of contribution for the new start of their lives together.

The wedding tatwa consists of a “tatwa suchi” which is like an index about the various items which the tatta contains. The gifts are sent in a basket made from beautiful canes or bamboos and some of them are even intricately decorated. Nowadays, people even hire professionals or artists who decorate these gifts or tatwa. Also, if you don’t want to hire one, you can make these by decorating the gifts with colourful papers and strips and put them in a gift box.

A wedding tatwa list consists of dry fruits, fruits, sweets and the irreplaceable mishti doi or sweet yogurt (not that we need to translate it for you, but still). Bengalis are high on sweets therefore they are an essential item in a tatwa. Sweets ranging from sandesh to rosogolla to various dry fruits find a place inside the wedding tatta and not to forget mishti doi or the Bengali ice cream!

A big fish, most often a Rohu fish is an essential item of a wedding tatwa. Sometimes, the fish is decorated like a bride with an original nath and a wedding veil.

The other items which find a place in the wedding tatwa are gifts for the bride and her immediate relatives. Sarees and personal grooming products, accessories and other cosmetics which the bride or the groom may need are sent. The sarees are sometimes beautifully decorated in the shape of a swan or a boat too! If you are at a mess as to what sarees to gift in a wedding tatwa, have a look at the collection of silk sarees and cotton sarees at www.indiansilkhouseagencies.com.

Now that you have an idea, we hope that the next time you find mention a of tatwa at a Bengali wedding, you won’t remain clueless!