Ronu's Maiya Ceremony

I invited one of my non-indian assistants to shoot with me for this maiya ceremony, and as he watched all of the rituals unfold, he would ask me “What are they doing? Why? What does it mean?”. So I figured, for this blog post, I would provide some explanation about the traditional Maiya Ceremony.

The Maiya/vatna is also known to be the purification ceremony, performed one to three days before the wedding day. The ceremony is performed by female family and relatives, on the bride, at her house, and the groom, at his house.



At the beginning of the ceremony a ‘gana’ or red thread is tied on the wrists of the girls attending, in order to protect them from ill omen.

This is the coloured rice and flour pattern (rangoli) designed on the floor before where the bride will sit. The bride-to-be sits on a low stool facing the direction where the sun rises.

A mixture made of turmeric powder, flour, and oil is applied to the bride’s face, arms, legs and feet to cleanse the body in preparation for the new life ahead of them. The mixture is applied under the shade of a ‘Phulkari’ (a colourful patchwork quilt) which is usually passed down from previous generations. During this ceremony, the ladies sing traditional hymns. After this ceremony, the bride is not to leave the home until the wedding day. She is to rest and be pampered at home and not to engage in any household duties.

Mom jumps over the pattern/rangoli 5 times...

Then, the mother will use her hands to clean the rangoli with water, and with the same hands, make five handprints on front of the house. Indians say the longer it lasts, the more love a mother has for her son or daughter.

This is ‘jaggo’, where the ladies of the wedding household parade around carrying the jaggo/lanterns on their heads. In India, the party would travel around the village to announce the wedding celebrations of their daughter/son, and neighbours would invite them into their homes for sweets. It is a loud and joyous ceremony that includes dancing into the early hours of the morning.

After every ceremony, dinner is served!