Whenever a girl thinks of her wedding and her wedding outfit, the first thing that comes to mind is Chooda and Kalire. Yes, we girls love them. It is one of the best feelings to flaunt them on D-day.
Indian weddings are full of customs and rituals. Especially with Punjabi Weddings, they are not just weddings, they are festivals celebrated by families. There is never a dull moment in Indian weddings. There is always a custom related to everything. The same is the case with Chuda and Kalere.
There are special ceremonies associated with Kaleere and Chooda. These ceremonies are done with lots of customs and rituals. The two ceremonies are held for the bride-to-be in special. One after the other, both these rituals are performed on the morning of the wedding day or a day before that, at the house of the bride. So, if you are planning to get married soon, you must know about them briefly.
What is a Chooda Ceremony?
Well, Chooda is a set of traditional bangles, mainly plain red bangles and white bangles with dots on them, which are combined to form a chooda. It contains 21 bangles in each set as this number is considered auspicious.
Chooda is gifted by the bride-to-be's maternal uncle (mama). During the chooda ceremony, bangles are purified by milk (Kachi Lassi) and then the uncle puts it on the bride's arm. If there are two uncles, a little cute competition is conducted whoever puts the whole chooda first, wins it.
After that, the family members tie a sacred string called the Gang. This serves to ward off bad spirits, and the husband opens after the wedding rituals are done.
In some northern areas of India, the bride doesn't see her chooda till the wedding. She keeps her eyes closed when her family puts on it and then ties a white cloth over it. According to them, it's not auspicious for a bride to see chooda before marriage.
Traditionally, chooda bangles are red with simple white dotted bangles but now in the latest Chooda, there are huge options to choose from. Now brides experiment with different colours like pink, blue, orange and even white. White bangles are not so simple now. You can get them in Kundan, Polki, American diamonds and other beautiful stones and gems. You can find a great collection online with different designs, patterns and colours.
Kaleera Ceremony
Umbrella-shaped golden hangings, worn with choda on wedding day look very pretty. Kalire is tied to the bride-to-be after the chooda ceremony to wish the couple happiness and an everlasting bond. Bride's sisters, her close friends and cousins tie them and wish for her prosperous life. Kaliras reminds her of her friends and cousins whom she is leaving after marriage. Earlier, dried coconuts were attached to Kaleras. The Kalire’s shape also signifies that she never runs out of food in her new home, while the metal signifies prosperity and richness. Nowadays, colours are available in different styles, carved with motifs, stones and other beautiful elements.
After the Kalire are tied, the bride makes her unmarried friends sit down on their knees and shakes her hands on their heads. It is presumed that if any part of the Kalire drops on any girl’s head she will soon get married. How exciting!
These ceremonies are practiced in northern India with lots of fun and excitement. Choda and Kaleras are important accessories of marriage to invest in good quality. You can buy these two from Amazel Designs Online. They have a very good collection of such jewelry at genuine prices. They are located in USA & Canada but provide worldwide shipping too.