From Blessings to Beginnings: Why Rice is Sacred in Indian Weddings

Rice has held an important place in Indian rituals and spiritual practices, across cultures and regions. From being used during pujas as offerings to deities and gods to being added to turmeric and the Kumkum Chandan tilak, as well as being included in a child’s first feeding ritual when they reach the age of seven months, rice holds major significance in Hindu culture. 

In the Mahabharata, Lord Krishna is said to have gifted Draupadi a blessed vessel during the Pandavas' exile. This vessel, known as the ‘Akshaya Patra,' which translates to 'inexhaustible vessel,' ensured an endless supply of rice, highlighting the pivotal role of this staple grain in the epic's narrative.

However, it isn’t only prominent in Indian rituals; in some parts of Japan and China, offering rice to the household shrine is also a common practice. It seems rice symbolises fertility, prosperity, and abundance across multiple cultures and religions worldwide. 

In many Indian cultures, rice is considered a sacred grain that signifies good luck and abundance, which explains why so many of our wedding rituals include rice as an offering to the gods! “According to Ayurveda, there is logic and reason behind a lot of our traditions and customs. So, even if we look at the colour of the rice we usually use in our rituals (which is white), it usually signifies purity, prosperity, and calmness. When rice is growing, it is encapsulated with rice bran, which is another reason it is perceived as an ultimately pure grain. This is also another reason whole grain rice (also known as Akshata) is a sign of wholeness and wellness, after all, it is unfettered and left undisturbed until the harvest due to its organic covering,” says Dr BN  Sinha, an Ayurvedic doctor and expert based in New Delhi.,

So, from the bride showering the wedding guests with rice during vidai,to knocking over a kalash full of rice to enter her in-law’s and husband’s household, rice is used on multiple occasions during a wedding. Let’s read on to find out why that is, shall we?

Significance of Rice In Indian Weddings 

The Telugu custom of Madhuparakaṃ and Sumangaḷi

In many Telugu weddings, a combination of these two customs is known as Madhuparakaṃ and Sumangaḷi where rice holds immense significance. During Madhuparakam, the bride and groom dress in white traditional clothing with red borders. In Sumangali, ten married women accompany the bride, and six of them carry plates of sacred rice (turmeric mixed with rice), while the other four carry lamps as a means to bless the couple with abundance and light. 

The Chengluk Lubak Kaiba ceremony

It seems rice is not only exchanged between the wedding guests, and the bride and groom, or the bride and her new family, but as a gift from the groom as well. The Meiti community of Manipur has a ceremony known as the Chengluk Lubak Kaiba, where the groom brings the bride and her family a generous (a basket full of, to be precise) rice!

The Assamese custom of welcoming the groom 

In Assamese culture, the bride’s family competes to throw rice over the groom as he arrives for the wedding, while his best man attempts to shield him from is using an umbrella. This is known as the Dora Oha. 

Rice during the sacred pheras 

Indian weddings consist of a moment when wedding guests shower the couple with rice as they are taking their pheras, or rounds of the sacred fire. This is done as a means to bless the couple with prosperity, abundance and fertility. 

During vidaai 

According to Dr Sailesh, this is the reason brides throw rice over their heads is to wish the people they are leaving behind, ie. their family members with abundance, wholeness and wellness. So as to say, even though, I am leaving this household behind to create new bonds elsewhere, I wish you all well and may the abundance not leave this family with my own exit from this household. 

During griha pravesh 

When brides enter their husbands’ households after the wedding, they do so by tipping a kalash full of rice over the house’s threshold with their right foot. This is a way for the bride to bless her new home, and bring prosperity into it with her own arrival. It is also said that rice is associated with Goddess Lakshmi (the goddess of prosperity and abundance), so as the bride enters, she is believed to usher in Goddess Lakshmi herself into the house. 

To shower and bless the bride and groom 

Along with all these, in Hindu tradition, the bride and groom are usually showered with rice and turmeric while they are getting married. This is a way to bless the bride and groom with a prosperous and successful marriage and to keep any form of misfortune or negative energy at bay. 

Bengali post-wedding ceremony of Bau Bhaat 

After the wedding, the Bengali bride and her family host a feast for the groom and his family where rice is an integral item on the menu. From plain rice to pulao to kheer, the meal places importance on the presence of rice. Hence the name of the ceremony - Bau Bhaat, bhaat being an Indian word for rice across multiple dialects. 

Kashmiri weddings and rice

From a rice dish known as var being served during the Kashmiri engagement ceremony, to a pre-wedding ceremony known as Divagone, where the bride and groom are bathed with a mixture of water, rice, milk and curd and a tradition where a plate of rice and money is used to bless the groom before he leaves for the procession towards the bride’s home, Kashmiri weddings consist of many rituals which include rice.

Wedding games 

Many Indian weddings consist of games where rice is involved. For instance, Tamil weddings usually consist of a ritual known as Nalangu where the bride and groom playfully throw rice over each other as a means to break the ice and get to know each other better. Telugu weddings also consist of a similar game, known as Talambralu. Aside from this, the Assamese culture follows a tradition where the bride and groom search for a ring in a single bowl full of rice. This is known as the Chaklong wedding tradition.