Hindu Mandir Excecutives’ Conference (HMEC) Presents

A New Book On

Viv�ha Saṃsk�ra

The Hindu Wedding Ceremony

Everything you wanted to know…..but…..didn’t know whom to ask!

This Book provides:

• Complete Vedic Hindu Brahma Vivaha in Sanskrit with English translation
• Two modifications for contemporary relevance: Mutual Consent and Joint Saptapadi
• Symbolism of Hindu rituals
• Discussion of Hindu / non-Hindu Interfaith Marriage Issues
• Complete Hindu ceremony for a non-Hindu to accept Hindu Dharma

We expect this book to be useful to many different groups of readers such as:

• Couples (even non-Hindus) desiring a Hindu wedding ceremony,
• Couples desiring to sustain Hindu Dharma,
• Parents of the bride and groom,
• Trained purohitas,
• Persons desiring to be the officiant of a Hindu wedding ceremony,
• Attendees of a Hindu wedding,
• Students of Hindu Sa?skaras,
• Planners of a Hindu wedding,
• Hindu youth considering a relationship with a non-Hindu, and
• Hindu / non-Hindu interfaith couple engaged to be married.

Excerpts from the book:

A good example of the symbolism embedded in the vivaha sam?skara steps is the holding of a cloth curtain between the bride and groom during the singing of Mangalas?t?akas (auspicious eight) verses. At the end of Mangalas?t?aka recital, the curtain is removed, which symbolizes the advice to the bride and groom that there should be no secrets between them after marriage. It also signifies the importance of one-ness and complementary nature of the two heretofore separate individuals. Many rituals during the course of vivaha sam?skara have been thoughtfully designed by our sages millennia ago in order to assure the sanctity and success of a marriage.

G?hastha-asrama is the only stage in a person’s life when a person actually sustains the society. Since the sam?skara of vivaha makes both the man and the woman householders, it holds a special and exalted place, in the Hindu society.