JAIN WEDDING CEREMONY, UNITED STATES
A wedding is a poetryof love and celebration.
When two hearts become one in a ritual to create love, peace, harmony, joy, and abundance. I love to be part of that creation.
- IN THE UNITED STATES SINCE 1987
- ORDAINED MINISTER AND JAIN VIDHIKAR
- CEREMONIES ACROSS NORTH AMERICA
CELEBRATION OF JAIN WEDDING
The Jain wedding ceremony is a grand public proclamation made with the intention of the bride and groom to live together for their entire lives.
The Traditional Jain wedding ceremony is a religious ritual solemnized in accordance with Jain Scriptures. Each step in the ceremony has symbolic, philosophical, and spiritual meaning.
All rituals are explained in English, followed by Sanskrit hymns and mantras.
01
Ganesh Pooja is also known as Ganesha Sthapan. This is the beginning of the wedding ceremonies and rituals. The family offers prayers to Ganesha, as Lord Ganesha is considered the symbol of good luck, wisdom, and peace. Both families conduct Ganesh Pooja at their homes before the wedding.
02
Keval Ravi kirano se jiska, sampoorna prakashit hai antar
Us shri Jinvaani mai hota tattvon ka sundartam darshan
Sad darshan, bodhacharn path pe r aviral jo badtey hain munigan
Unn Dev, param Aagam, Guru ko shat shat vandan, shat shat vandan
I bow down hundreds of times to Dev, Shastra and Guru. The Dev is the one who is illuminated with the light of the sun of keval gyaan. The Shastra is the words of the kevali dev in which all the tattvas or realities are described in a beautiful way. And the Guru is the one who walks continuously on the path of right faith, right knowledge and right conduct.
03
This ceremony has a deep religious significance because the couple and their loved ones seek the blessings of Mother Earth. This is a ceremony to ground their energies with the symbolic Manek Stambh.
Rituals, traditions and customs
The first six rites, in the order they are conducted. Open any one to read what it is actually asking for.
The groom and his family arrive and are received at the door. Nothing has formally begun yet, and that is deliberate. Two households meet as families first, before either becomes anything else to the other.
The opening invocation. The Navkar Mantra is recited, which belongs to no single person and asks nothing for itself. Everything that follows is built on top of it.
The bride's mother marks the groom's forehead and welcomes him in. A small act, and the first time the two households formally accept one another in front of witnesses.
Reverence is offered to the nine grahas and the ten dikpals, so the ceremony is placed inside something older and larger than the couple standing in it.
A cloth is held between them and then lowered. They see each other for the first time as two people about to be married rather than two people who are not. Everyone in the room feels the moment change.
The parents place their daughter's hand into the groom's. This is the rite most often performed without explanation, and it is the one families most often thank me for explaining.
THE VIDHIKAR
A Jain wedding ceremony incorporates every aspect of a marriage. One of the most beautiful ceremonies you will ever witness, performing all the rituals with a Jain Vidhikar takes time. I bring great energy to an Indian Jain wedding. The ceremony is professional yet light hearted and fun filled, and will keep you so engaged at the wedding that you will soon understand why time flies.
I live in Elkhart, Indiana and travel to any domestic and international destination. Jain weddings and pre wedding ceremonies are performed in such a way that everyone present can understand and enjoy the ceremony in English, with Sanskrit as the basis of the ceremonial scriptures.
I provide information and educate the couple during the planning process. I convey my knowledge in person, by phone, email and WhatsApp, with detailed planning of their ceremony to make sure it is the exact ceremony they want. I do everything I can to make sure that the part I play in the most important day in the couple's life is perfect.
Members of the Jain community are looking for Jain priests who can perform weddings, pujas, and poojans in a way that not only combines knowledge and rituals, but most importantly, the ability to communicate with and involve everyone present.
Ashok Sanghavi
ORDAINED MINISTER, JAIN VIDHIKAR
Elkhart, Indiana
Every one of these was a blessing being given.
In their words
Every one of these was written by a family after their ceremony. The photographs beside them were shared by those same families.
Words cannot express how blessed we feel to have found you and to have you perform our wedding ceremony. It was the most heartfelt and touching ceremony that could not have happened unless you were a part of it. Thank you for giving us the best gift that we will cherish for our whole lives.
