As promised, here is a wedding related post! And it is what it looks like, the first in a series of posts where I’d like to elaborate a little on the wedding traditions of my culture, namely Malabar Muslim culture. There’s not a lot of information about it on the net, and so I thought this would be a little door into that world J.
Now, the Malabar region mostly includes the districts of Kannur, Kozhikode , Wayanad, Malappuram and parts of Palakkad. However, I’ll be detailing traditions pertaining to the Kannur district, since that’s what I’m familiar with.
Basically, Muslim weddings in Kannur don’t have too many rituals like other Indian weddings have, with functions like Sangeet, Haldi etc. The wedding is usually limited to two days – the Wedding Eve or Mehendi (for the bride) and the actual Wedding Day, where the Nikaah or solemnizing ceremony is held. This is then followed by ‘salkaarams’ or parties at the bride’s and groom’s homes, where closer family members get to know each other away from the hustle bustle of the wedding.
If you know anything about Malayalis, you’ll know that gold is more than just jewelry to us. Doesn’t matter that prices are skyrocketing, there HAS to be gold at a Mallu wedding. And lots of it too. Whichever city of India
 |
| Source |
For the Mallus of Malabar, there’s something else that rocks our collective boat – food. Take any occasion here, and food will reign supreme over all other celebrations. The clothes and entertainment all come later. FOOD is of prime importance – and not just in an ‘eat to survive’ kind of way. That’s one of the reasons people here are considered very hospitable, they love to feed others too!! If you’re a guest at any Malabari home, you can be assured of a ‘Kozhi Biriyani’ (Chicken Biryani) at the very least!
[Biryani picture from Rinku’s Kitchen Treats. Click here to go to the recipe]
Weddings here aren’t that extravagant in general (I’m not counting the gold). There’s not really much in terms of entertainment, like a band or DJ. Some families perform a traditional dance called the ‘Oppana’ where the bride sits in the centre, and the others dance around her with synchronous moves that involve lots of clapping. My family doesn’t do this, and I doubt
how relevant it still is J. Mostly, women of the family sing songs at appropriate junctures of the wedding, and sometimes local music groups are hired to add to the noise. Expenditure on clothes is higher than what they spend on shoes, accessories and the like, but not extravagantly so during weddings. You see, we’d rather buy more gold with that money :-D.
how relevant it still is J. Mostly, women of the family sing songs at appropriate junctures of the wedding, and sometimes local music groups are hired to add to the noise. Expenditure on clothes is higher than what they spend on shoes, accessories and the like, but not extravagantly so during weddings. You see, we’d rather buy more gold with that money :-D.
 |
| Source |
Wow, this intro post got longer than I intended it to be. But anyway, I assume you’ve got a general idea of the food loving (and glittery) population here. So, I’ll get on with the more specific details in my next post.
P.S. If you’d like to know more about Malabar cuisine, check out this book by Ummi Abdullah, ‘Malabar Muslim Cookery’, available at Amazon.
.gif)
