Wedding Craft Traditions from India

by on April 26, 2011 with 12 Comments in Challenges , Iron Craft

Today we have a guest post from Iron Crafter Chinnu. Because we are all working on wedding projects this week we thought it might be fun to share with you some of the many wedding crafts from her country, India…

Indian Weddings are vibrant and full of joy and celebrations. The weddings generally are a 2 -3 day celebration, sometimes even longer!!

The crafts I share here are quite typical of the South Indian states and its customs. One is sure to find many regional variations of these. Each of these crafts have a reason and idea behind it, now sharing all that would make it a very long post. So I restrict to describing the crafts in general. Many family members volunteer and participate in making these crafts adding to the fun!

Handmade dolls depicting a wedding scene.
These are made as gifts for the bride/groom’s family.
Decorated Hand fan – Made for the Groom
One could use a ready fan and decorate it or make a cardboard cut out and work on it. These could be made of paper or fabric; it depends on one’s skill and interest. 

Rangoli- Coloured sand art
Elaborate designs are made as welcome signs and on various other occasions throughout the wedding rituals. 

Traditional wooden dolls- Gifted to the couple after the wedding.
These are dressed and decorated and are believed to represent God and Goddess . These dolls are a family tradition and passed on for generations.  The dolls are worshipped during the nine days of festivities called Navaratri.

Decorated coconuts- Gift for the groom.
Whole coconuts are used as centrepieces and decorated to make shapes as Lotus, Peacock or any shape…..one is limited by one’s imagination alone!
Decorated Bamboo Sieves- Traditionally these sieves are used to clean lentils and still continue to be a vital part of festivities. A pair of sieve is filled with various grains, fruits and other items of usefulness for a woman like bangles, hand mirror, etc..
The bride gifts these to the elderly married women and seeks their blessings.
Decorated Coconuts- Gifts for the bride or groom.
The outer hard shell of the coconut is removed and the inner part is retained as a whole. Fine carvings are made depicting Gods and Goddesses and other symbols related to auspiciousness. Some are even crafted as dolls. 

Crafty Turmeric Powder pouches- Several pieces of these tiny figures or dolls or paper flowers are made and attached to these are tiny paper pouches filled with turmeric powder ( considered auspicious) and gifted to all female guests at the wedding.

Decorated Trays – used to give gifts to the bride/groom or guests. 
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© 2005 – 2011 Kathy Lewinski & Susan Cornish
14 years ago by in Challenges , Iron Craft | You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

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