MANGALAGAURI : A Special Festival For Brides

During the first year after her marriage, every bride celebrates all the festivals in the calendar with great enthusiasm. Almost every festival sees her back with her parents to relive the joys of her childhood with her friends once again. Festive days are her chance to entertain her friends, get to know her new relatives and bring her own and her new husband's families together in an atmosphere of joy and celebration. Both her families pamper her with gifts of clothing and jewellery on the more important festivals.

One celebration which is specially designed for her is the worship of Mangalagauri, performed every Tuesday in the month of Shravan. Mangalagauri is a festive manifestation of Parvati. Women from the family get together with friends of all ages and spend the night playing games, dancing, singing and eating the feast made for the occasion. Bangles, kurnkum and other adornments inseparable from such festivals, are distributed to all women. On every Tuesday of the first Shravan after her marriage, a bride worships her home by decorating its entrance with vunguli nd flowers. It is a time of fun for every young girl.

A woman's presence in a house is considered auspicious. The trinkle of her bangles, The rhythm of her ankle bells, the gentle swish of garments convey a sense of pervading hospitality, tenderness and support, intrinsic to ad Indian homes, in Indian culture women are expected to be a combination of both strenglh and beauty.