Varamala

A varamala (Sanskrit: वरमाला, romanized: Varamālā, lit. 'boon garland')[1] or a jayamala (Sanskrit: जयमाला, romanized: Jayamālā, lit. 'victory garland')[2][3] is a South Asian garland that is most commonly associated with its eponymous ritual during a Hindu wedding ceremony.[4] Traditionally, a varamala is made of roses and other flowers,[5] though modern variations exist, such as garlands made from rupee notes, and other regional traditions.

This article is about the Indian wedding garland. For The Kannada actress, see Jaimala (actress).
A modern jayamala ceremony during a Hindu wedding.

The jayamala ceremony is a well-known ritual during a Hindu wedding, where a bride and a groom exchange garlands, as an indication of acceptance of each other as their spouse, and a pledge to respect them throughout the rest of their lives.[6][7]

Hinduism

During the Samudra Manthanam, the legend of the churning of the ocean, the newly emerged Lakshmi garlands Vishnu with her varamala of lotus flowers, accepting him to be her divine consort.[8]

Varmala of Sita and Rama
Exhibit of Rama and Sita exchanging varamalas.

In the Ramayana, Sita places a varamala around the neck of Rama after he wins her hand in her svayamvara, breaking the Pinaka bow.[9]

In the Mahabharata, Draupadi chooses Arjuna to be her husband by garlanding him during her svayamvara.[10]

Shiva Parvati Vivah(Wedding Ceremony)
Parvati and Shiva wearing varamalas during their kalyanam.

The wedding of Shiva and Parvati is also described to have occurred with the ritual of the garland exchange.[11]

A gandharva marriage in Hinduism is a non-righteous form of marriage recognised by the Manusmriti, where lovers marry by exchanging garlands, without the consent of their families or performance of rituals.[12]

References
  1. Ratra, Amiteshwar (2006). Marriage and Family: In Diverse and Changing Scenario. Deep & Deep Publications. p. 157. ISBN 978-81-7629-758-5.
  2. Bose, Mandakranta (30 September 2004). The Ramayana Revisited. Oxford University Press, USA. p. 174. ISBN 978-0-19-516832-7.
  3. Shrinivasan, A. V. (1 August 2019). The Vedic Wedding Book. Penguin Random House India Private Limited. p. 203. ISBN 978-93-5305-570-7.
  4. Mittal, Sushil; Thursby, Gene (19 January 2009). Studying Hinduism: Key Concepts and Methods. Routledge. p. 315. ISBN 978-1-134-41829-9.
  5. Malamud, Randy (27 September 2021). Strange Bright Blooms: A History of Cut Flowers. Reaktion Books. p. 12. ISBN 978-1-78914-421-5.
  6. Capo, Ava Laboy (15 November 2013). Wedding Traditions from Around the World. AuthorHouse. p. 116. ISBN 978-1-4918-3545-6.
  7. Pandit, Bansi (2005). Explore Hinduism. Heart of Albion. p. 121. ISBN 978-1-872883-81-6.
  8. Vaswani, J. P. (20 June 2019). Stories with a difference from the Bhagavata Purana. Gita Publishing House. p. 98. ISBN 978-93-86004-23-9.
  9. Sharma, Bulbul (June 2010). The Book of Devi. Penguin Books India. pp. 90–91. ISBN 978-0-14-306766-5.
  10. Jones, Constance; Ryan, James D. (2006). Encyclopedia of Hinduism. Infobase Publishing. pp. 136–137.
  11. Lutgendorf, Philip (1991). The Life of a Text: Performing the Rāmcaritmānas of Tulsidas. University of California Press. p. 94. ISBN 978-0-520-06690-8.
  12. Sachdeva, G. S. (23 September 2020). Sacred and Profane: Unusual Customs and Strange Rituals. SAGE Publishing India. p. 73. ISBN 978-93-5388-517-5.
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