Kahe Ko Byahi Bidesh: Songs of Marriage from the Gangetic Plains

The twenty-first century may have dawned, but a wedding in the family is today as much as it was centuries ago, an occasion for joy, celebration – and song. In Hindu families of UP and Bihar, there is a song for every occasion, starting with an invocation to Devi, the Mother Goddess, to bless the forthcoming nuptials, to Vidai, songs of farewell, as the bride leaves her father’s home. This treasure trove of songs, representing an intangible heritage that is in serious danger of being lost to succeeding generations, has been reproduced here for the first time in the original Devanagiri script with an English translation by Shakuntala Varma, as she takes the reader through each step of a traditional wedding in the gangetic plains. There are songs to introduce the Banna (groom) and Banni (bride), songs for the Sehra or ceremony of the flower veil, songs for the Ghori or mare, and songs for Kanya Daan, the giving away of the bride. Songs mark the Saptpadi, the seven rounds of the fire, the Suhag Raat or wedding night, and beyond – to the birth of the firstborn, the lilting songs of Sohar. This is a book to cherish, for it takes us back to our roots and preserves for future generations our rich cultural and social heritage which, if we are not careful, we may lose forever.