In Hindu culture, wedding invitations are known as Lagnapatrika or nimantranpatra and reflects the cultural values, and traditions followed in the Indian society. These cards are used for announcing the marriage ceremony. The process of sending invitation card to guests forms an integral part of the ceremony. These cards are famous worldwide for their unique designs, colors and patterns. The presence of different elements in a Hindu wedding card makes it appropriate for the marriage function and without it the ceremony is incomplete.
Have a look on the various elements of Hindu wedding invitation cards.
Turmeric (Haldi)
Haldi symbolizes happiness, purity and auspicious beginning of a sacred ceremony. In Hindu culture, the wedding cards are first marked with haldi and then distributed to the guests. The bride and groom are also adorned with haldi to make them pure before the wedding ceremony. It has spiritual uses and medicinal powers and the yellow color of turmeric is the symbol of sanctity in Hindu marriage.
Sindoor & Chawal (Rice)
Sindoor and chawal are considered highly auspicious in Hindu culture. In Hindu wedding, wedding cards are marked with sindoor and chawal and offered to God to make the marriage holy and blessed. The red colored sindoor denotes the beginning of a religious event and white colored chawal (rice) denotes peace, innocence and purity.
Red colored wedding card
Red color is a powerful color and draws attention as it increases confidence and excitement. In Hindu culture, red color is recommended as an auspicious color, and it denotes enthusiasm, purity and delight. Red colored wedding card highlights the rituals of a marriage and enhances the grace of the ceremony. The red color depicts the true happiness for Hindu wedding.
Lord Ganesha
Lord Ganesha is considered as God of wealth and education. In Hindu culture, Lord Ganesha is worshiped first to remove all the hurdles and obstructions before starting an auspicious event like marriage. Due to this characteristic, Lord Ganesha is printed on the Hindu wedding invitation cards, with a belief that Lord Ganesha will make the wedding hurdle free and successful.
Designs
On Hindu wedding cards, motifs like peacock or peacock feather, swastika, diya (lamp), and OM are used for designing them. These designs have religious meaning and speak about the Hindu culture.
Wordings
The Hindu wedding cards are written in English as well as Hindi language. The wordings used in them are very simple and easy to understand. The cards contain details of the occasion, name of the bride and groom along with their parents and holy mantras and shlokas from the holy Vedas. The main motto is to invite the guests to give their blessings to the newlywed couple.