The Chuda Ceremony

The Chuda Ceremony
So this week, I wanted to talk about my Chuda ceremony…except I completely missed out a part that is between the Maiyan and Chuda ceremony. I’m not sure what it’s called, but usually the bride/groom feeds single siblings meethe chawal (sweet rice) and they do the same. I’m also not too sure about the significance of this part but it seems to be like passing on good luck.

I really looked forward to this part because I just LOVE meethe chawal 🙂 It’s a really fun part I think because everyone is happily poking fun at how we all look as we feed and get fed the heaped tablespoons of rice.

This is how it goes… you give each of your siblings a spoonful and they return the favour. Usually, all the rice has to be finished. So, the more siblings you have, the faster the plate will be cleaned. In the past, I used to give my cousins who were getting married huge, heaped tablespoons of the rice. And I was more than happy to get just as much back hehe.

On to the Chuda ceremony. This is the part where my brothers (in place of my mama, mother’s bother, who is unfortunately not with us anymore 😦 ) put a set of bangles on me. These bangles were originally supposed to be made of ivory and are to be bought by a bride’s mama and the bride could not see them until the moment they were slipped onto her wrists.

Well, let’s just say we are not that traditional. Chuda sets nowadays are mostly made of plastic and range from traditional (red and white coloured bangles) to very blingy in a variety of colours. Traditionally, a bride has to wear the bangles as long as she is married. But nowadays, it’s come down to 40 days or a year. I decided to wear them for just 40 days and so I wanted something I really liked. I looked a very long time for the set I finally got because I had to not only match it to my lenghas in Malaysia, but also my wedding dress in Portugal.

I really loved my Chuda set and was a little reluctant to have HP take them off once day 40 arrives. Now, the set sits pretty on my dressing table, awaiting the next time they will be used. Although there seem to be many do’s and don’ts when it comes to wearing the Chuda after the 40 days are up, I was given permission by both HP and my mum to use them again. They are just too nice to be used only once but I’ll make sure to not use it all together…will definitely be too much 🙂