A Wedding Story
by Hari Chakra das
They had chosen just the right moment. According to the astrological calculations of the head priest, Sat. Mar. 3 at exactly 11:53 AM was the most auspicious time for Hari Chakra das and Maharasa dasi to enter the sacred union of marriage (grhastha asrama). Their ceremony took place right on time at the Radha Vrindaban Chandra temple in the New Vrindaban, WV community. The ceremony was done with precision in traditional Telugu (South Indian) style. It was a beautiful ceremony.
Before the marriage, Varsana Swami gave his blessings to the bride and groom. Then, to begin the function, the bridegroom was invited to the marriage arena by the bride’s family, with an offering of flowers. Soon, the bride came in and had to undergo several special rituals. The most noteworthy one was where a mixture of the spice cumin, and raw sugar in the form of a candy-like resin or powder called jaggery are formed into a paste. Just as this paste will never separate, in the same way, the bride and bridegroom will never separate. At exactly the auspicious moment (in this case 11:53 AM) both bride and bridegroom placed this mix on each other’s forehead.
These activities were followed by the ring exchange and the “mangal sutra”, the beautiful wedding necklace exchange.
The bridegroom said, “I feel very fortunate to have gotten the opportunity to be married in the holy place of New Vrindaban, which is not different than the original Vrindaban, India, the birthplace of Lord Krishna.” The bride agreed, “I too feel fortunate to have exchanged my marriage vows in front of Radha Vrindaban Chandra. It was such a joyous occasion with the blessings of all the devotees present.”
