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Rock n roll Soniye
The significance of music in a marriage
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Music is probably the best form of emotional expression. No wonder then it plays a vital role in a marriage. In a culturally hybrid society like ours, music aptly takes on the onus of expressing the joys and sorrows of the occasion and lives up to the responsibility.
Every nook and culture of India marries daughters and sons to some strains of accompanied music. This music is traditionally bequeathed and rings off a particular instrument. For example, most of the music played in South India is played on the nadswaram. The shehnai is another instrument favoured by many communities like the Gujaratis, Maharashtrians, and even the Bengalis. While the dholki or dholak are popular choices among the cultures of Punjab and Rajasthan.
Music for the occasion
As religion is such an integral part of a marriage it is but natural that the accompanying music hold more than just strains of religious sentiment. In Sikh weddings, the wedding ceremony or the anand karaj begins with kirtans (the singing of hymns by ragis - musicians). Christian weddings too are accompanied with hymn-singing that makes the occasion all the more spiritual. The Syrian Christians sing songs in eight different notes and their rites are deeply musical and lyrical. Talking of singing hymns, the Bohri community, within Islam, is another community that holds special functions during a wedding (majlis for women and darees for men) to come together for singing hymns.
Looking south
Music is considered to be divine in the South Indian states. Every state believes in playing music during auspicious occasions such as thread ceremonies, festivals and especially weddings. During marriages Carnatic music is mostly played during the entire ceremony with special emphasis on the nadeswaram. One important cultural factor is that classical tunes, those songs pertaining to various secular rituals, are also played at appropriate times.
East is east
Like in South India, Bengalis have their typical music too. The Rabindra Sangeet (based on the songs of famous poet / lyricist Rabindranath Tagore) is an inclusion of almost a religious nature. The shehnai finds predominance in Bengali weddings as does the oolu-oolu and the blowing of the conch. The Oolu-oolu is the onomatopoeic term referring to a sound made by Bengali women simultaneously moving their tongues and beating their mouths with an open palm. The oolu-oolu, performed by women of both families, is meant to draw widespread attention to the wedding ceremony. To complement the oolu-oolu, a conch is blown. Assamese have a similar version of the oolu-oolu, which they call the uluni. This is performed by rolling the tongue inside the mouth. The wedding song is called the biya naam and is moving in its rendition, which is similar to the heart-wrenching strains of the shehnai.
This tradition of announcing the occasion to all and sundry is a feature among the Parsis too. The Parsis believe marriage is not a function to be celebrated quietly. Therefore, not only is the wedding ceremony performed in front of a large assembly, but also it is accompanied by drums and fifes (i.e. the musical band). This is a musical exclamation announcing the marriage to the people of the town or village.
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