Marriages are getting more lavish and sumptuous with doses of innovative ideas and extravaganza thrown in because everybody from the bride and groom to the parents and relatives wants to make it a memorable event. But beneath the brouhaha the Hindu wedding ceremony follows a very dignified custom and centres around elaborate pre-and-post marriage rituals.
Vastushastra has an innate relationship with temples, altars, rituals, religious ceremonies and sacramental functions. The Sulvasutra of Apastambha written as early as 2500 B.C. offers details of designing ritual altars according to the rules of Vastu Shastra. A Lagna Mandap is a temporary temple that is erected to perform a puja and is therefore governed by certain principles of Vastushastra.
This Mandap holds the actual ceremony of marriage. This ceremony is the foundation of a happy married life and therefore it must be performed with devotion and respect. It is here that the bride’s parents invoke various gods and deities, pray to them to seek their blessings for the couple, and finally in their presence give away their daughter to the groom who marries her right there in the presence of these gods. And then the ceremonial fire is lit, which is the act of invoking Agni who is also the priest of the gods and on their behalf accepts the offerings made to them. Finally, the bride and groom circumambulate Agni, offer their prayers, seek the blessings of all invited gods, parents, elders, and the brahmins. Once the ceremony is over, the gods are requested to return to their abodes. It is a beautiful ceremony in spirit and practice which deserves our highest respect and whose sanctity should be maintained to ensure the blessings for a happy married life.
The following points should be kept in mind about the Lagna Mandap:
Environment
The Lagna Mandap should be built in a clean area that has been purified by sprinkling Ganga water. Once the priest begins to create the alter and the mandap, it is a good practice to restrict admission to the Mandap area. In particular, shoes and all other footwear, cigarettes and alcoholic drinks should be categorically banned from entering the Mandap.
Location
Build the Mandap in the North-Eastern part of the area as it is the chosen direction for all religious and spiritual activities.
Shape
A Lagna Mandap is always built square. Square shape denotes stability and its four equal sides denote a proportionate and balanced development in all aspect of married life. Fortunately, most of the Tenthouse contractors and Mandap decorators follow this practice out of the sheer convenience of modular construction.
The four pillars of the Mandap should be Bamboo and not iron pipe as most decorators use, and the entire Mandap should be beautifully decorated with flowers and banana trunks.
Iron vessels are exclusively used in black magical rites, and the use of iron in any form – either as vessels or as a structural element – is prohibited in an auspicious religious ceremony.
Ceremonial Fire
I have noticed in indoor marriages that sometimes a fire is lit outdoors – often in the mason’s circular pan - and is brought in for an ultra-quick havan and is quickly taken away because of the smoke which the fire emits. This is a typical case of convenience taking priority over the importance of the ritual. It is a wrong practice and should be avoided. The hawan ceremony is to be enjoyed and not done away with in a hurry. After all, it is an occasion of making offerings to the gods.
Two types of arrangements are prescribed in Vastu for Hawan: a Hawankund and a Hawan Vedi.
A Kund is a pit either dug in the ground or created by erecting bricks. It has to be a Sarvatobhadra - equal in length, width, and height. This may prove to be cumbersome and is best avoided. Also to be avoided is the oft-seen tin hawan kund which resembles a squarish tapered bucket. Neither its shape nor its metallic construction is acceptable in the agamic tradition.
The other arrangement is a Havan Vedi, a square platform of 18” x 18” made of fresh, clean, unbroken and washed bricks, covered with clean sand and finally decorated with colours.
Seating Arrangement
The Bride and the Bridegroom should sit facing East or North when performing the Puja or the havan. They should never sit facing South.
Adherence to the Muhurt
The element of Time is critical for Vastushastra. The world is a cyclic movement of the Divine Consciousness in Space and Time, and the latter, like an invisible stream or a mountain rapid, constantly moves ahead with its currents, undercurrents, rapids, draughts, tides which have a non-patterned cyclic nature. When we choose to make a movement, either we are moving with its flow or moving against it. Muhurt is the moment when the flow of Time is favourable for marriage and one should make an effort to stick to it.
The Lagna Mandap is a Temple where the meaningful ceremony of marriage takes place. For
best results in later life it is important to maintain its rules and dignity.
©Arun Vyas. This article may not be reproduced in any form without the permission of the author. Arun Vyas may be contacted at arun@arunvyas.com / arunvyas.com/contact

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