Hindu Prayers For Wedding Ceremony

Prayer to Ganesha and Request for His Blessings Upon This Marriage

And from the Hindu tradition, we ask for the blessings of Lord Ganesha.

To the Holy Son of Shiva and Parvati,
To the remover of all obstacles, Lord Ganesha,
We Petition for Blessings,
To sanctify this ceremony of marriage,
And to bless this marriage in all ways.

Lord Ganesha.
You are the speaker.
You are the listener.
You are the giver.
You are the sustainer.
Please protect us from all directions.

Let us listen with our ears to that which is auspicious, adorable one.
Let us perceive with our eyes what is holy.
With strong, stable body and limbs, may we seek divine grace and accept the noble order of all our lives.

O Lord Ganesha, please provide for the welfare of this family.
Guide prosperity and abundance to their door.
Please help them feel your goodness and Divinity within their home.

We place any challenges of married life at your feet
And trust you will always help.
We thank you with all of our hearts.

• May this couple be blessed with an abundance of resources and comforts, and be helpful to one another in all ways.
• May this couple be strong and complement one another.
• May this couple be blessed with prosperity and riches on all levels.
• May this couple be eternally happy.
• May this couple be blessed with a happy family life.
• May this couple live in perfect harmony… true to their personal values and their joint promises.
• May this couple always be the best of friends.

The M andap Muhurat is a religious prayer ritual performed at the homes of the bride and groom and on the day of the wedding ceremony. During the Mandap Muhurat, a priest leads the families of the couple in prayers to Lord Ganesha, asking for his blessing and the removal of bad luck and negative energy from both the wedding and the marriage. The small pillared structure under which the couple gets married is the mandap. On the day of the wedding, the groom prays to Lord Ganesha once more underneath the mandap.

The sacred fire ritual, known as the Havan, is a ceremony performed during the wedding to ask for marriage blessings from the deities. During the ritual, a fire is lit with clarified butter, wool and wood, and offerings, such as puffed rice and herbs, are thrown into the fire while the priest chants mantras. Most often, the priest’s mantras are intended to pray for Agni, the god of fire, to act as a divine witness to the wedding.

The Kanyadaan is a ritual performed during the wedding ceremony by the parents of the bride to indicate their blessing of the marriage between their daughter and the groom. Kanyadaan also symbolizes the offering of the bride to the groom as a gift, as he is representative of Lord Vishnu and is being trusted to care for the bride. During the ritual, the right hands of the bride and groom are joined together by the bride’s father and then the bride’s mother pours holy water over the united hands while the priest recites sacred prayers.

In addition to evoking the deities during the Havan, the Saptapadi is a ritual that is performed while the couple walks around the sacred fire, solidifying the marriage. Known as both the Seven Blessings and Seven Steps, the priest and the couple recite the seven marriage vows during the Saptapadi. The blessings that the couple pray for include abundant resources and food, a strong and prosperous marriage and family, eternal happiness and harmony and lasting friendship. As the Seven Blessings are spoken, the bride and groom take seven steps around the fire while their hands are held by their interlocked little fingers. Oftentimes, the bridesmaids will throw flowers at the couple as they perform their walk around the fire.