A varamala () or a jayamala () is a South Asian garland that is most commonly associated with its eponymous ritual during a

Hindu wedding A Hindu wedding, also known as Vivaha (Devanagari: विवाह; Kannada script: ವಿವಾಹ; ''Vivaaha'') (), Lagna (लग्न), or Kalyanam (Devanagari: कल्याणम्; Kannada script: ಕಲ್ಯಾಣಮ್; ta, கல ...

ceremony. Traditionally, a varamala is made of roses and other flowers, though modern variations exist, such as garlands made from

rupee Rupee is the common name for the currencies of India, Mauritius, Nepal, Pakistan, Seychelles, and Sri Lanka, and of former currencies of Afghanistan, Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, the United Arab Emirates (as the Gulf rupee), British East Africa, B ...

notes, and other regional traditions. The jayamala ceremony is a well-known ritual during a

, where a bride and a groom exchange garlands, as an indication of acceptance of each other as their spouse, and a pledge to respect them throughout the rest of their lives.

Hinduism

During the Samudra Manthanam, the legend of the churning of the ocean, the newly emerged Lakshmi garlands Vishnu with her varamala of lotus flowers, accepting him to be her divine consort.In the Ramayana, Sita places a varamala around the neck of Rama after he wins her hand in her

svayamvara Svayamvara ( sa, स्वयंवर, svayaṃvara, translit-std=IAST), in ancient India, was a method of marriage in which a woman chose a man as her husband from a group of suitors. In this context, in Sanskrit means 'self' and means 'g ...

, breaking the Pinaka bow. In the Mahabharata,

Draupadi Draupadi ( sa, द्रौपदी, draupadī, Daughter of Drupada), also referred to as Krishnaa, Panchali, and Yagyaseni, is the main female protagonist of the Hindu epic ''Mahabharata,'' and the common consort of the five Pandava brothers ...

chooses

Arjuna Arjuna (Sanskrit: अर्जुन, ), also known as Partha and Dhananjaya, is a character in several ancient Hindu texts, and specifically one of the major characters of the Indian epic Mahabharata. In the epic, he is the third among Panda ...

to be her husband by garlanding him during her svayamvara. The wedding of Shiva and Parvati is also described to have occurred with the ritual of the garland exchange. A

gandharva marriage A Gandharva marriage (Sanskrit: गान्धर्व विवाह, '' pronounced gənd̪ʱərvə vɪvaːhə'') (also known as love marriage) is one of the eight classical types of Hindu marriage. This ancient marriage tradition from the Ind ...

in Hinduism is a non-righteous form of marriage recognised by the Manusmriti, where lovers marry by exchanging garlands, without the consent of their families or performance of rituals.

References

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