Dentaltrendz at 13:21, 23 March 2026

2026-03-23T13:21:18Z

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{{Short description|Sanskrit term for a wedding garland}}
{{About|the Indian wedding garland|The Kannada actress|Jaimala (actress)}}
[[File:Exchange of Garlands IMG 3901 1.jpg|thumb|A modern jayamala ceremony during a Hindu wedding.]]
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2019}}

A '''varamala''' ({{Langx|sa|वरमाला|lit=boon garland|translit=Varamālā}})<ref>{{Cite book |last=Ratra |first=Amiteshwar |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XV5iBV_pYm0C&dq=varamala&pg=PA157 |title=Marriage and Family: In Diverse and Changing Scenario |date=2006 |publisher=Deep & Deep Publications |isbn=978-81-7629-758-5 |pages=157 |language=en}}</ref> or a '''jayamala''' ({{Langx|sa|जयमाला|lit=victory garland|translit=Jayamālā}})<ref>{{Cite book |last=Bose |first=Mandakranta |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2Ar2Qfr-UeQC&dq=jayamala+garland&pg=PA174 |title=The Ramayana Revisited |date=2004-09-30 |publisher=Oxford University Press, USA |isbn=978-0-19-516832-7 |pages=174 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Shrinivasan |first=A. V. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=N5emDwAAQBAJ&dq=jayamala+wedding&pg=PT203 |title=The Vedic Wedding Book |date=2019-08-01 |publisher=Penguin Random House India Private Limited |isbn=978-93-5305-570-7 |pages=203 |language=en}}</ref> is an [[Ancient India]]n garland that is most commonly associated with its eponymous ritual during a [[Hindu wedding]] ceremony.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Mittal |first1=Sushil |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QdBFq2Ia79AC&dq=hindu+garland+funerals&pg=PA315 |title=Studying Hinduism: Key Concepts and Methods |last2=Thursby |first2=Gene |date=2009-01-19 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-134-41829-9 |pages=315 |language=en}}</ref> Traditionally, a varamala is made of roses and other flowers,<ref>{{Cite book |last=Malamud |first=Randy |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7gY6EAAAQBAJ&dq=jaimala+flowers&pg=PT12 |title=Strange Bright Blooms: A History of Cut Flowers |date=2021-09-27 |publisher=Reaktion Books |isbn=978-1-78914-421-5 |pages=12 |language=en}}</ref> though modern variations exist, such as garlands made from [[rupee]] notes, and other regional traditions.

The jayamala ceremony is a well-known ritual during a [[Hindu wedding]], 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.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Capo |first=Ava Laboy |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jjwfAgAAQBAJ&dq=jaimala+meaning&pg=PA116 |title=Wedding Traditions from Around the World |date=2013-11-15 |publisher=AuthorHouse |isbn=978-1-4918-3545-6 |pages=116 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Pandit |first=Bansi |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PT5h4IjBMk0C&dq=rose+garland+hindu&pg=PA121 |title=Explore Hinduism |date=2005 |publisher=Heart of Albion |isbn=978-1-872883-81-6 |pages=121 |language=en}}</ref>

== Hinduism ==
During the [[Samudra Manthana]]m, 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.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Vaswani |first=J. P. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ePNvEAAAQBAJ&dq=varmala+garland&pg=PT98 |title=Stories with a difference from the Bhagavata Purana |date=2019-06-20 |publisher=Gita Publishing House |isbn=978-93-86004-23-9 |pages=98 |language=en}}</ref>[[File:This wedding took place in the presence of Janaka, father of Sita and Guru of Rama - Museu do Oriente - Lisbon, Portugal - DSC06649.JPG|alt=Varmala of Sita and Rama|thumb|281x281px|Exhibit of Rama and Sita exchanging varamalas.]]In the [[Ramayana]], [[Sita]] places a varamala around the neck of [[Rama]] after he wins her hand in the [[Sita Swayamvara]], breaking the [[Pinaka (Hinduism)|Pinaka]] bow.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Sharma |first=Bulbul |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=on_ZhlB5taUC&dq=sita+rama+garland&pg=PA91 |title=The Book of Devi |date=June 2010 |publisher=Penguin Books India |isbn=978-0-14-306766-5 |pages=90–91 |language=en}}</ref>

In the [[Mahabharata]], [[Draupadi]] chooses [[Arjuna]] to be her husband by garlanding him during her svayamvara.<ref>Jones, Constance; Ryan, James D. (2006). Encyclopedia of Hinduism. Infobase Publishing. pp. 136–137. {{verify source |date=September 2019 |reason=This ref was deleted Special:Diff/909951530 by a bug in VisualEditor and later restored by a bot in plain-text form. The original cite can be found at Special:Permalink/909052788 (or in a rev close it it) as cite #8 - find and verify the cite and replace this template with it (4). [[User:GreenC bot/Job 18]]}}</ref>

[[File:Siva Parvati Kalyanam(originally Meenakshi Sundareswara Wedding).JPG|alt=Shiva Parvati Vivah(Wedding Ceremony)|thumb|Parvati and Shiva wearing varamalas during their [[Hindu wedding|kalyanam]].]]
The wedding of [[Shiva]] and [[Parvati]] is also described to have occurred with the ritual of the garland exchange.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Lutgendorf |first=Philip |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=19zvfkwXyzUC&dq=parvati+garland+shiva+wedding&pg=PA94 |title=The Life of a Text: Performing the Rāmcaritmānas of Tulsidas |date=1991 |publisher=University of California Press |isbn=978-0-520-06690-8 |pages=94 |language=en}}</ref>

A [[gandharva marriage]] 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.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Sachdeva |first=G. S. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9V35DwAAQBAJ&dq=varamala+wedding&pg=PA73 |title=Sacred and Profane: Unusual Customs and Strange Rituals |date=2020-09-23 |publisher=SAGE Publishing India |isbn=978-93-5388-517-5 |pages=73 |language=en}}</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

{{Indian wedding}}
{{Bengali wedding}}

[[Category:Indian wedding traditions]]
[[Category:Flowers in religion]]

Varamala - Revision history

Dentaltrendz at 13:21, 23 March 2026