Rukhwat – Decorated Items in a Maharastrian Wedding
In older times, a bride took all her stuff from her family home to her new home with her husband. She would bring essentials (utensils, pots, cups), things to make life interesting (crochet needles, yarn, paint, pencils), and of course clothes.
The Maharastrian wedding has a special place for what a brides brings into the new home and that is the Rukhwat, a bride’s trousseau of gifts. On display are gifts from her family, things she made, and even some special clothes. In older times, a flurry of moms, sisters, aunts will help make arts and crafts to put on display. This was a way for the bride’s family to show off the bride’s homemaker capability and artistic interest to the in laws.
The Rukhwat is displayed on a long table with the beauty of the bride’s greatness.
Today, the rukhwat uses small items to represent the bride entering the groom’s family. Most items are made from sugar, milk, flour and are in scale. There can be a beautiful plate of fruit and vegetables or even a pooja thali and handmade crafts.
At my rukhwat we hired someone to create a story of the wedding rituals. Hiring people to create your rukhwat is common to create a ‘professional’ table but also relieve stress from the bride’s family. My mom, an expert crochet artist, lent us her most beautiful crochet pieces for display.
The sunflower
Indian bride’s wedding carriage
We also displayed little beetlenut people representing wedding rituals.
Mahek wrote an article about a rukhwat at a wedding she attended and Ugich reminisces about those days when rukhwats were hand crafted. Most of the items in that wedding were made of reduced milk. It is amazing to see the details and coloring to make the items realistic.
7 Comments
veena kowjalgi said
Priyanka said
Makarand said
Bhupali said
Preeti said
Ravi said
Pooja Ghag said