Vidaai Ceremony

The Vadaai ritual marks the end of the marriage ceremony. It is a very emotional episode for the bride's family members, friends and relatives as she leaves her parents home and goes to her husband's home to start a new life with new dreams and hopes. It is a new beginning for her as she bids farewell to her parents and goes to build a new life with her husband and his family. She leaves her parent's home with tears of joy and sorrow. The bride's father gives her hand to her husband and tells him to take care and protect her loving daughter.

The ritual of vidaai is marked as one of the most emotional aspect of the wedding festivities. It is the formal departure of the bride from her parents' home. The fun side of the ritual is that the saalis or sister in-laws are gifted with a kalichari, which is a gold or silver ring or sometime cash money for returning the groom's shoes, which were hidden by the sister-in-laws after the marriage ceremony as a joke. As she leaves her house she embraces her friends and family members. As she steps out of the door she throws back five handfuls of rice over her head as a symbol of prosperity and wealth. This custom signifies that she is paying back or retuning whatever her parents have given her in all these years of her stay with them and that may the prosperity flourish in the house she is leaving behind.

When the car starts, the brides brothers and cousins pushes the car a little signifying that they have given her a push ahead as she starts her new life with her husband. After the last car starts, money is thrown on the road to discard the evil. Mostly younger brother or sister accompanies her to her new home to give her moral support. In North India this ceremony is called Vidhai and in South India it is known as Kshemadandulu.