bluestar Posted October 31, 2012 Report Share Posted October 31, 2012 (edited) hi, just wanted to ask the connection between sikh weedings and ganesh ji.. in particular maiya (night before wedding).. no offense but do not want to hear from people who are going to give a lecture on lavaan just want to know about maiya inparticular with ganesh connection.... want to hear an unbiased view (preferbly gurmat add to it..) Edited October 31, 2012 by bluestar 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bluestar Posted October 31, 2012 Author Report Share Posted October 31, 2012 (edited) .. Edited October 31, 2012 by bluestar 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
unbreakable Posted October 31, 2012 Report Share Posted October 31, 2012 (edited) Firstly, there is no connection per say between Ganesh Ji and Sikh weddings. (lets talk technical now) However, there is a connection. Remember that pre-sikh days, even pre-islamic days, everyone followed their specific tradition or culture you can say. "hinduism" is a myth However its not as simple as that, but it really is at the same time. When it comes to Snatan Dharam, I always think symbolically and allegorically. Its not what its made out to be in reality. Thats MY PERSONAL opinion, might be wrong, please correct me if I am wrong, I am open to criticism, etc. Ganesh is worshipped in different ways depending on which part of the country you are in. However they all have one thing in common, he is the bringer of happyness, wealth, peace, etc. This was a "vardaan" a boon, given to him by his father, Shiv Ji I believe, in compensation for what he done to him. (you know cut his head off by mistake, then asked bramha to fix him up, etc) When Ganesh comes, he brings his consorts or gifts with him, one of those is Laxmi, goddess of wealth. Remember, we as humans, are very selfish and we only pray to have something material, we don't pray for anything else, well the vast majority. As for Mayain or Batna The mix of turmeric (normally tumeric, milk, oil, etc different areas of the country have different recipes). This mix has some good clensing properties.They are meant to make the skin shine. Why make the skin shine, so that the bride and groom will be attracted to each other on their wedding night and make babies. Try it, mix up a batch, slap it on your arm for 1 hour and then wash it off, it lightens your skin. This is a cultural ritual all over India, Pakistan, Bangaladesh and some other parts of the world. Hope that helps. Mayian is pretty normal, its not a religious practise, more cultural and tribal. Like the Henna or Mendhi Ritual. Its all about preparing the Bride and Groom, dolling them up, so they look their best on their special day. Edited October 31, 2012 by unbreakable 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SURYADEV Posted October 31, 2012 Report Share Posted October 31, 2012 From what Unbreakable mentioned, Ganesh Ji is worshipped whenever you begin a new journey/project, so that he may bless you with success/accomplishments in that matter. Hence you have peole doing ardas to him during weddings, start of a new job, moving to a new house etc. Incidently, we had a stylised image of ganesh Ji on our wedding invites. Got some raised eyebrows and questions from families when they saw no gurbani tuks printed on the cards but an artistic symbol of Hindu god!! (I just responded by saying that I've converted and we are having a mixed marriage in a gurdwara!! no-one tried to stop us BTW. lol) 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
unbreakable Posted October 31, 2012 Report Share Posted October 31, 2012 From what Unbreakable mentioned, Ganesh Ji is worshipped whenever you begin a new journey/project, so that he may bless you with success/accomplishments in that matter. Hence you have peole doing ardas to him during weddings, start of a new job, moving to a new house etc. Incidently, we had a stylised image of ganesh Ji on our wedding invites. Got some raised eyebrows and questions from families when they saw no gurbani tuks printed on the cards but an artistic symbol of Hindu god!! (I just responded by saying that I've converted and we are having a mixed marriage in a gurdwara!! no-one tried to stop us BTW. lol) However, there is no Sikh connection, other than a cultural one which changes from area to area. Scripturally, No connection whatsoever. Giving respect is another matter, following a certain "outside" ritual is another. I respect Muhammed, Jesus, Buddha, but that doesn't mean I celebrate Eid or Christmas....however on that note, Christmas has become more commercial..lol....I miss those good old days...anyone remember snowman, scrooge, etc..lol Converted to what? Forgive me for asking, just curious, you know normal human behaviour. I am intrigued as to why people convert, did you have a revelation? or simply convert to marry your partner? 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SURYADEV Posted October 31, 2012 Report Share Posted October 31, 2012 lol No I did not and have not converted. just a 'joke' at the expense of those peeps getting hyper-excited at the spate of gurdwara mixed marriages these days. I'm 'amrit-shak', so is the missus. yes like you've mentioned it is more of a cultural thing rather than religious. However i'll also say that I dont believe it to be manmat either. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
unbreakable Posted October 31, 2012 Report Share Posted October 31, 2012 lol No I did not and have not converted. just a 'joke' at the expense of those peeps getting hyper-excited at the spate of gurdwara mixed marriages these days. I'm 'amrit-shak', so is the missus. yes like you've mentioned it is more of a cultural thing rather than religious. However i'll also say that I dont believe it to be manmat either. Thats subjective and maybe in a another thread life..lol Thats just brilliant. lol, I was getting all geared up to read "your story" of how you "found god"...lol 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bluestar Posted November 1, 2012 Author Report Share Posted November 1, 2012 Thanks for the replies guys,, i also thought in terms of "religion" the maiya bit is not that important so to speak....as suryadev paaji said which is what i have always understood that before perfoming any task blessings should be recieved by ganesh ji.... the reason i asked this question because i heard of a sakhi (nothing to do with weddings/maiya) is that when the devis/devteh came to see guru nanak dev ji they offered haar(flowers) and rubbed sandlewood on his face/body, and for some reason this story popped in my head whilst observing the maiya tradition that maybe the people are imitating ganesh by rubbing tumeric on the bride/groom... sort of indirect blessing.. also the flower made design the bride/groom sit on is the "hindu" symbol....im just speaking from observation and have no knowledge on maiya as i cannot find anything on the internet, religious sikhs say it should not be practiced, and the older lot just say its a tradition... from my understanding most if not all "acts of tradition/rituals" are a watered down pratan/snatan "religious ritual"... i suppose this is not the most important topic in my life but something which has always bugged me as to why we do it...personally have nothing against it and i would participate in the tradition my self.. lol at converting response... sikhs are really para about the hindu dharm... 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
unbreakable Posted November 1, 2012 Report Share Posted November 1, 2012 Thanks for the replies guys,, i also thought in terms of "religion" the maiya bit is not that important so to speak....as suryadev paaji said which is what i have always understood that before perfoming any task blessings should be recieved by ganesh ji.... Yup, Ganesh is asked to bless the occasion, just like Sikhs do an Akhand Paath, although its not necessary in my personal opinion, as just love for Vaheguru should be sufficient enough. But we are humans and we all have our failings, doubts. In Snatan Dharam (Hinduism), there is a lot of "personalisation" of God, you can see this in the humanisation of the the murtis of what they think/believe God to be. Asking for blessing is a good thing and should be done, as for the ceremonies, its good too, as it gets the family together. the reason i asked this question because i heard of a sakhi (nothing to do with weddings/maiya) is that when the devis/devteh came to see guru nanak dev ji they offered haar(flowers) and rubbed sandlewood on his face/body, and for some reason this story popped in my head whilst observing the maiya tradition that maybe the people are imitating ganesh by rubbing tumeric on the bride/groom... sort of indirect blessing.. also the flower made design the bride/groom sit on is the "hindu" symbol....im just speaking from observation and have no knowledge on maiya as i cannot find anything on the internet, religious sikhs say it should not be practiced, and the older lot just say its a tradition... To be honest, I wouldn't look too much into it. I am not surprised at these so called "sakhis". Honestly, I don't believe it, remember this is my personal opinion and belief, I am not a socalled book scholar, just a practical & realistic guy. from my understanding most if not all "acts of tradition/rituals" are a watered down pratan/snatan "religious ritual"... Yes and No, its like tracing the roots of Folk Songs. I believe some of these rituals are more cultural, i.e. tribal. i suppose this is not the most important topic in my life but something which has always bugged me as to why we do it...personally have nothing against it and i would participate in the tradition my self.. I agree, its not really worth looking into, however knowledge which educates and clears and misconceptions is always good. lol at converting response... sikhs are really para about the hindu dharm... I find it to be the opposite. I find the Hindus get into a huffy puffy about the Sikhs, especially when they say they are not part of the so called "Hindu brotherhood". From my experience, its always the Hindus (and muslims) who can't handle that the Sikhs are an independant nation. They always use the "yeah but guru nanak was born into a hindu family"...this is when the party starts. here is a link, there is plenty of info on-line, have you tried using google/bing???? http://en.wikipedia....ding_traditions 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GtLoc Posted March 18, 2013 Report Share Posted March 18, 2013 I find it to be the opposite. I find the Hindus get into a huffy puffy about the Sikhs, especially when they say they are not part of the so called "Hindu brotherhood". From my experience, its always the Hindus (and muslims) who can't handle that the Sikhs are an independant nation. They always use the "yeah but guru nanak was born into a hindu family"...this is when the party starts. --- I think we should stop trying to be everyone's friend, accepting of others means you don't take random action against because they are different. It doesn't holding the hands and saying I love you of all the Shiv Sena Presidents (you, how singhs keep making them be replaced ) -- We don't have to emulate the mannerisms or the attitude of the old khalsa, just do our thing too but follow gurmat, and gurbani. Different shastars call for a different attitude; the mentality with a fighter jet is different from a tank, than to a sword. Guru Gobind Singh Ji even tells us this no? -- Off-topic I know. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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