Aanandham aanandham aanandhame lyrics

This song is sung after the mangalya dharanam is complete.

ஆனந்தம் ஆனந்தம் ஆனந்தமே
பரமானந்தம் ஆனந்தம் ஆனந்தமே

ஸ்ரீ ராமனும் மணமகன் ஆனாரே
நம்ம ஜானகி மணமகள் ஆனாளே

வந்தவர்க்கும் பார்த்தவர்க்கும் ஆனந்தம் (2)
சீதைக்கும் ராமனுக்கும் ஆனந்தம் (2)

நாம் செய்த பூஜா பலமும்
இன்றே பலித்ததம்மா  (ஆனந்தம் )


Aanandham Aanandham Aanandhame
Param Aanandham Aanandham Aanandhame

Sri Ramanum Manamagahan Aanaare
Namma Janaki Manamaghal Aanale

Vandhavarkkum Paarthavarkkum Aanandham
Seethaikkum Ramanukkum Aanandham

Naam seiytha Pooja Palamum
Indre Palithadhama - Aanandham.

Here is a rendition by Sudha Raghunathan

Nichayathartham aka Engagement

The first ritual in the process of marriage is celebration of the Nichayartham (settling the marriage). There are two types of Nichayarthams. The first one is a legal contract between the families of the groom and the bride which is entered into by the elders of the family well ahead of the marriage. The second Nichayartham is a religious ceremony and usually takes place on the day prior to the Muhurtham. 

The dates of Nichayartham as well as marriage are chosen based on the birth star of the girl. Nichayartham is usually held in the evening hours in the house of the girl or a relative of the girl’s parents or in a community/public hall. Only the very close relatives take part in this function. The groom’s parents buy a silk sari as well as an item of jewellery for the girl. They also bring trays bearing fruits, dry fruits, candy, sugar etc. The number of trays is expected to be an odd number – usually 15 or more. 

The religious part of the ceremony is brief. The priests from both sides sit with the elders of the family of both the bride and the groom and draw up the ‘Lagna pathirigai’ (wedding card) for the bride’s as well as the groom’s side. This is written inTamil and mainly shows the date and time of the Muhurtham. The time within which the main ritual of Muhurtham has to be completed is called Muhurtha Kalam, which is three and three fourth Nazahigai (Nazhigai is an ancient measure of time and each Nazhigai is 24 minutes thus making the Muhurtha kalam to be one and a half hours). Other details like place of marriage, the Acharya (teacher) of the family etc. are also shown in the ‘Lagnapathirigai’. 

The ‘Lagna pathirigai’ is then exchanged by the parents of both the groom and the bride. The ‘Lagna pathirigai’ forms the basis for printing ‘Manjal Pathirigai’ which means ‘yellow card’ and is not to be confused with an yellow journal! This is the wedding invitation printed in Tamil with yellow background on one side and in English or Tamil with red (pink)  background on the other side. Yellow and red are auspicious colours. Usually this card is sent to all elders. In the olden days, the groom was not expected to attend this Nichayathartham. But nowadays, the groom also takes part in the function for whom the girl’s parents buy a set of new clothes.  After the exchange of ‘Lagna pathirigai’, both the boy and the girl are formally presented to the relatives of both sides and receive their blessings. 

The hunt for the horoscope!

Now, you have decided that your son or daughter is ready for marriage, and you either have a horoscope or you have to get the horoscope done. Hmm, if you don't have the horoscope on hand, the ideal way is to either get a good astrologer to draft one for your son, or drop into the nearby computer center that advertises "You can get horoscopes here", and get the current superpower to generate on based on the date of birth, time and place of birth of your kid.

Why do we need a horoscope anyway? There are a few specific things about a person's birth
1. Gotram
2. Nakshatram aka star
3. Planetary positions

The Gotram factor comes from predecessors. It is said that each person is a descendant of a sage from centuries ago. There are 20 gotrams, and they are "Aatreya, Agastya, Bhadarayana, Bharadwaja, Gargya, Harita, Kanva, Kashyapa, Kowndinya, Kowsika, Kutsa, Mowdkalya, Naitruvakaasyapa, Paraasara, Sandilya, Shatamarshana, Srivatsa, Sunkriti, Vatula and Viswamitra". I am sure most of us know some of these rishis, Agastya being a sure shot. So the first condition for prospective match is that the gotrams should not be the same. For example, if both the boy and the girl are from Bharadwaja gotram, they are seen as from the same lineage, and hence become brother and sister.

The Nakshatram aka star is the second factor that is considered. There are 27 stars in the horoscope world (thankfully not all the millions in the sky!). Starting from Ashwini and ending with Revathi, these stars have their compatibility matrices. For example, Uthiram isn't compatible with Chittirai, nor is Kettai friendly with itself (same goes for any star). Some stars are by default branded in terms of marriage - for example, moolam in a girl is generally seen as adverse if both parents of the boy are alive, but if only one of them is alive, then it is flagged green. One might ask if all these have any relevance, but with no bias to either side, I can safely say I have seen marriages involving the same stars fail badly. However, I am no expert on these and these are purely for information.

Planetary positions is a complex topic, and it is here people calculate factors such as yogam, dosham, dasai etc. The compatibility of the boy and girl  (as shown by their horoscopes) is determined under various factors such as temperament, mutual love, strength of the marital bond, financial prosperity after marriage, progeny, sexual compatibility etc. some of which are assigned greater weightages. A good match is one in which at least 70% score is obtained. This is called "poruththam parthal".

After all these compatibility tests are done, and the family background, earning potential, educational background etc checks (based on relevance) are complete, the families go to the next important step called "Pen parthal". Oh yes, before that, the photographs of the girl and the boy are exchanged along with the horoscope, and the overall consent is usually based on both the horoscope and the photograph :)