Telugu people (or Telugu Prajalu) are a Dravidian ethnic group of India native of Andhra Pradesh, India. Telugu as a language is the third most commonly spoken language in India after Hindi and Bengali and second language in Silicon Valley. Some of the castes from the community are Reddy, Kamma, Arya Vysya, Padmasali, Vaidiki, Niyogi and Brahmin. The community exhibits rich and profound literary culture in the forms of scripts, music, dance and movies.
Besides Andhra Pradesh, Telugu community is also found residing in Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Pondicherry, Orissa, Chhattisgarh and Maharashtra. Telugu people from India are also found residing in foreign countries like USA, Canada, UK, Australia, New Zealand, Fiji, Malaysia, Singapore, Mauritius, Ireland and South Africa.
The community holds high importance to celebrating each festival in cultural and religious way. Telugu marriage is a sophisticated occasion celebrated in a very unique way. They believe that marriage is not the agreement wherein the bride and groom agree to live life together but also carries many religious values. Marriage ceremony of the community involves a lot of ceremonies, customs, rituals and traditions carried out for several days before and after the wedding.
Some of the rituals of a Hindu marriage in the community are Mangala snaanam (The auspicious bath), Ganesh and Gowri Pooja, Kanyaadaanam, Jeelakarra Bellam, Madhuparkam, Sumangali, Tying of the Mangalasootram Akshintalu & Talambraalu (The exchange of garlands), Saptapadi (Seven Sacred Steps - Oaths), Sthaalipaakam (The Adorning of the bride feet with silver toe rings).
During the matrimony, the grooms typically wear traditional shervani or South Indian dhoti and a shirt. Brides wear a red sari, wear flower in hair and lot of gold and pearl jewelry. Pearl is outstanding as it is Hyderabad specialty.
It is an event celebrated with grandeur and full of enjoyment for family, relatives and friends. Often marriages are conducted in the temple in front of God, however, these days people conduct marriage ceremonies somewhere outside because the number of attendees may reach up to 500 people. The wedding custom and tradition reflects the warm hearts of Telugu community.
