Anand Karaj — the four rounds.
The couple circle the Guru Granth Sahib four times while Guru Ram Das's four Lavan are read and then sung, and that is the whole marriage. No fire, no priest, no astrologer, no dowry — and no bride given away, since the rite has no giver.
Anand Karaj is short, plain and structurally unusual. The couple sit before the Guru Granth Sahib; each of Guru Ram Das's four Lavan is read aloud, then sung while the couple walk clockwise around the scripture. There is no sacred fire, no priest, no astrological date, no bride given away by a father — the rite has no giver, because there is no transfer. The Rehat Maryada bans dowry, bans matching horoscopes, bans caste as a criterion, and says a Sikh should marry a Sikh. That last clause is now the live fight: gurdwaras in Britain and Canada have been picketed and services physically disrupted over interfaith Anand Karaj, and the Akal Takht issued directives in 2007 and again since restricting the rite to two Sikhs. Some gurdwaras hold the line, others quietly do not, and diaspora families with a non-Sikh partner often end up with a civil ceremony and a blessing. The Anand Marriage Act of 1909 gave the rite legal standing in India, but Sikh marriages were registered under Hindu law until an amendment in 2012.
In the first round the Lord sets out the duties of household life.
Guru Ram Das, Lavan, Raag Suhi, Guru Granth Sahib Ang 773 (rendered)The marriage rite opens by describing a marriage as work, not as a transfer.
The same ground, other faiths
rites that share this one's ideasSign in to open the first thread. Everything here is attributed.