A sehra (,

Hindi Modern Standard Hindi (, ), commonly referred to as Hindi, is the Standard language, standardised variety of the Hindustani language written in the Devanagari script. It is an official language of India, official language of the Government ...

: सेहरा, , ), sehro ( Gujarati: સેહરો), mundavalya (

Marathi Marathi may refer to: *Marathi people, an Indo-Aryan ethnolinguistic group of Maharashtra, India **Marathi people (Uttar Pradesh), the Marathi people in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh *Marathi language, the Indo-Aryan language spoken by the Mar ...

: मुण्डावळ्या), morrah ( Sindhi: مُوڻ ), or basikam (

Telugu Telugu may refer to: * Telugu language, a major Dravidian language of South India ** Telugu literature, is the body of works written in the Telugu language. * Telugu people, an ethno-linguistic group of India * Telugu script, used to write the Tel ...

: బాసికం) is a forehead garland/nuptial crown worn by the bridegroom (or even bride in some cases) during weddings in

Indian subcontinent The Indian subcontinent is a physiographic region of Asia below the Himalayas which projects into the Indian Ocean between the Bay of Bengal to the east and the Arabian Sea to the west. It is now divided between Bangladesh, India, and Pakista ...

. This decorative groom’s veil can be made either out of flowers or beads and is tied to the groom’s turban or '' Pagdi''. The sehra has 2 main purposes: They are intended to ward off the evil eye. Secondly, the bride and groom are not supposed to see each other before their wedding ceremony. Therefore, a sehra solved the purpose of hiding the groom’s face, whereas the bride covered her face with a ''ghunghat'' or ''pallu''. They are more prominently worn in North India than in other parts of the country.

Etymology

The word ''sehra'' is derived from

Sanskrit Sanskrit (; stem form ; nominal singular , ,) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in northwest South Asia after its predecessor languages had Trans-cultural ...

word ''Śīrṣahāra'' (शीर्षहार) meaning garland for decorating head. The word ''sehra'' is mentioned in

Braj Braj, also known as Vraj, Vraja, Brij or Brijbhumi, is a region in India on both sides of the Yamuna river with its centre at Mathura-Vrindavan in Uttar Pradesh state encompassing the area which also includes Palwal, Ballabhgarh and Nuh in ...

poetry of the

Hindu Hindus (; ; also known as Sanātanīs) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism, also known by its endonym Sanātana Dharma. Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pp. 35–37 Historically, the term has also be ...

Bhakti ''Bhakti'' (; Pali: ''bhatti'') is a term common in Indian religions which means attachment, fondness for, devotion to, trust, homage, worship, piety, faith, or love.See Monier-Williams, ''Sanskrit Dictionary'', 1899. In Indian religions, it ...

saint Suradāsa.

Sehrabandi

The act of tying the sehra around the groom's head right before he leaves for the bride's house is called ''sehra bandi''. Typically the groom's sisters, female cousins, ''Bhabhi'' or sister-in-law are the essential performers of ''sehra bandi''. In the case of multiple sisters or female relatives, each woman takes a turn to perform the ritual one by one. While carrying out this whole custom, all the women sing traditional wedding songs. Usually, women in the family perform the ritual in a hierarchical order based on the relation with the groom. For example, it begins with the groom's mother, the oldest sister, younger sister, oldest sister-in-law and so on.

Types of sehra

Usually sehras are of two main types. The traditional sehra was made of flowers however nowadays beaded sehras are equally popular. A fresh floral sehra is the traditional sehra which is made up of flowers. A bejewelled sehra is made up of fancy jewels, stones and pearls.

References

{{Clothing in South Asia Bangladeshi clothing Indian clothing Pakistani clothing Marriage in Pakistan Indian wedding clothing Bangladeshi wedding