Seeing Arundathi and Dhruva at 12 noon on marriage day – Is there a need?

Seeing Arundathi and Dhruva  at  12 noon on marriage day   – Is there a need?

By

P.R.Ramachander

There  is a function in the marriage  when  the iyer groom points out Arundathi  star  who was an epitome of virtue and  Bride points out  The Druva star (Pole star)  which is famous for piety and constancy .

   When I got married (47 years back)    this happened   after  dusk , when the stars  have appeared  in the sky. Our priest   simply  pointed a  portion of the sky and asked  me to ask my wife “Have you seen Arundathi?”  and later my new wife asked me , “Have you seen Dhruva?” Since I knew the place where  these stars would be I was aghast   when the priest asked  us to look at some other direction..  Several HOmas need to be done and completed before night.

    Times  have changed. No one wants to have a two session marriage  -morning and after  dusk nowadays. So the Vadhyar is told that  everything should be over by lunch time  (poor vadhyar) and so iin several marriages that  I attend nowadays   the “Looking at  Arundathi   and Dhruva”  is conduced around 12  noon.   No stars   would be visible  anywhere but still  the bride asks “Have you seen Dhruva?”   and groom asks  “Have  you seen Arundathi?”

  In one of the recent marriages I attended , the Vadhyar   did  the ceremony   in side the marriage hall. With great curiosity I asked him , “Is it Okay?”   and he replied “Any way they are  not going to see  any star outside there. So I thought , let me finish the formality comfortably here itself?”

Oh my God, When we cannot do it, Why not we drop it all  together?