Bridegroom receives grand ‘Gana bandhan’ gift

Friends present 100-foot long and 40kg heavy ‘gana’ as wedding gift

JHELUM:

In a wedding ceremony held in the Jhelum city of Punjab, a bridegroom received a memorable gift from his friends in the shape of a ‘gana’, which, in this case, was a 100-foot long and 40kg heavy garland loaded with flowers, cowry shells and dry fruit.

‘Gana bandhan’ ceremony is a tradition observed in many Punjabi weddings, with the gana itself varying from a simple red thread tied to the wrist, a bridal corsage or an extravagant garland gifted to the bride or groom (or both) by their close relatives and friends, In the Jhelum wedding ceremony, it took more than 20 friends to carry a 100-foot long gana weighing 40kg to the stage in a local marriage hall.

They wrapped the gana around the neck of their friend, Raja Ibrahim, amid much fanfare and energetic beat of drums. One of them commented that the garland-tying ceremony was a symbol and declaration of their life-long friendship.

The gana, an elaborate arrangement of flowers, cowry shells and dry fruit, reportedly took two months of hard work to make.

As per the wedding party’s claim, no one in the history of Punjab weddings in Pakistan has presented or received a gana of this length and volume.

 

Published in The Express Tribune, January 12^th, 2022.