The short answer
Almost every Indian wedding has its rounds, but they are not the same. A Sikh couple walks four laavan around the Guru Granth Sahib, with no fire. Gujarati families take four mangal pheras before the seven steps. In a Bengali wedding, the bride is carried seven times around the groom. In the south, the saptapadi comes with a stone, a toe ring and a star.
In this guide · 9 parts
How do the wedding rounds differ across India?
In how many rounds there are, what they go around, and what they mean. The table sets the main traditions side by side.
| Tradition | The rounds | Around |
|---|---|---|
| Hindu saptapadi | Seven steps or rounds | The sacred fire |
| Sikh Anand Karaj | Four laavan | The Guru Granth Sahib |
| Gujarati | Four mangal pheras, then the seven steps | The sacred fire |
| Bengali saat paak | The bride carried seven times | The groom |
| Tamil and South Indian | Saptapadi, with the stone and toe ring | The sacred fire |
| Self-respect (Tamil Nadu) | None required | — |
What happens in a Sikh wedding instead of pheras?
Four laavan. As each of Guru Ram Das’s four hymns is sung, the couple walks around the Guru Granth Sahib, the groom ahead and the bride holding the end of his sash. There is no fire.
The couple bows after each round. After the fourth, the Anand Sahib is recited, then Ardas, and Karah Prashad is shared (Sikh Rehat Maryada). The Rehat Maryada also says the day should be fixed by the families’ agreement, not by horoscopes, so there is no muhurat. Walking around the Guru Granth Sahib took the place of circling a fire in the early twentieth century, and the Anand Marriage Act, 1909 recognises the ceremony in law (Anand Karaj).
Why do Gujarati weddings have four pheras?
The four mangal pheras stand for the four aims of life: dharma, artha, kama and moksha. They come after the joining of hands and before the seven steps.
Wikipedia describes the four rounds of the fire after hast milap and before the saptapadi (Hindu wedding). Sources disagree on who leads: some say the groom leads three and the bride the fourth, others the reverse. Ask your family’s priest.
What is saat paak in a Bengali wedding?
The bride, seated on a low wooden seat (a piri), is lifted by her relatives and carried seven times around the groom, her face hidden behind betel leaves. Then she lowers the leaves, and the couple sees each other: the shubho drishti.
Saat paak is its own rite, separate from the saptapadi (Cultural India). The details here come from cultural guides rather than scholarly sources, and families keep it in their own ways.
How is the saptapadi done in South Indian weddings?
With the seven steps, and with rites around them: the bride’s foot placed on a grinding stone while the groom puts a toe ring (metti) on her toe, and, after the ceremony, the couple shown the star Arundhati.
In Tamil weddings this is ammi midhithal, the stepping on the stone (TamilCulture). It is very old: the Pāraskara Gṛhya Sūtra has the bride tread on a stone with the words, “Tread on this stone; like a stone be firm” (I.7). In many south Indian families a vow is spoken at each of the seven steps.
In Tamil Nadu and Puducherry, self-respect marriages need no fire or seven steps at all: an exchange of garlands or rings, or the tying of a thali, is enough in law (Nyaaya).
What about Marathi, Rajasthani and Arya Samaj weddings?
Each has its own form, and the details vary more than any single source can show. In Rajasthan the rite is simply called the fera; Arya Samaj weddings include the fire, the stone and the saptapadi.
- Marathi. Wedding guides describe the bride touching seven small heaps of rice with her foot, one at each step. Families differ.
- Rajasthani. The central rite is called the fera (Hindu wedding).
- Arya Samaj. The ceremony includes the taking of hands, stepping on a stone, offerings of grain into the fire, rounds of the fire and the saptapadi. Accounts differ on the number of rounds.
If your family’s tradition is missing here, or described differently from how you know it, write to us. This guide grows with what families tell us.
Where does this information come from?
From the Sikh code of conduct, encyclopaedia articles, an ancient ritual text, and cultural guides where nothing better exists.
- Sikh Rehat Maryada, Anand Sanskar, as reproduced by Discover Sikhism
- Anand Karaj and Hindu wedding on Wikipedia
- Pāraskara Gṛhya Sūtra I.7, Oldenberg’s translation
- Bengali wedding on Cultural India; the Tamil Hindu wedding on TamilCulture
- Hindu marriage, explained, by Nyaaya
About this guide
- Written by
- Mohit Kumar, Phere. Write to the Phere team
- How it was made
- Written from the Sikh Rehat Maryada (as reproduced online), Wikipedia’s articles on the Hindu wedding and Anand Karaj, the Pāraskara Gṛhya Sūtra, and, for some regional customs, cultural guides. Where the only sources are wedding blogs, the guide says the details vary. Every family does it a little differently; your priest or granthi is the authority.
- Dates
- Published , updated . Checked again by May 2027.
Something out of date or unclear? Tell us, and the guide is corrected.
