Fixing marriage over a good feast

Palakkad’s Paranjoonu ceremony evokes curiosity

Feasts may be common to betrothal ceremonies of all communities in all regions. But shaking hands and fixing a marriage over the meals may be a custom unique to the Vaduka community living across Palakkad district.

The engagement practice called ‘Paranjoonu’ (telling over lunch) suddenly became a topic of curious share and discussion on social media recently when R. Rajakumaran, an art lover who makes a living through bottled water distribution, posted a video.

The video showing five senior members of a bride’s and a groom’s family attending a Paranjoonu function could evoke anyone’s curiosity about the custom. “It has been a custom followed by our community for generations,” said K.C. Mani, Kanjikode unit secretary of the Vaduka Samudaya Samskarika Samiti (VSSS).

The elder members of both the families will sit across the dining table and fix the marriage vouching by the food they eat and also by their respective regions. The formal declaration of the bride and the groom will take place when the meals are served on their plantain leaves.

“Usually this ceremony takes place in the bride’s house. There will be five senior members each from both families. The groom’s father or relatives will announce his name, and then the bride’s father will take over,” said Mr. Rajakumaran.

Paranjoonu is considered the third phase of the custom, after ‘Kandoonu’ and ‘Kettoonu’. “They are all formal wordings part of the custom. It is part of our lives and, therefore, there is nothing special or curious about it,” said Mr. Mani, whose daughter’s engagement took place at Puthusseri the other day.

Although the Paranjoonu ceremony is widely held among Vadukas in the eastern and southern regions of Palakkad, especially in Chittur, Kanjikode, Nenmara, Kollengode, Puthusseri, Pallassana and Alathur regions, youngsters do not care much about this custom. “We don’t care about such things. Our elders may be particular about such practices during engagement, but for us, what matters is the mutual understanding and love between a man and a woman, and nothing more,” said Ajayan P., an IT professional from Alathur working in Bengaluru.