The Kannika Thanam ritual is the bride’s parents giving their daughter’s hand in marriage to the groom making her also a member of the groom’s family. The priest calls the parents of the bride and the groom to the Manavarari. Ravi’s father being deceased, his maternal aunt and her spouse act for his parents. The priest pronounces the names of three generations of male forebears, both living and dead, of the bride bride and groom inviting them to bear witness to the marriage and bless the couple. The bride’s father, betel and coconut in hand, places his daughter’s hand in the groom’s hand indicating that the groom accept cherish and protect her all through life. The bride’s mother indicates her consent by trickling water into hands of her husband, who gives a gold coin to the groom symbolic of giving away the bride. The groom accepts the coin and in turn gives it to his parents. This signifies the acceptance of the bride by the groom and his family.
The groom then presents the Koorai and the Thaali to the bride and welcomes her into his family. Before presenting these to the bride, they are blessed by the priest and are taken around in a tray to be blessed by the elders in the congregation. The bride now leaves the Manavarai and retires to her bridal boudoir. She then returns to the Manavarai, dazzling in her gold braided Koorai, and garlands the groom expressing thus her consent and acceptance.
