Wedding traditions with coconut and betel

The coconut is a sacred fruit in South and Southeast Asia, where it is offered to the gods, cracked for luck and set on top of the ritual pot. Betel leaf and areca nut are its companions, given as a welcome and as a seal of agreement.

Coconut in the rite

In Hindu weddings the kalash is crowned with a coconut, and in the Tamil and Malayali wedding a coconut is given as part of the offering. In Bengal the couple look at each other from behind betel leaves, and in Telugu weddings the couple place jeera and jaggery on each other's heads. In Bali and Indonesia, coconut leaf decorations called penjor and janur are made for the wedding.

Betel and areca

Betel leaf and areca nut are exchanged in India, Myanmar, Vietnam, Malaysia and the Philippines as a sign of hospitality, and in Vietnamese engagements the areca and betel are the key gifts that stand for love and marriage. Their use is declining as health concerns grow over chewing areca nut, and some families substitute with other tokens.