Here’s why Dia Mirza’s wedding wasn’t a traditional Hindu affair

Bollywood actor Diya Mirza surprised her fans by revealing she chose a female pandit to perform her wedding rituals.

“The highest point for us was the Vedic ceremony being performed by a woman priest!” Dia said Wednesday. 

Dia had never seen a woman performing wedding rituals until she attended her childhood friend Ananya’s wedding a few years ago. 

“Ananya’s wedding gift to us was to bring Sheela Atta, who is her aunt and a priestess,” Dia said. “It was such a privilege and joy to be married this way.”

The couple also skipped two important rituals: Kanyadan and Bidaai.

“We do hope with all our heart that many more couples make this choice,” she said. “It is time for women to own their own agency, divinity, power, and to redefine what is old and birth what is new.”

Kanyadan is a ritual at Hindu weddings which means “giving away the bride” in Sanskrit. It involves the bride’s father giving her right hand to the groom, requesting him to accept his daughter.

Bidaai, on the other hand, means “goodbye”, and signifies the end of a woman’s role as a daughter.

Dia and Vaibhav, who is an Indian businessman, had been dating for the past couple of months but kept their relationship private.

She was previously married to Sahil Sangha but parted ways with him after five years of marriage.