First night in Hindu Marriage - SuhagRaat

First night is the creation of environment to impress upon the bride about the non-effect of socio-sexual restrictive values and socio-sexual conditionings within the privacy of her marriage and so also to grant allowance to the bride-groom to enjoy the sex within the privacy of his marriage. The above explanation about the first-night can be understood only when we analyse the need for such function.

First of all the marriage gives permit to the man and woman to enjoy sex within their marriage so long their marriage continues; as such what is the need for arranging such an event, viz. first-night (Popularly Known as Suhag-Raat), that too making such a ceremonious arrangements; we should first study the socio-restrictive values and conditionings in the sexual interactions.

When a person thinks about, ''first night' or 'Suhag-
Raat', otherwise called 'wedding night', it really gives the person a sort of 'kick', because that will be the first time, generally, a man's, or woman's, personal sexual desire is allowed to overtake the socio-sexual restrictive values and the ambitious desire is allowed to be fulfilled for the first time then only. Moreover, the bride and bridegroom realise that the purpose of the gender role they were playing in the society hitherto is fulfilled during that night.

What is first night or 'Suhag-Raat'? First night is an event celebrated as a function wherein the just married couple are allowed, with celebrity, to enjoy sex in privacy. Here, privacy is created for them, the couple's cultural group makes them to enter into the created privacy and their entering into privacy is celebrated as a part of wedding, or in other words, as an epilogue of the wedding function; thus notifying the purpose of the marriage having fulfilled.

After all, all our social interactions are influenced by social values and especially the sexual interactions are controlled by the socio-sexual values. The tendency of the social values are to impart the values into the personal values of the individuals as such the important values of the society, viz. sexual values play prominent role in moulding one's personal values about sex. Therefore, when the social values have got very strong influence over the personal values of an individual with regard to sex, then any changes, or modifications, to be done in the personal sexual values of a n individual at certain stage, or age, is carried out by imparting the restrictive values, or conditionally allowing freely, though social functions.

When a girl is brought-up with a lot of socio-sexual restrictive values and social-conditionings in sex, it will be very difficult for her to compromise with the changed situation wherein she has to interact sexually, that too, with the opposite sex. Moreover, sex is viewed in the perspective of personal sexual values by man and in the perspective of socio-sexual values by woman; and every woman is conditioned to enjoy, or give, sex under security only and the security is her marriage.

The social values are so strong on the women in any society that the socio-sexual restrictive values will not allow the sexual desires of a girl to overtake them. Therefore when a necessity has arisen to modify such restrictive values so as to allow her to enjoy, or give, sex within the prescribed framework, a social function called, "first night" is celebrated. Moreover apart from imparting the idea that the restrictive socio-sexual values are withdrawn and such values will not interfere within their married privacy it is pertinent to impart the important factors of marriage. That is the reason why wedding is deemed to have been completed with the last rite of their sexual union; that imparts the minds of the couple with the important factor: that is marriage is a unit and the couple have to pull it on mutual care.

In Indian culture, it is quite interesting to watch the face of a bride just before entering the first-night room. So far she is restricted in her interactions with male members other than that of close relatives and barred to be alone with any male member, in privacy, except with her father, or sometimes brother. Moreover, she is not allowed to express any sort of sexual feelings and kept away from sex. Now imagine the psychological feelings in the minds of the bride. When her sexual desire overtakes the restrictive values, the resultant factor is very much apparent on the bride's face showing the happy reddishness. The same apparent change can be seen during the interaction in the first night room.