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in faith and morals. Now it is their duty to protect, care for and love the
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bride. This ceremony is also an expression that the bride is safe in the
“love circle” of the bridegroom’s family. This ceremony introduces the
newly wedded couple into the fellowship of their own new family and at the
same time to the other’s family. It is also an assurance of the continued
involvement of the relatives and elders in the couple’s joys and difficulties.
The gesture (Thazhuku) is derived from Gen. 24, 9: where the servant of
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Abraham swore to his master.
3.7.9.5 Feeding from the One Cup

“Milk with sliced fruits (banana) is brought to the couple in a single
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cup and they both drink from the same cup”. By doing so, the assembly
wishes that the future married life of the couple may become as sweet as the
milk and fruit. This Knānite custom has a close similarity with a Jewish
wedding ceremony. The Jewish wedding contains a ceremony in which both
the bride and the bridegroom drink from a single glass of wine, and later
that glass is smashed under foot so that no one else should drink from the
same glass. This Knānite ceremony is interpreted among others as indicative
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of the inseparable unity of the couple.
3.7.9.5.1 Theological Significance

This ceremony has the theological implication of the purity and
fidelity that should be kept between the husband and wife. In this ritual
context, milk is symbolic of purity and the fruit is symbolic of sacrificial
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offering. The community considered it a symbolic gesture of the mutual
consent and union between husband and wife. When they drink from the
same cup they are reminded of the Word of God: “and the two will become
one flesh” (Eph. 5, 31). At the same time, they are symbolically repeating

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Cf. VELLIAN, J., Knanite Community History and Culture, Syrian Church Series Vol.
XVII, Jyothi Book House, Kottayam, 2001, Pp. 20-21.
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Cf. PULLAPPALLY, JOHN P. M., “Socio-religious Customs of Knānites” (Malayalam),
in J. VELLIAN (ed.), Symposium on Knānites, The Syrian Church Series, Vol. XII,
Kottayam, 1986, p. 109.
94 VELLIAN, J., “Marriage Customs of the Kinanites”, in J. VELLIAN (ed.), Crown, Veil,
Cross, Syrian Church Series Vol. XV, Kottayam, 1990, p. 37.
95 Cf. Ibid., p. 37.
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Cf. Ibid., p. 37.

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