Valli Kalyanam

An interesting wedding story is the wedding of Valli to Lord Subramanya. This is how it goes:

A long, long time ago, there lived a hunter king called Nambirajan. Nambirajan was sad as he had no child of his own. Wandering through the forests one day while hunting, he saw a beautiful golden baby girl. Believing the child to be a gift from God, he brought the child up as his own. This was an area called Lavalee near Kanchi where a number of valli creepers were found. So Nambirajan named her daughter Valli.

Valli was no ordinary child. By the curse of Kanva Maharishi, Lord Vishnu had been born as sivamuni. He was performing a severe penance in his ashram, when Goodness Lakshmi came to him in the guise of a deer. Thus Valli was the child of Mahavishnu and Goddess Lakshmi. Valli grew into a beautiful young girl and soon her father started searching for a suitable groom. one day, while Valli was playing in the fields a fortune teller came by and predicted that she would marry Lord Subramanya. Valli paid little attention to the prediction and went away.

A short while later, she came upon and old man in the fields. He was tired and hungry and wanted something to eat. Valli took pity on him and fed him. His hunger satisfied, the old man who was really Lord Subramanya in disguise told Valli that he had fallen in love with her and wanted to marry her. Valli was angry and lost her temper. How could she marry an old man!

Lord Subramanya then prayed his older brother Ganesha for help. Ganesha appeared at once in the form of an elephant Valli was terrified and clung to the old man with fear. Having teasted her enough, Lord Subramanya resumed his divine from and told her the truth.

Valli consented to marry him and the wedding took place with the blessings of her father.