Garland

A garland is a decorative braid, knot or wreath of flowers, leaves, or other material. Garlands can be worn on the head or around the neck, hung on an inanimate object, or laid in a place of cultural or religious importance. In contemporary times, Garlands are used to decorate, especially around holidays
From the French guirlande, itself from the Italian ghirlanda, a braid.
In countries of the Indian subcontinent, such as India and Pakistan, people may place garland around the necks of guests of honour, as a way of showing respect to them. Garlands are worn by the bridegroom in South Asian weddings.
Garlands were historically purely secular at first, sought for their fragrance and beauty and used for decorating houses, roads, and streets. It is eventually applied to Hindu deities as an important and traditional role in every festival where these garlands are made using different fragrant flowers (often jasmine) and leaves. Both fragrant and non-fragrant flowers and religiously-significant leaves are used to make garlands to worship Hindu deities. Some popular flowers include:
Apart from these, leaves and grasses like arugampul, maruvakam, davanam, maachi, paneer leaves, lavancha are also used for making garlands. Fruit, vegetables, and sometimes even currency notes are also used for garlands, given as thanksgiving.
Wedding ceremonies in India include the bride and groom wearing a wedding garland. On other occasions, garlands are given as a sign of respect to an individual person or to a divine image.
A gajra is a flower garland which women in India and Bangladesh wear in their hair during traditional festivals. It is commonly made with jasmine. It can be worn around a bun, as well as in braids. Women usually wear these when they wear sarees. Sometimes, they are pinned in the hair with other flowers, such as roses.
In ancient times, Tamil kings employed people to manufacture garlands daily for a particular deity. These garlands were not available for public consumption.
In contemporary times, each Hindu temple in southern India has a nandavanam (flower garden) where flowers and trees for garlands are grown. Large Shiva temples like Thillai Nataraja Temple, Chidambaram, Thyagaraja Temple, Tiruvarur, and Arunachaleswara Temple, and those found in Thiruvannamalai still preserve such nandavanams for supplying flowers for daily rituals.
Stone inscriptions of Rajaraja I at Thanjavur gives details of patronage bestowed by royals to the conservation of nadavanams that belonged to the "Big Temple".
Marigold and nitya kalyani garlands are used only for corpses in burial rituals. At social functions, garlands are used to denote the host.
At Srirangam Ranganathar temple, only garlands made by temple sattharars (brahmacaris employed for garland-making) are used to adorn the deity Ranganatha. Garland and flowers from outside the temple grounds are forbidden. Sattarars have several disciplinary rules for many aspects of their profession, some of which include:
While making garlands, the sattarars keep flowers and other materials on a table in order to keep them away from the feet, which are traditionally viewed as unclean and unfit for use in a religious context. Material is always kept above hip level.
South Indian garlands are of different types. Some of them are as follows:
Each Hindu deity has a unique garland:
The tradition of garlanding statues as a sign of respect extends to respected non-divine beings, including ancient King Perumbidugu Mutharaiyar II and the innovative colonial administrator Mark Cubbon.
A reference to a garland is found in the Nepalese national anthem, Sayaun Thunga Phulka. The first line reads, "Woven from hundreds of flowers, we are one garland that's Nepali."
In Christian countries, garlands are often used as Christmas decorations, such as being wrapped around a Christmas tree.