After Bar Maryam is sung the priests sprinkle the newly wedded couple with Holy Water and conclude the ceremony.

[2][3][4] The Knanaya are an ethnic-group found within the Saint Thomas Christians of Kerala and are said to be the descendants of Judeo-Christians who migrated to India in the 4th century.

[4] The chant was written down for the first time in history by the Knanaya scholar P.U Luke in his text “Puratana Pattukal” or Ancient Songs in 1910.

[2] In 1944 the Syro Malabar priest and writer Joseph Kurmankan ridiculed the Knanaya community for singing Bar Mariam at the conclusion of their wedding ceremonies.

[5] Since then, the revered Syro Malabar priest and scholar Placid J. Podipara (1899-1985) gave the following description of the chant:[4]

"There is a hymn called “Bar Mariam” (the Son of Mary) which is sung as “paraliturgical” by priests and people at the end of the wedding ceremonies of the Southist (Knanaya Catholic) community of the Chaldeo-Malabar rite.

This community traces its origin traditionally to a foreign colony that settled down in Malabar in the 4th century.

It is sung after the conclusion of the wedding Holy Qurbana (East Syriac Liturgy) and is chanted by priests and laymen together.