The couple sits with the bride's parents in front of a small pyre....fire is considered the most purifying force in the Hindu culture.... no God plays a part in the Hindu marriage( everyone's customs even in Hindu's are different but this is how it is in ours) but instead the fire is the ultimate witness of the marriage.....
The couple chants Mantra's in front of this pyre, go around the pyre in one full circle...throw the ashes that they are holding together in their hands in the pyre and sit again...this they do 7 times, each time, going around a circle, chanting mantra's and throwing of ashes, signifies one lifetime....Hindu's get married for 7 lifetimes!!!! this lasted 5 hours...then was Vidayi and finally we were ready to take the bride back home...the whole ceremony lasted 14 hours!
I was exhausted....this is after dinner and the actual marriage..the most imp part...Phera's are just beginning...I could have slept for at least 48 hours at this point but it still had 8 more hours to go...
Marriage Day....
An Indian wedding is divided into four main parts which happen on the same day...
Varmala, where the bride and groom exchange garland of flowers...this in itself lasts about 5-6 hours as everyone comes to greet the newly wed couple on the stage...
Next is dinner( thank God)
Phera's where bride and groom exchange vows and go around fire
Vidayi where the girl says her good byes to her family as in Indian culture her family is now the grooms family and she has to say her final goodbyes( this is the part i think is the saddest part of the whole affair......tha's another story...i don't want to get into right now....)
The next ceremony was Mendhi which means Henna on feet and legs...this is what i enjoyed the most as henna was so cooling in a temperature that was bordering insanity...I think it was about 110 F that day, the guy who did our Mendhi has been doing it for 35 years...he said he started doing it professionally when he was six....there were about 40 of us who got mendhi done that day including my brother......
Next ceremony after this is Haldi....where a Ubtan of turmeric mixed with some other powders is applied on body by relatives of the groom ( i am describing all the ceremonies from the grooms side...till this point we have nothing to do with ceremonies from the brides side, she has her own stuff she is going through) this signifies the birth of a new life as turmeric is considered purifying...i am not sharing any pics of this as they are quite something....
Landing in India the first thing I had to do was decide on a dress.....which in itself is not an ordinary task given that just had 3 days remaining till the marriage, so it was kind of an emergency, I had an opportunity to go into Old Delhi where things are still done in old ways, usually the floors of the shop are lined with thin mattresses...you take off you shoes sit behind whoever the shop keeper is attending to at that moment and then proceed whenever your turn comes.
The endless array of merchandise is on the walls and you just point to whatever you like.....
No visit is complete in India without encountering a herd of Cows and bulls...
The poster says...this is the lane in which President Obama visited.
My dress came in its own suitcase......
As a lot of you know that I am currently in India for my brother's wedding.....
Indian weddings are quite something, it will be impossible for me to describe however hard I try to explain the amazing amount of rituals and customs everyone has to go through.....( aka the mother, the father, sister, brother, Groom and bride, aunts and uncles, everyone is involved in some way or the other between a marriage of two people) but I have decided to share a few things that i had to go though.
The marriage was on May 12th but finally last night( May 30th ) every custom and tradition and dinner and lunch and goings and comings are over and done with.....seriously....
