I have never seen anything as beautiful as this wedding ceremony. There are so many interesting and beautiful traditions. First thing on the morning of the wedding, the groom's guests arrive at his home. Here all the men have their heads wrapped in similar fabric. I am told this tradition is to help the bride's family identify the groom's family, so that they can take proper care of them at the ceremony.
There is then a blessing ceremony that takes place where each of the family members blesses the groom. (Pictures from this ceremony are in the next blog). The groom then mounts a horse and all the guests follow him as he rides to the "house" of the bride to collect her for the wedding. In this case, Rahul just rode to the end of the driveway -- and then got in a car to take him to venue for the ceremony!
You can see the bride being walked in by her parents (I think) under a Chuppa like canopy. She looked absolutely amazing. I don't think my pictures do her justice... sorry Neha.
The ceremony is quite long. Seated around a fire, incense is burning and many herbs and flowers are thrown into the fire with blessings. The bride and groom sit on low chairs, while the parents sit crossed-legged on pillows on either side of them. Each item passes from the hands of the grandparents to the parents then to the bride and groom -- as a way of uniting the families. The most beautiful part of the ceremony is when a string is attached from the bride to the groom and then a piece of silk fabric is attached from the groom to the bride. The siblings of each then proceed to tie the two together. Literally, Rahul and Neha where tied together for the remainder of the ceremony and luncheon. Everywhere they walked, they went together!
Tonight is the big reception party. I imagine they will have figured out how to untie themselves by then!
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