It's Indian Wedding Time!!

Remember a couple of posts ago when I mentioned a luncheon for the bride? Well, about a week later, I was able to attend both a "mehendi" event and the wedding itself. You've probably heard that Indian weddings last for days... and that's true. There are far too many events and rituals (extending over several weeks) to list here, and I don't know most of them anyway. But the main celebrations with guests typically occur over 3 days: (1) the mehendi (henna) event, with mehendi artists, light food, and a social time; (2) the ring ceremony (which I didn't attend); (3) the wedding and reception. (Note: Traditions vary state by state, although it seems there's a framework for Hindu weddings generally. What I describe here is a Maharashtrian wedding, and some elements were similar to ones I saw in two previous weddings I've been to in past years in other states.)

First is the mehendi occasion. The process goes like this: The artists draw with henna on the inside of your hands with a thick, dark paste. The paste needs to dry, which takes 30 minutes or more. The longer is stays on, the darker it will be. During this drying time, you can't use your hands! (You will smudge the henna.) Eventually, the paste dries out and begins to crumble off. You can help it gently along by rubbing it a bit. When the paste falls off, the initial "stain"/tattoo is light orange, but within 24 hours it darkens up a lot. It's best not to wash hands too frequently during this time. As for the bride, she gets the mehendi all along her arms and legs, and the husband's name is "hidden" in the design somewhere. (Apparently he needs to look for it later... 😉 ) She had to sit for a long time to get it done, and then wait for it all to dry. Someone teased the groom about eating his food while she had to wait, so he got a plate-full and fed her. True love. 😍 You will see photos of the process on me, and also the extent of the bride's designs! The last photo of this set is of my hands a day later. (Also, see videos at end of post for more!)

My friends Triveni and Amitab

Mehendi event

decoration

Both hands at once

painting with paste

Waiting for the paste to dry!

Bride getting her arms done

One of the bride's hands!

Now on to the bride's legs

Waiting for henna to dry...

And voila - my hands next day

Two days later was the wedding itself at a large outdoor terrace. There are countless rituals that I can't begin to explain. Some of these included: bride and groom being greeted by family and then led in; throwing rose petals; pouring holy water together (hard to explain); different family relations giving various blessings; having a string wrapped around and around them, then cut, twisted, dyed, and tied onto their wrists; blessings over a flame; tying their "shawls" together; walking around the fire circle; exchanging garlands; throwing rice; among other things. The atmosphere was casual and celebratory, but also focused, with guests walking around, snapping photos, greeting each other, and so on. After the ceremony, the couple then walked on a path of flowers, had a few more rituals and prayers, and then sat together on a stage where they greet guests, one set at a time, for photos and to receive gifts. Meanwhile, everyone else got to eat! By the way, the headgear of the men is called a "pheta" (click for info link) -- regional to the state of Maharashtra; the bride's side wore pink ones and the groom's side wore blue. PLEASE click and scroll through! (I have realized that the photos are chopped a bit when viewed in this format... I'm not going to change it, but I think you can see the whole photo if you click on it directly.)

rose petals for groom entry

bride's entry

bride's entry & family members

string ritual (& see video!)

string to tie to wrist

prayers over flames

tied together for eternity

pouring something into flames

sweet photo

The only child at the ceremony

Mother of the Bride

Garlands = draped!

delicious dinner

reception

in the entryway

Interestingly, the bride is Hindu and the groom is Christian. So his side of the family was not entirely sure of what was going on for some of the rituals. Happily, the bride's father took on the role of explaining in English much of what was happening, not only for the groom's family but for several of us visitors from "away" as well. And... they still had the entire Christian wedding ceremony/reception to do a few days later!

Below are a few "extras" -- some videos from the two events. Enjoy!

First a few very short videos of me getting mehendi...

And here are a couple from the wedding...

That's all for this update, folks!