So how does one Hindu wedding in India look like?

I'll take you along with me to a day tour inside-out from my perspective to a colorful wedding, where the air is filled with the smell of smoke and flowers and musicians are performing with flutes and drums. 
Wedding traditions are a big part of most cultures. Indian weddings are known for their unique characteristics - the colors, rituals and traditions.

People close to me know, that I always want to attend a wedding. The idea of dressing up for the occasion and being a bit more glam than usual to go and celebrate love makes me always excited. I haven't been to many weddings in my life. Therefore, when I discovered that during my travels in India I'm lucky to be invited to an Indian wedding I couldn't be happier.

First things first - the wedding outfit

I was in the city called Chennai in South-East India and were on my way to a dress shop. As I was going to the wedding which lasted for 2 days it was an amazing opportunity for me to shop for some beautiful, colorful dresses.

 As we reached the store, I quickly realized I'm not in the size of an average Indian woman.  When the blouses were too wide for my waist, the skirts were still not long enough for my height. Oh well, I'm only able to wear the biggest number of clothing.
Eventually, we managed to find two sets of clothing for the upcoming special days and left the store with a two bags full of colorful and sparkly clothing and happiness on my face - when else would be the time I get to wear princess-like dresses in the colors of bright pink and blue with golden ornaments? 

PREPARATIONS FOR THE WEDDING: Girls Mehendi night

It's a tradition in India for the girls to have a henna, also known as mehendi party before the wedding. The Mehndi event is a colorful and fun celebration held the night before the wedding, which is traditionally celebrated by the women on the bride’s side of the family. This means a lot of fun as the girls gather around and let the professional henna artists draw fine lines which come together as rich flowery decorations on our hands and feet.

After the henna design was applied to all over both sides of our hands, we couldn't touch anything till the henna dries and processes for many hours. It was entertaining to see the male family members opening the car doors for us and helping to get our shoes on, as we didn't want to ruin our henna designs by touching anything. What would be the best excuse to ask them to take pictures of us as well.





THE WEDDING CEREMONY

I read somewhere that Hindu wedding ceremony can be explained as if it were a romantic story. The bride and the groom come to the Mandap, separately, as if unknown to each other. Then they fall in love and ask the parents' permission to get married. During the various rituals, the couple commits to remain faithful to each other. Then, the family and guests bless them and wish them a very happy life and they leave the Mandap as a newly married couple.

The wedding ceremony is colorful. Air is filled with the smell of smoke and flowers and musicians are performing with flutes and drums. The actual wedding ceremony consisted of countless rituals. Rituals with fire, with flowers and fruits, with rice and singing, with prayers.

The ceremony lasted for two days, sometimes these ceremonies can last even longer. This means not only the guests need at least 2 sets of clothing for each day, also the happy couple is changing their clothes during the day many times. If I'm not mistaken then the bride had 7 different sarees for these two days to wear.

This is what I learned - Indian weddings not only unite bride and groom but also their families. Family plays a key role in making life decisions and in many cases, the parents are picking the partner for their child for the marriage. India is a collectivist culture to the core.




The wedding took place in a temple of Lord Krishna. Hindus have many Gods and all of them have separate temples. From the entrance of the temple I got myself a framed picture of Lord Krishna sitting on the lap of his mother. They sell these little pictures and books to support their community and temple. I found this picture fascinating as the lady figure truly represents an Indian woman to me - her dark, long hair is tied back and flowers are decorating the braid. She is wearing a saree what you can see most women wearing in the city picture. And she is wearing gold, which is very common for the women to wear as everyday jewelry. Overall I really love this picture and I took it home with me.





Food - Everything surprising

Between the rituals people go inside to eat. There were long tables across the room with square pieces of banana tree leaves placed in front of the seats. Waiters walk in front of the long table with various pots, pouring different foods to your 100% natural square plate and offer the guests coffee and tea. 
All the rich flavorful food they offer is completely veterinarian, as both sides of the brides and grooms families do eat only vegetarian food. It comes from their cast - they are Brahmins which as well is the “highest” of the four castes in India.

 Food is eaten with hands. Okay, this is a funny one - I've struggled to eat quite many times in my life in the places where food is normally eaten with hands and one of them is India. I see people around me more skilled using their hands and all I do is try to not pour it all over myself. What comes to the hygiene, I always saw people washing their hands before and after eating. The sinks are a crucial part in any food place. No problemo there.

As the city of Chennai is extremely hot, I didn't feel really like eating. I cared much more to stand under the A/C to feel some cool air blowing to my skin. But, as I heard, the food was great.




Clothing

Clothing is brightly colored with golden decorations and ornaments. Women do mostly wear sarees - which is a nicely wrapped really long piece of cloth. The dressing goes along with plenty of golden jewelry and a bindi (a red dot worn on the center of the forehead). For footwear mostly open sandals are worn.
Men wear either classical formal shirts or Indian kurta.







It's when they tell you to wear traditional clothing and you're feeling the vibe




Thank you Chennai


There's something about the city. The high degrees and humidity of the weather in a mid-summer Chennai is something to look out for. Not only once did I feel like fainting. But it's people love their city in South-Eastern India so much, returning there even if they don't live there anymore. 

 Overall the event was something I've never witnessed before and I truly am grateful for being invited. It's something I'll always remember.

 With all the love, 

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