Our group was fortunate enough to be invited by Sindhu, our SVYM Project Coordinator, to attend the wedding of her aunt's cousin in Mysore. Of the three weddings I have now attended, this was the most lavish and the most beautiful. When assessing the cost of South Indian weddings (or at least weddings in this region of Karnataka state), the more expensive the wedding, the more desserts that are served. At minimum, 1 and at maximum, 5 desserts will be served - and there were served 4 at this wedding.
Along with hundreds of beautifully dressed guests, we filed into the air conditioned (this is a luxury in and of itself) wedding hall on Sunday morning, where we were served breakfast before the ceremony. The families of both the bride and the groom were so welcoming - they sat us in the front row of the hall so that we could see all of the rituals that took place during a typical South Indian wedding. The ceremony took hours, but it was fascinating to watch!
Ashley, one of my students and my sorority sister, and I outside the wedding hall. We felt so glamorous to be dressed up like Indian women!
Before the ceremony, the groom's family prepares the groom and performs a series of rites, rituals and puja (prayers) to bless the groom and his future family.
One of the last rituals of the wedding - when the groom places toe-rings on the second toe of each foot on his new wife. They both looked so beautiful. It was an arranged marriage, and they initially looked nervous and concerned, but after this ritual they looked at ease.
Rev. John, lecturer at Mt. Allison University in New Brunswick, and I blessing the newly wedded couple.
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