The Bharat Nikasi is the groom's wedding procession towards the wedding hall. As guests of the groom, the four of us were instructed to join in the parade. As foreign guests with little Indian wedding experience we had been clothed by Jitendra and his family members. James and Yann had on their 3-piece embroidered and beaded Indian suits. Antonia and I had were wearing rented lehangas (a long beaded skirt with matching shawl and a mid-drift bearing top). We were also wearing about 5 pounds each of rented jewelry.



JAIMALA (Garland Ceremony)
While the guests waited in the large hall for the bride and groom to appear a huge buffet of snack food is served. Among them, the ultimate in culinary perfection: Indian Chinese food. This had become our favourite treat since being introduced to the popular Kanpur restaurant "Talk of the Town", specializing in this amazing Indian take on Chinese food. Some of the dishes we savored were Veg Manchurian and Chili Paneer which, if their were Chinese equivalents (which there aren't) might be known as fried noodles with tofu and General Tao's cheese.





CHAADI (Traditional Vedic Marriage Ceremony)
After dinner, we returned to the main wedding hall where a four-pillared canopy called a mandap had been set up to under which the religious ceremony would take place. The ceremony would last about 5 hours, and we didn't begin until after midnight. We had been instructed to change into comfortable clothes and matresses had been set up around the mandap. Jitendra had informed us that having a nap during the ceremony was perfectly acceptable. Waiters had also been instructed to keep the espresso machines up and running. We watched the ceremony as intently as possible and I summarize its main aspects below, not because I was clever enough to note them at the time but because Lucie was good enough to do it for us.
Durga Janu:
A white chord is placed around the groom's chest by male family members. The white chord is a symbol that the groom has attained the maturity to marry.

The bride receives clothing, gold and jewelry that she will wear upon entering the groom's home.

Kanyadan is the union of the two families. This union is symbolised by a paste made of flour and water. At this point in the ceremony the bride's parents confirm the confidence that they have in their future son-in-law.

Small offerings are thrown into the holy fire called the Havan and the bride and groom say prayers to various gods.

Seven vows are taken in front of the sacred fire, they are thus considered to be unbreakable. At each vow, the bride and groom circumambulate the fire. There seem to be many different versions of the seven vows, in Lucie and Jitendra's case, Jitendra made 6 promises to Lucie and Lucie one promise to Jitendra.

The groom applies red vermilion powder along the part of the bride's hair. Red is a colour worn only by married women in India and supposedly brings good health.

The bride receives silver rings on all five of her toes (Bichiya is the word for toe ring). The wife an older brother or cousin of the bride is the one to place the rings on her toys.

WESTERN ADDITIONS
Exchange of Wedding Bands:
Lucie and Jitendra exchanged wedding bands and even had a best man (James) and maid of honour to present them. No kissing on the lips though.

A multi-tiered cake with icing flowers flown in from Mumbai was served at the end of the night. The Indian twist is that the bride and groom feed each of their guests individually!

Lucie and Jitendra showed off their lessons with a swing dance (minimal closeness between bride and groom). By the time they hit the dance floor it was about 6am, its amazing that they were able to even keep their eyes open.

CLOSING CEREMONIES
That the wedding wasn't actually over was news to us, but not entirely a surprise. Every day since we had arrived in Kanpur there was something wedding-related to do. The first ceremony was to begin shortly after we left the wedding, but Jitendra kindly "forgot" to call the hotel to wake us up.
On the Banks of the Ganga:
In the afternoon, cars were ready at the hotel to escort us to a small village along the Ganga River, not far outside the city. Here, more prayers and blessings were recited with the help of a priest hired on site, one of many priests stationed along the banks of the river waiting for customers. Among many rituals, Jitendra tossed his tinsel wedding hat into the river.

Lucie and Jitendra were blessed by the priest guarding the "Centre of the World". Apparently located right there in the village!


A small puja was held at the Bajpai residence in order to welcome Lucie in to the home. The evening's last event was to decorate the matrimonial bedroom. Actually, Jitendra's mother arranged to have it decorated. Thousands of fresh flowers were strung together and draped from the bed frame and pink flower petals were scattered on the bed itself. Other than the fact it was being supervised by her mother-in-law I can't imagine that Lucie could hope for anything more delightful.

3 comments:
Fabulous Nancy! They came out perfect you're so talented. Their mouths are getting to drop.
Wedding Rings
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