Indian traditional weddings have one thing in common – they are lavish, protracted, expensive, and grand. They vary significantly from one part of the country to another, and India’s Hindu, Sikh, and Muslim communities each have their own distinctive marriage ceremonies and customs.

What a feast for the adventurous!

And one of the great discoveries of modern times is that in Indian weddings traditional dress, ceremonies and customs – including arranged marriages – outnumber the drift towards westernisation in so many other spheres.

For instance, in Delhi the marriage season is winter – November to February. During those months you can expect to see up to 14,000 weddings a day. And not isolated little ceremonies behind closed doors, either.

“All over the city, brass bands with members dressed like grenadiers parade to and from wedding parties in the white glare of lanterns, producing a noise that would wake the dead,” says Christopher Kremmer in Inhaling The Mahatma.

Just walking about the city, he says, exposes “numerous barats (grooms) dressed in zari turbans and Nehru jackets riding meekly on white horses to their destinies”. Many, too wear a gold and cream sherwani, the traditional Indian wedding costume for grooms, and traditional Indian bridal clothing is often the red and gold lehenga.

The reference to ‘meekly’ relates to the wearing down of the will to fight through the seemingly endless ceremonies and rituals associated with the nuptials and the family obligations involved.

[tag]Indian traditional weddings[/tag] are often pre-empted by an engagement ceremony (Mangni), then Mehndi (henna) and Sangeet (singing) party occur, when relatives of both the groom and the bride give blessings and gifts to them. The henna ceremony alone – the women’s hands and feet are decorated with intricate patterns of henna – can take the best part of a day.

One week before the wedding, the pooja is celebrated. It is a religious ceremony announcing the beginning of the wedding. Then the actual Indian traditional weddings involve Wedding Barat, welcoming of the groom and the barat, Jaimala (exchanging garlands), Kanyadan (giving away of the Bride), Gath Bandhan (tying of the wedding knot), Mangalphera (walk seven times around the fire), Saptapardi (seven steps together) and Aasirvad (Parental blessing) – among others.

All the Indian marriage customs focus heavily on symbols and use them lavishly. Those used in a Hindu wedding ceremony, for instance, include: fresh flowers (to signify beauty), coconut (to signify fertility), rice and other grains (prosperity and good fortune), purified butter (to light the sacred fire), agni (the sacred fire, which symbolizes purity and energy), and water (to wash away any obstacles in life).

One modern enhancement in the emerging Indian economy is the ability of many traditional Indian marriages to aspire to something their parents could never have contemplated – and that is the use of a genuine Raj palace for either the wedding or the reception. Others, however, opt for a beach wedding at somewhere like Goa, Kerala, Lakshadweep Island, or the Andamans.

And everywhere, there are relatives or commercial agencies offering a rich reservoir of contacts, schedules, arrangements and assistance to smooth the way to Indian weddings traditional joy.

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