BIG FAT INDIAN WEDDING.

An Indian wedding is a boom box of rituals, traditions, good food, a huge number of people, relatives and a lot of “taam jhaam”. For Indians a wedding is like a festival- full of high spirits and fun. India celebrates about 10 million weddings each year, which, trust me, is a HUGE number. One can be as much creative as possible when it comes to an Indian wedding. It is like bring in a lot of drama groups with costume under one roof. There’s so much going on everywhere.

Now, a very important question, “WHAT MAKES A GOOD INDIAN WEDDING”.For some its food, for some its the ceremonies, for some its free alcohol, for some it’s family and ok I’m sorry but I can’t cover everything right now. But don’t worry, this article will cover possibly every element of an everything that happens in an Indian wedding.

WEDDING RITUALS

A major chunk of an Indian wedding is its rituals. For a dynamic country like India, where so many religions prevail, there are tons of wedding rituals to be followed. Every religion has its own specific list of wedding rituals. Wedding functions and its full-on “riti rivazz” and it indeed is the highlight of every Indian wedding.

 For example :-  In Hinduism, there are a few key wedding rituals – Kanyadaan, Panigrahana, and Saptapadi; these are respectively, gifting away of daughter by the father, voluntarily holding hand near the fire to signify impending union, and taking seven steps before fire with each step including a set of mutual vows. After the seventh step and vows of Saptapadi, the couple is legally husband and wife. Hence announcing the bride and groom to be man and wife.

Different from Hindus, Sikhs get married through a ceremony called Anand Karaj. The couple walks around the holy book, the Guru Granth Sahib Ji four times.

 Indian Muslims Islamic wedding rituals include Nikah, payment of financial dower called Mahr by the groom to the bride, signing of the marriage contract, and a reception.

 Indian Christian weddings follow customs similar to those practised in the Christian countries in the West in states like Goa but we obviously have more Indian customs in other states.

MULTI DAY CELEBRATION

Indian weddings are notorious for being long affairs. An Indian wedding is supposed to last for 3-4 days. There is so much to attend before the main wedding day. Like the Mehandi ceremony, Haldi ceremony and don’t forget the most fun part Sangeet.

If you are invited to an Indian wedding, my first suggestion would be to get tons of sleep because once you join the wedding party, trust me, you won’t be getting any.

As much as these functions sound tiring to you, they are THE BEST parts of an Indian wedding. The Mehandi ceremony is the bride along with all her friends getting her hands and feet decorated with intricate henna designs. This particular tradition got picked up by so many different countries and now is popular not only in India but also abroad.

If you have heard about Holi festival of India, Haldi is probably the same except, instead of colours, Haldi is the paste made from turmeric by the elders of bride and groom. Both bride and groom host separate haldi parties at their respective places.

Originally, Sangeet was about women only. But thanks to modern times, Sangeet has somewhat evolved to welcome men into the mix. It is the first time when both families come together and celebrate. Gaana bajana, thumke lagana and khushi manana that is what sangeet is all about.

BAND, BAJAA, BARAAT

You know how each one of us loves hero making an entrance in all those movies that we watch. Indian weddings love that too. That is why Dulhas ( groom) of Indian weddings get their own procession and make that epic hero entrance. A groom can choose a white horse to ride, maybe a fancy car or even an elephant. Dreamy right?

So, all the girls wondering that your prince charming will one day come to you, riding his white horse and sweep you off your feet, well that is possible, just get married Indian style.

Besides the groom making an entrance, baraat is fun because you get to dance. Like A LOT!! Probably on the dhol beats or band.

YUMMYLICIOUS FOOD

The highlight of an Indian wedding is always the food.  There is this misconception that Indian food is all spicy and vegetarian. Food at an Indian wedding will depend on which states the bride and groom’s families are from and also what their religion is. If it’s a Brahmin wedding, forget that you will even see a teeny tiny bit of anything not vegetarian. Similarly in a Muslim wedding, you will find all the non-vegetarian delicacies. In a Sikh wedding, chances are you will find both.

More extravagant the wedding budget, more will be the food options, as simple as that. Even if you are picky with what you eat, every wedding has so many options for you to choose from. From a huge variety of starters, main course to a long list of mouth-watering desserts, an Indian wedding is like a Food festival.

There is this another belief regarding Indian weddings that,”Adhi janta sirf khaana khane aati hai”. Well, as far as I am concerned, I do that and if u do too, dont worry I am not judging you.

ENTERTAINMENT, ENTERTAINMENT, ENTERTAINMENT

A 3 to 4 days long Indian wedding requires you to be all energetic and hyped. No, you are not allowed to be tired at an Indian wedding. Dancing, singing and enjoying is what makes an Indian wedding fun and frolic. Even the bride and the groom show off a performative dance themselves.  Both families prepare dance performance or they may even choose free style. Theme could be anything, Bollywood or the most wanted Bhangra. If you are invited to an Indian wedding, let go of all your work related worries or dedlines and just loosen up!!

 

AN INDIAN WEDDING IS SO MUCH MORE…

Besides all of this, the food, the ceremonies, rituals, an Indian wedding is so much more. For families and friends of both the bride and the groom, it is an emotional rollercoaster ride. One moment their hearts swell up with happiness and the other moment it saddens. You must have heard the saying,” Everybody is supposed to cry at weddings.”   Even if you are not related to the bride or groom, there is something about the part where they say “I do” or their vows that makes you get all weepy eyed. Now imagine, what it would be like for the families. Even if they are all tears of happiness, they are still tears. Sometimes we see even the groom breaks down with all those happy emotions.

Wedding is about embracing changes, taking a stronger, possibly once in a lifetime step. But what makes it all special is that one gets to do it with the person they love and trust. Wedding is the proof of commitment and celebrating that commitment. So, if we say wedding is so much more than just a series of events, you gotta agree to it.