Day 3: 26th of January
Finally, the much awaited day arrives. The tension and excitement was both palpable in the air. In the morning there were two functions, one followed by another. The first function was called ‘battisi’, in which the mother of the groom invited her brothers and their families to come to her son’s marriage by putting a tilak on their foreheads, and everyone graciously accepted. The next function just followed by this, was where brothers (and their families) came with a lot of enthusiasm dancing and singing, happy for their sister on such a joyous occasion. This function was called ‘bhath’ or ‘mayra’. Then the brothers and their families were made to sit, and once again, tilak was done and they were given gifts by the sister. In return the brothers also gave some gifts to their sister. There was dance and singing as well, during the function. After the tilak was done, lunch was served. Special care was taken to see that the brothers and their families were served food properly and extra decoration was done on the table for them. The Haldi function also happened after the mayra, where the groom was made to sit and all the aunts, sisters and grandmothers came to put haldi on him. The purpose behind this was that in earlier times, haldi was used to make the skin fairer. And since it was the wedding day, everyone wanted the bride and the groom to look pretty and hence the reason behind the haldi ceremony. After lunch, everyone went into their rooms to get some rest and make preparations for the evening, as the marriage was at a different venue, than the one we were staying in.
Everyone got ready by around seven and then we left in cars for the marriage venue. After everyone came, we moved towards the venue and there was lot of dance, noise and it was a huge procession. Everyone was in such a joyous mood. All my aunts and uncles were dancing, even my grandmother and grandfather. Finally the ‘baraat’ went inside and was welcomed by the bride’s family. The ‘jai-mala’ happened pretty soon, and it was really beautiful. It was followed by the releasing of many sky lanterns in the sky and that was such an amazing moment. After that, pictures were clicked with the bride and groom. I got mine clicked too with my family. The ‘pheras’ or seven rounds ceremony began at about half past twelve, when only close family members were left and everyone else had gone home or the hotel. I haven’t had attended a close wedding in quite some time, so it was nice to see what all took place in the actual wedding ceremony. There were a lot of mantras, the seven promises, the seven rounds around the fire and finally filling the bride’s parting of the hair with ‘sindoor’. That completed all the rituals of the marriage. After that, all of us came back to the hotel and welcomed the bride and groom as one, for the first time. There was a ceremony, after this, in which big plates were placed on the floor in a line, and the groom had to alternatively slide them to the right and left side. The bride, who was behind the groom, had to pick up these plates as less noisily as she could. The reason for this ceremony was to check if the bride could do the work, properly as told, without making noise. Or whether she was going to make a lot of noise in the kitchen while working, as in earlier days, brides were restricted to kitchens and homes only. After that, all the ceremonies for the day were finally done and everyone went back to get some sleep and rest before the next day began, with its even many more rituals and ceremonies.
Day 4: 27th of January
This new bright sunshine filled morning, reminded me of the love and joy still existing in the world. It reminded me of the sacred bond of marriage, uniting two people as one for life. It reminded me of all the aunts and uncles I had seen, who had been married for so long, and no matter what amount of fights, hardships or problems they had faced, they were still in love, and expressed it in their own unique ways to each other. It was a day filled with happiness and joy. We vacated the hotel by afternoon and went back to my aunt’s place, where the ‘greh-pravesh’ took place, and everyone wished for a happy and married life for Nikita and Nikhil.
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