But did they tie the knot?

Last Thursday I went to an Indian wedding for the first time. A friend and I were invited by our hairdresser. Her daughter was the bride.

I had heard stories about the bride and groom having to walk around a fire and about the groom literally tying the knot in a string around his bride's neck. But none of that at this wedding (at least not on the day we were there). This was a 'Coorg wedding' Babu told us when we arrived. He could tell by the fact that the gate was decorated with banana leaves... (Coorg lies in the south west part of Karnataka, the same state as Bangalore).

The wedding hall was beautifully decorated with flowers on the outside and a band was playing what sounded to me like traditional Indian music, very loudly.

We were told to get breakfast and within an hour after that we were told to have coffee or tea with several cakes and cookies.

Then the ceremony started outside. The groom stood at one side, under an umbrella. He was dressed in a traditional costume, on bare feet and with some uber-cool sun glasses on. According to the father of the bride, the groom's family descends directly from Alexander the Great, hence the fact that they were dressed like warriors.

In front of the groom were several banana tree trunks, decorated with flowers on top. The eldest men from his family did the pooja and then took turns to chop down the trees with an impressive sword (it is probably called differently, you can see it in the photos).

After that the party moved inside. In front the music, then the eldest female of the groom's family with a basket on her head (filled with things for pooja at the couple's house) then the men and the groom. Before they entered the hall the groom's feet were washed and the group was blessed.

I had to laugh about the most senior guy, who obviously had the lead in the whole ceremony. He was the only one that wore shorts under his long black coat. His socks were pulled up high and he was wearing sensible shoes. The other men all wore long trousers. When I later mentioned it to Babu, he told me the shorts are the traditional way...here I was thinking the man just dressed for the heat.

As we stood on the top of the stairs looking at the ceremony, one of our hairdresser's (5) sisters came to talk to us. She tried to explain some of the traditions, but said: "I am not that familiar with it all. My husband is from that region too, but when we got married, he had to marry a banana leave first, before he could marry me." It was hard to keep a straight face I can tell you.

Once inside, the groom was sat on a low stool on the stage and then finally the bride appeared. When they both sat, everyone was supposed to go up to them to give them their blessing. There were large bowls with (uncooked) rice to throw on the bride and groom's heads. After that we were requested to "Eat and go, please." (during the ceremony a lot of cooking went on the the basement, see last photo)
We had a good view of the stage, but once the bride and groom sat down, the official photographers and videographers blocked every ones view completely.

But we managed to get some photos despite them.

I know it is not the best picture of the bride, yawning, but it shows all her rings and other gold so well

It was a nice morning and a lovely experience. I hope to receive more invitations to weddings while we are here, so I can witness different traditions and ceremonies.