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The first ritual performed on the wedding day is the welcoming of the groom into the family.
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Each person goes through a number of ways to bless the groom.
The brides brother is offering a laddu, a sweet dumpling made of chick pea flour and sugar...
lots of sugar. It's about the size of a medium meatball. |
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The parents of the bride each welcome him. They place a 'tika' on his forehead,
red powder (auspicious color, I guess), a few grains of rice (got to be fertility),
saffron (I can't even guess). |
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Rupees are waved over his head in hopes of prosperity. |
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In India, first cousins are considered siblings,
making this little girl the bride's cousin-sister. |
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Another cousin sister blesses him...and pops another one of those laddus into his mouth. |
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The older people are very kind and only break off a bit of the sweet to feed him. The
younger ones are merciless and ram the whole thing into his mouth. There is much laughter,
even from him... when he isn't choking. |
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All of the members of the immediate family welcome the groom,
from the eldest..... |
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...to the youngest. |
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The rest of the welcome ceremony consists on gifting 'important' members of the
groom's family. As the wife of the groom's father's eldest brother, I was busy accepting a
beautiful sari, rather than taking more pictures. 'Gifting'...a lovely custom, don't you think? |
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Wedding day rituals: The welcome.
