Traditional Hindu Wedding

The hefty whooshing of the air conditioner does nothing to calm the rough, crunching sound of the tires against the dirt road as my sister parked the Honda Accord on a crowded street, near the Hyatt Mission Bay, in San Diego. Several Indian people were trying to make their way across the parking lot on a bright and sunny Saturday morning in April. They were dressed in rich and colorful Indian clothing similar to what my sister and I were wearing. After two months of excitement and anticipation and nearly three hundred miles of a mind-numbing drive, my sister and I were eager to be educated and participate in the customs and rituals of a traditional Hindu wedding. We both had a new-fangled feeling of being dressed in a sari, which is known to be an unstitched cloth nine meters in length, draping over our bodies elegantly while exposing the essence of feminism. To my mind, the distinctive faculty of being fully accustomed to the background of my own culture never truly became acknowledged. Since I was brought up away from my homeland, I have never been able to grasp the refined qualities of Hinduism and the conglomeration of the religious side of my life. I was finally going to get a taste of a less solemn celebration. This evidently leads to the reason as to why I did the honor of choosing this particular topic for my paper--to be able to enhance my knowledge of my cultural background and imbibe where I came from. We made our appearance as some festivities were taking place, where I picked an elevated perch to observe. Through the careful adherence amongst the wedding atmosphere, I could not distinguish what I found more fascinating--the jolly environment where I am surrounded by countless aunts, uncles, cousins, extended family members, and children enlivening their life by dancing their hearts out to the instrumental beats and hymns of Indian music or the groom who is blissfully sitting on a decorated horse and carriage while traveling to the wedding venue. When the groom was accompanied by various family members and the enchanting sounds of a drum, also known as an Indian instrument called the dhol, I noticed that he was adorned with a turban and a veil tied along his forehead. There was a vibrant exhibition of fireworks contributing to the jolly spirit of the marriage procession. During the contemporary approach of the ritual, in following a group of family members and the groom, we reached the wedding venue. The groom took a seat in the mare, while the bride's parents and the elder members of the family welcomed the incoming guests. In the meantime, I took a seat next to my aunt and sister, where I found a brochure that thoroughly explained the process of the four hour rituals and ceremonies of the wedding. Slow and mellow instrumental music began to play as the bride made her way across the aisle to the platform. I could not help but blink twice while watching the beautiful figure, who was wearing a red and white sari containing shiny crystals, that was swathing modestly over her hair along with her arms and legs which were artistically designed with dark and beautiful henna. As soon as she took a seat, the ceremony began.

The altar for the wedding was elevated on a decorated platform, where the bride and groom ascended to join the priest and sat around the holy fire. While witnessing the tantalizing tidbits, I assumed the bride and groom were simply adjusting their clothing but as I read the brochure, it mentioned that there is a cloth known as a "chunni" which is tied to the bride and groom as an important symbol of their eternal union together. While being tied together, they were lead around the fire seven times, promising each other that they will not separate for seven births. They were escorting and rehearsing each other's vows. This process is known as Saat Phere, which by Hindu definition denotes "seven rounds" and holds a great importance to a Hindu wedding ritual since each round has a meaningful purpose attached to it and signifies a solemn promise that must be sworn throughout life. It is an incredibly touching ritual, all of which is exceptionally beautiful. The priest, also known as the Pandit, was the one whom was executing all the rituals and reciting the important Sanskrit slokas so the newlyweds can lead happy married lives.

This process took almost three hours of time due to the prayers and chanting involved in the ceremony. The following ceremonial activity was the "garland" ceremony, where the couples had to place a hand-made holy flower necklace on each other. In favor to an amusing tradition of an Indian marriage, the groom's friends persuaded him to lift his chest so that the bride has difficulty putting on the garland. The bride's father then told her to leap to have the garland placed properly, but she refused. Out of the blue, the bride's brother came and picked up his sister and the garland was finally laid.

Finally, the