Photo Essay: Moments from an Indian wedding

This will inevitably sound embarrassingly unprofessional, but I have no idea of the name of the village I’m going to talk about in this post. I repeatedly asked the locals I was with, but none of them seemed very sure about it, so I just gave up and accepted the fact that in the Garhwali region of Uttarakhand, India, there still are places that you cannot find on the map.

On the way to the wedding, enjoying a traditional sunset in the Garhwali region of Uttarakhand, India

What I do know, however, is that to reach this godforsaken village took us hours from Manila, which, given the roads we had to pass by, doesn’t necessarily mean it was that far. Most of the route was completely covered with huge stones, and we definitely struggled to make our way out of them and reach the longed spot.

Now, calling it “village” might look inappropriate to many people’s mind, let’s say that it was a small conglomerate of houses with seldom natives hanging around and with an ever-present temple. More than one temple actually, but it’s India after all, and temples are one of the main factors of Indian charm and peculiarity.

The actual sunset, at this point, in the middle of nowhere, we stopped the car, so that all EIGHT of us could enjoy the few moments of a beautiful natural light

So, after all the necessary trouble, we finally reached the first temple of the wedding, where the friends and family of the groom (mostly men) were gathering in the wait to leave towards the house where the actual marriage was going to take place. We stationed there for less than half an hour and then we made our way to the final destination, where friends and family of the bride were waiting.

I was told that that was the main of the five days of celebration, and the day after would have been the last one, when the couple could finally get to their place and rest. The night I was there was when the priest celebrated the marriage, and probably one of the first times bride and groom actually met, as this was very likely an arranged marriage, like most, if not all, marriages in the Uttarakhand.

Apparently, we were not alone. Here are two buses on their way to the same wedding

Due to the striking difference with the weddings I’m used to and the rare possibility to attend a so traditional ceremony in such an unknown place, made me spent most of the time taking pictures. At the beginning I was worried to be invading the couple’s privacy and on the way to the wedding I kept asking my friend if it was fine for me to take photos, but my doubts were swept away as soon as we arrived, as children immediately asked me to be captured by my camera.

So here it is, a traditional Indian wedding, how it’s celebrated in the Garhwali region of Uttarakhand, seen with my eyes, and what I managed to understand from my friend’s seldom explanations and the ones of the bride’s cousin, since nobody else could speak English.

A moment when the groom, with the golden head-cover, received the blessing from the priest and the bride’s father

Women praying during the ceremony

The priest performing the ritual once at the house, still only with the groom before the bride showed up

Young girls enjoying the celebrations

Myself with some of the women attending the wedding

The boys at the wedding, who very much enjoyed both the celebrations and my camera

Finally I met the bride, who was in a small room with family and friends, waiting for the groom to arrive

Before the groom ended all his visits, blessings, meetings and greetings, the boys at the wedding performed some wild dance

The groom arrives and the bride shows up in public, among flashes, handclapping and countless “oohh”

I believe a member of the bride’s family, the Indian version of the bridesmaid

The bride, posing for the cameras

The couple getting married

Husband and wife grabbing each other with a flowerchain in front of the cameras

The wife didn’t quite manage to grab her husband and the necklace is hanging from the head-cover…

Showing some affection in front of the cameras, probably the first and last time they would do it in public, as it’s not socially appreciated

The newly-wed couple posing for the cameras

Around 1am I went to bed and this was the view when I woke up

As best as I could at 6am, here I am with my lovely host

Here is where I washed my face before going up and have breakfast

And here is our breakfast, delicious but a punch in the stomach at 6 in the morning, especially for who is used to yogurt and fruits

I was struck by the spontaneous hospitality of the people in this village, I couldn’t stand up one minute that immediately a chair was brought behind me, I couldn’t stay one minute with empty hands that tea, sweets and any sort of food was offered to me, to the extent that dinner time, I was already full.

I wish the couple a very happy married life, and I would love to see them again in a couple of years, to show them my pictures and maybe this post.

Truly honored my post was featured on exciting travel ezine Take Me To Travel!

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