Vol 90 India part 5

Yay!!!!! My internal hard drive is now an external hard drive!!!!! I still have all of my photos and music and my book! Yay!!!!!

Before anything else goes wrong I want to post my Indian wedding photos.

Yes, I do realize there are too many of them. Tough. What's a wedding without too many photos?

When we woke up the house was already full of activity. The bride was in the dining room with one of the young nephews and as every lady would arrive she would smear a little dab of red on his forehead and then hers. The she'd dip a coin into crushed rice crackers and feed it to him and to her. When I asked the significance of this I was told "This is a ceremony. A ritual. I can't remember why we do this".

Here the bride's parents and eldest daughter are doing something or other with a wooden dowel to the bride's hairline. Notice the nephew caught in the act. When I asked the significance of this I was told "This is a ceremony. A ritual. I can't remember why we do this".

The corner of the dining room had been converted into an offering corner.

The relatives kept arriving all day.

The sari's were so beautiful.

The baby got lots of attention.

We headed over to the reception where I was forced to pose with all of the ladies in the beautiful sari's. I felt distinctly underdressed all night. I was sooooo grateful to Priyanka for having this Salwar suit stitched by her tailor in time for the wedding.

There was soooooo much food there. While waiting for the bulk of the guests to arrive I made the rounds of the food tables. This is the chutney/pickle table.

Chat/snacks/appetizers.

Dosa station. If you don't know what dosa is you must hurry out to an Indian restaurant and order it immediately.

Pani puri station. One of my favorites.

Making bread.

The curries.

The waiters all wanted to be in the photo.

The pann station.

The groom arrived on a horse. All of his family and friends arrived with him amid much dancing and singing. There was a band playing along with them.

In order to invite the god Ganesha to the wedding.....

The groom had to brush this image of him with the branch.

The mother of the bride performed a bunch of rites at the entrance. She was seeing if he measured up for her daughter. How did I get this excellent photo? Everyone kept inviting me to the front. They had all been to many Hindu weddings before but they knew it was my first.

Some of the sweet kids at the wedding.

Yes, those are rose petals.

The groom and his family were on one end of a stage.

The bride was at the other.

They each climbed the stairs and met in the middle.

After rings and garlands were exchanged there were rose petal explosions. The air smelt fantastic. Every wedding has it's moment and this was the part where I choked up. It was so beautiful. And again, I was right in front to see it all. I was so grateful.

Close up of the beading and embroidery on the bride's sari. It was truly incredible. She told me later that is weighed a ton.

From the left, the brother of my hostess, the husband of my hostess and the brother-in-law of my hostess.

Demonstrating how I feel about having my photo taken.

My hostess, Priyanka, and I. She insisted on this photo after the face-pulling. Actually, I quite like this photo.

The bride and groom sat in chairs on a stage for the rest of the night, having their photo taken, while the guests enjoyed the food, which was incredible, by the way.

Parents of the bride on the right, groom on the left.

This is pretty much everyone in the house I was staying at. Such a nice family. I smile whenever I see this photo.

Even i had to have my photo taken with them. I was in a group of scragglers at the very end.

Another photo of me that I don't hate! Priyanka was good at bringing out the joy in me.

And another. Thanks for the braces, Mom and Dad!

When we returned to the house everyone changed into another sari including the bride. This was a e ceremony in the dining room. When I asked the significance of this I was told "This is a ceremony. A ritual. I can't remember why we do this".

The we all went outside for the religious wedding ceremony.

It was very complicated. They did a ton of fussy little things.

Each time, when I asked the signifigance of this I was told "This is a ceremony. A ritual. I can't remember why we do this".

I'm not kidding. All day, no matter who I asked, they never knew why they did any of it.

But it sure was eye candy.

Their arms were tied together and they walked around the fire 3 times.

I am told this is the equivalent to "I now pronounce you man and wife".

This was one of the last photos I took. She was moving her toes from coint to coin. When I asked the signifigance of this I was told "This is a ceremony. A ritual. I can't remember why we do this".......

This was the longest wedding ceremony I have ever been to. It began around midnight. I left at 3:45 to catch my plane back to Muscat and it was still going on.

I waved goodbye to the bride and groom, caught a cab to the airport and slept like a baby on the plane.

The next day I had a bit of diahrea so I guess the tap water got me in the end after all :)

The wedding video turned out quite nice I think.

I'll try to post the remainder of my good photos from this year in Oman before I come home for Christmas but I make no promises....