India - Pune - The Wedding
After several days in Mumbai we went to Pune to our friend Monty's wedding. This "shortened" version of the wedding was a real eye opener. While normally the wedding ceremonies would run for an entire week, this one only lasted four days, starting with two days of separate ceremonies for the families of the groom and the bride, before progressing to the engagement ceremony, followed by the wedding day itself.
Upon the arrival in Pune of our group of fifteen or so colleagues from Germany, we were greeted by the members of Monty's close family. His grandfather even spoke good English, as did Monty's father and some aunts and uncles. The rest of them kindly pointed us in the direction of the delicious and colourful food that was prepared in a makeshift kitchen in the backyard of the apartment block.
They did a great job of converting the car parking area into a ceremony hall. Carpets and cushions were laid on the ground, lighting was installed, tables with food and music were set up. During these few days our group was treated like royalty, with a taxiing service on standby and help around Pune as required. We were also invited to all the ceremonies, even those that were only attended by the immediate family. I cannot compliment enough my fantastic hosts on this part of the trip.
If there is one thing that Indians enjoying as much as their food, it would be dancing. Throughout the four days of ceremony, guests of all ages danced the days and nights away. When the dance floor was empty, Monty's grandmother or mother would be the first to occupy it and motivate others! The music has a surprising amount of variation. While I have realised in Australia that hip-hop music is very popular among Indians, I was surprised that it was not only played on the night of the cocktail party, but also at the end of the engagement ceremony!
To complete our Indian experience, many of us foreigners decided that it would be appropriate to dress in Indian traditional clothing for the engagement and wedding days. For men there are two choices, the more formal Sherwani reserved for ceremonies (which Monty himself wore on the wedding day), and the less formal Kurta Pyjama. I purchased a yellow Kurta Pyjama together with white pants and a pair of special ceremonial shoes. The pants, while innocent looking enough, are strangely proportioned affairs which are quite slim around the lower leg and the knee, while widening dramatically up to the waist, where it is pulled tight. The ladies dressed in some very attractive and colourful Saris which proved to be quite difficult to wrap. We certainly received some interesting looks from the crowd that day.
While the celebrations leading up to the big day were impressive, the festivities of the wedding day itself took on another dimension. From the apartment block we marched out towards the nearby temple at about 7 p.m., with Monty and his little cousin on horseback while the band drummed and trumpeted away. After the little ceremony there we all caught the local autorickshaws (the 3 wheeled taxis) to a point about 500 m away from the wedding venue. From there the music played and the guests danced along the streets, inching ever closer to the front gate but constantly stopping to avoid arriving too early. 45 minutes later, we arrived.
The venue was an open air area with probably seating capacity of 1000 in front of the stage, and including as well a catering area that could feed all those hungry guests. While not many of the 1000 or so seats were used, it is still difficult to fathom the scale of this. Guests came, gave their presents to the to-be-wedded couple on the stage, ate food at the buffet and the street food counters, and went on their merry ways again. Kids chased each other through the different sections of the venue.
The wedding itself followed quite a different order to a typical western wedding. The guests eat and socialise at their own leisure, while some line up to present their gifts to the groom and bride who sat on the stage. At some stage during this "reception", most guests leave and the buffet closed. The priest then appeared in the small temple and the actual wedding ceremony took place at about 3 a.m. in the morning. The time is determined by some rules which also takes into account the different ethnic backgrounds and also the caste of the parties, and cannot be changed. The wedding ceremony was a long affair which lasted around 3 hours, and by the end everyone, even the bride, was looking somewhat exhausted.
To end the long but very special evening, we followed the newlyweds to the groom's family apartment, where some traditional games were played and then presents were given to his wife to welcome her into the family.
This trip to Pune was a wonderful opportunity to witness traditional life and ceremonies in India. I thoroughly enjoyed the experience and would like to thank Monty and his family for their hospitality.
More photos can be found on Flickr:
Pune wedding photos on Flickr
Upon the arrival in Pune of our group of fifteen or so colleagues from Germany, we were greeted by the members of Monty's close family. His grandfather even spoke good English, as did Monty's father and some aunts and uncles. The rest of them kindly pointed us in the direction of the delicious and colourful food that was prepared in a makeshift kitchen in the backyard of the apartment block.
They did a great job of converting the car parking area into a ceremony hall. Carpets and cushions were laid on the ground, lighting was installed, tables with food and music were set up. During these few days our group was treated like royalty, with a taxiing service on standby and help around Pune as required. We were also invited to all the ceremonies, even those that were only attended by the immediate family. I cannot compliment enough my fantastic hosts on this part of the trip.
If there is one thing that Indians enjoying as much as their food, it would be dancing. Throughout the four days of ceremony, guests of all ages danced the days and nights away. When the dance floor was empty, Monty's grandmother or mother would be the first to occupy it and motivate others! The music has a surprising amount of variation. While I have realised in Australia that hip-hop music is very popular among Indians, I was surprised that it was not only played on the night of the cocktail party, but also at the end of the engagement ceremony!
To complete our Indian experience, many of us foreigners decided that it would be appropriate to dress in Indian traditional clothing for the engagement and wedding days. For men there are two choices, the more formal Sherwani reserved for ceremonies (which Monty himself wore on the wedding day), and the less formal Kurta Pyjama. I purchased a yellow Kurta Pyjama together with white pants and a pair of special ceremonial shoes. The pants, while innocent looking enough, are strangely proportioned affairs which are quite slim around the lower leg and the knee, while widening dramatically up to the waist, where it is pulled tight. The ladies dressed in some very attractive and colourful Saris which proved to be quite difficult to wrap. We certainly received some interesting looks from the crowd that day.
While the celebrations leading up to the big day were impressive, the festivities of the wedding day itself took on another dimension. From the apartment block we marched out towards the nearby temple at about 7 p.m., with Monty and his little cousin on horseback while the band drummed and trumpeted away. After the little ceremony there we all caught the local autorickshaws (the 3 wheeled taxis) to a point about 500 m away from the wedding venue. From there the music played and the guests danced along the streets, inching ever closer to the front gate but constantly stopping to avoid arriving too early. 45 minutes later, we arrived.The venue was an open air area with probably seating capacity of 1000 in front of the stage, and including as well a catering area that could feed all those hungry guests. While not many of the 1000 or so seats were used, it is still difficult to fathom the scale of this. Guests came, gave their presents to the to-be-wedded couple on the stage, ate food at the buffet and the street food counters, and went on their merry ways again. Kids chased each other through the different sections of the venue.
The wedding itself followed quite a different order to a typical western wedding. The guests eat and socialise at their own leisure, while some line up to present their gifts to the groom and bride who sat on the stage. At some stage during this "reception", most guests leave and the buffet closed. The priest then appeared in the small temple and the actual wedding ceremony took place at about 3 a.m. in the morning. The time is determined by some rules which also takes into account the different ethnic backgrounds and also the caste of the parties, and cannot be changed. The wedding ceremony was a long affair which lasted around 3 hours, and by the end everyone, even the bride, was looking somewhat exhausted.To end the long but very special evening, we followed the newlyweds to the groom's family apartment, where some traditional games were played and then presents were given to his wife to welcome her into the family.
This trip to Pune was a wonderful opportunity to witness traditional life and ceremonies in India. I thoroughly enjoyed the experience and would like to thank Monty and his family for their hospitality.
More photos can be found on Flickr:
Pune wedding photos on Flickr
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