Wednesday, April 25, 2012

I want an Indian wedding...


Today has been very productive. I woke up early and took a cab with my friend Mudit to Agra to see the Taj Mahal. The drive it 4 hours in crazy traffic.

Taj Mahal was beautiful. We hired a guide for $5 for two hours. We walked around the entire place taking fun photos. Taj Mahal is amazing. It was amazing to think about the amount of work that went into building it. 


After the Taj Mudit and I headed to a local bazaar. It was a local Indian market. I was the only foreigner in the whole place. The market was filled with flies and cows walking around right down the middle of the street. I bought some gold sandals for 100 Rupees ($2) and some bellies flats for 200 Rupees ($4). It was nice to see all the shops. I am looking forward to purchasing my sari for my next Indian wedding. 

After leaving Agra, we headed to a wedding to meet up with some friends. I was so excited to attend my first Indian wedding. I have seen so many Bollywood videos so I knew how important they are in Indian tradition. 


At first the groom heads to the wedding area on a horse with a huge truck full of speakers and a band playing music. People dance all around and set off fireworks as they get closer. When they get to the wedding hall the groom is asked to get off his horse and dance but only his brother-in-law can convince him to get off. 

He enters the wedding area dancing and heads to the stage where all his friends begin to bug and tease him. Food is free and unlimited. You can go around and try all the dishes. The wedding area is covered with colored lights. It looks like Christmas. 


The bride then enters. Drums are played as she walks up the stage to meet her husband. They stand on a platform that spins as they are showered with petals. They exchange flower necklaces. Fireworks are set off in the background. Then a photo session is started. After this we left the wedding. The ceremony lasts all night and all the next day. 

In June I will be attending a full ceremony so I will get back to writing about what else happens in the night. Stay tuned. 


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