North India 2013 - A Delhi wedding

---

Landed in Delhi from Dubai via Jet Airways. We were sure not to repeat the nonsense which surrounded taking Air India Last year. One of Anant's cousins, Rahul, was getting married to a lovely Sindhi girl he met in Boston, named Namrata. The wedding was a three-day affair with a sangeet the first night, a Sindhi wedding and aarthi at the temple on the second day and a reception on the third day. I had brought my nicest silk sarees from home to wear for the various occasions but ended up feeling overdressed amongst the elegant simplicity present. Oh well.

The Sindhi ceremony was held at a small temple in Delhi. Many Sindhi people, originally from what is now southern Pakistan, hold beliefs which are an interesting mix of Hinduism and Sikhism. The rituals took about an hour or so during which snacks and sweets were offered to all attending. Afterward was a lunch with both North and South Indian foods. Rahul's family had decided against a second wedding in their Tamil tradition. instead, we all went to the Murugan shrine at the Malai Mandir (temple on the hill) and did an aarthi, asking for blessings on the newly wed couple.

The third picture shows the mehendi I got applied to both my hands during the sangeet.

---