Indian Wedding - The ceremony 1

As the continuation of the Baraat and the mandap at my nephew's wedding, this post is all about the actual Hindu wedding ceremony. 

Here comes the bride! Megan, beautifully dressed in her bridal attire is led to the Mandap by none other than her proud father.

The Jillakara Bellam ceremony is a traditional Andhra Pradesh (Andhra Pradesh being a state in India) wedding ritual. The actual marriage is considered to have commenced at this auspicious moment. Jillakara(cumin seeds) and Bellam (brown sugar) are mixed together to form a paste. The idea of the whole ceremony is that when these two ingredients are mixed together, they forge an amazingly strong bond. Once mixed, it is impossible to separate the two ingredients, signifying that the Sree and Megan will have strength in their marriage. This paste is then put on each other's heads at the same moment while taking an oath that they will be together not matter what circumstance they encounter.

So in love!

Here the bride and groom are presented with new white clothes for  the continuation of the ceremony. They will be changing into the new attire for the rest of the ceremony

Ceremony continues...

For more memorable centerpieces, tablescapes, and recipes (including vegetarian, gluten free and vegan recipes), please check out my book, Entertaining From an Ethnic Indian Kitchen, at my website komalinunna.com.

I am joining  Show and Tell, French Country Cottage, TheCharm of Home, At the Picket Fence and Common Ground.