In our last post you got to see the first day of Raman and Raveen’s Sikh wedding celebration. This next day included a number of other cultural events that are important in Sikh wedding traditions. For example the Haldi ceremony, in which the bride receives tumeric based yellow paste on her skin to make it more radiant. Then there is the Churra ceremony where she receives her wedding bangles by her maternal uncles. Finally, the Jaago and Sangeet takes place at night and includes a ton of dancing and celebration!
Raman had a bunch of great details at her house including beautiful umbrellas, drums, fans, and traditional stools and pillows. The multi colored fabrics worked well for a series of portraits we did with her sister and friends. Raman’s cousins decorated the Rangoli in the backyard before Raman came outside and sat down to start the Haldi. After she was covered in paste she entered the house and got cleaned up while the family members prepared for the next events including the Sangeet which was held at the Golden Peacock in Hayward that evening.
Raman looked flawless so we took lots of solo shots of her prior to entering where the rest of the evening would be mostly candids. Once all the guests had arrived they did the Churra ceremony which included having her bangles dipped in milk prior to being placed on her hands by her uncles. After the Churra a procession of family members came into the hall carrying pots on their heads with candles and making loud sounds. This signifies the announcement that the bride is getting married and would have a practical purpose in India when they wanted to call out to the village and announce the wedding. The loud sound would get the attention of people within the village so they were aware of the event.
Once the Jaago was complete the party continued on until everyone needed to start thinking about waking up early the next morning for the wedding! At this same time, the groom’s family was holding a similar event and those images are coming to the blog next. Stay tuned!
