It was lovely too, to see our niece on her wedding day looking radiant. An Indian wedding with all it's customs and traditions is really something else! Here are a few of the over 600 photos that I took during the trip to share with you all. I wish I could show you all 600 but I don't think my blogger space could take them all!! Anyhow hope these give you a small idea of how wonderful India is. :))
Bano, our neice looking very beautiful as a bride. It was a joy to see her in her bridal dress.
The Bridegroom entering the ceremony on a decorated horse. A band of pipers and drummers accompanied him with tremendous music giving him a grand entrance.
The couple sitting up on their throne. As it's an arranged marriage they have hardly spoken to each other yet.
The ring ceremony. Bano's hands, lower arms and feet are traditionally decorated with Mehndi.
My husband and me, looking forward to the wedding.
The Gurdwara (Temple) where the first ceremony was held on the first day. (The wedding went on for two days, consisting of many different ceremonies).
At home, preparing for the festival of Diwali, the festival of lights. The houses are beautiful decorated with lights and candles. The fireworks are bought and ready to set alight!
Preparing the traditional Divas. Small clay pots filled with oil. They're placed all around the outside of the houses.
Me and my nephew, Nani putting candles outside the house. Giving the house a wonderful glow.
Sukhna Lake in Chandigarh. A beautiful lake. Classical music is played through loudspeakers in the evening. It draws hundreds of people there every day, to enjoy the clear air and the view of the nearby mountains.
We saw plenty of these fellows along the road on our outing to Bhakra Dam. A magnificent dam in Himachal Pradesh.
I enjoyed seeing all the different kind of unusual vehicles on the road. Things we'd never get to see here in Europe.
I loved watching the sun go down at the end of the day against the amber-coloured sky.
Congratulations to the newly weds and your whole family.She is a very good looking bride and both both of them make a very handsome couple.Now coming to you...you look gorgeous in tnat salwaar kameej.Glad to learn that you and your family had loads of fun together.
ReplyDeleteIt looks like you had a wonderful visit. What a beautiful bride! That dress is gorgeous! It makes our white, frothy things look so plain. You looked beautiful, too, Margaret.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad you had an opportunity to visit your family and be there at such an important time.
I live here and yet I needed your post to remind me how beautiful can India be! Yet, I'm not a big fan of the 'festival of lights' for more than the lights it has now become a festival of fireworks... and that just means pollution, child labour (most of the time, children are employed in the cracker factories) and tons of money gone up in smoke for one momentary flash of colourful lights.
ReplyDeleteThe bride is gorgeous and her mehendi and trousseau is exquisite! God bless the newly weds!
And my my! Margaret, you look radiant! Glad to know you enjoyed the visit. :-)
It is good to know that you enjoyed your visit to this country. Some of the pictures are brilliant.
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing a wonderful experience.
ReplyDeleteOh you missed the part of calling his holy highness (me! :D :D) during your visit which was the highlight of my diwali btw! It was super great to hear your voice.
ReplyDeleteAnd I love the pictures especially the weird vehicles part. That one's weird even for most other places in India. :D
Your family is gorgeous. I love diwali but have to say I love the concept of Oktoberfest a bit more for erm aherm... obvious reasons. :P :P
Remember your words of promises, I'll hold you to them on my visit to Munich. :)
Wow! What an experience.
ReplyDeleteThanks for letting us come along. :)
@ Kavita
ReplyDeleteThank you so much. Yes, they make a lovely couple. An arranged marriage is a hard thing for me to digest but these two look like they were made for each other.
@ Karen
Yes, the colourfulness of these marriages really does make ours look pretty plain. Still, I'm happy that my 3 daughters will be marrying in white!
It's always lovely to get the chance to visit family so far away.
@ Creation
We all tend to take that what we have for granted - glad I was able to show you here just how beautiful your country is!
I agree totally with you about the fireworks. I couldn't believe the money that was spent on them and that in a country where the money could be put to a much more worthy cause. Diwali could be celebrated just as wonderfully with all the lights & candles but without the fireworks.
@ Onkar
Yes, I enjoyed it a lot. Still I see so much in India that breaks my heart and brings me to tears. If only the amount of money circulating in your country was shared out evenly. If only over 300
million Indians didn't have to suffer from hunger, illiteracy and disease. If only 630 million people had access to acceptable sanitation facilities even in 2009.
If only.....
@ Glynis
It's my pleasure Glynis.
@ Aniket
Are you trying to tell me you don't have those weird vehicles in Mumbai??
Yeah, it was great to talk to you on the phone (your holy highness):D
It's nice to be able to put a voice to a blogger friend. How's the new job going??
And I always keep my promises... well almost always! ;) You're always welcome in Munich. :)
@ Jason
ReplyDeleteVery happy to share these wonderful exp. with you too Jason
:)
ReplyDeletereally glad you enjoyed the trip.
@ Lala
ReplyDeleteThanks a million, yes we enjoyed a lot - the two weeks were much too short!!
@ Nishant
Thank you for such a lovely comment. I'm happy to share any of my pics with you all. Sharing brings back to mind the joyful occasions we savoured. :)
Margaret, how lovely everything looked. The bride was simply stunning in that red dress. All the pictures were so great. You and your husband really are a handsome couple! Thanks for sharing this beautiful time with us.
ReplyDeleteI truly enjoyed these magnificent photos, Margaret. I long to go to India myself, but to have a wedding as the centerpiece of the visit is truly magical. I've always loved the richness of their wedding dress and customs. And it was a pleasure to see you, your husband, and everyone else looking so happy and lovely! :)
ReplyDeleteI also want to go to that lake. And hear the music soar.
@ K.
ReplyDeleteThank you, I'm glad you enjoyed the photos. Yes, the bride really did look stunning!
@ Sarah
I'm delighted that I was able to bring India a little closer to you through my pics. I really hope you make it there one day.
Ohh and I know you'd just love that lake Sarah, it's beautiful.
"unusual vehicles" lolzz!! well, india is a hymn to unusual-ity!
ReplyDelete@ Rhett
ReplyDeleteYou can say that again!!! LOL :D