Temple in Chennai

I could really only mostly see the outside of the temple because non-hindus are not allowed. My friends told me that this was not the way it had always been, but was more a product of the British Imperial era. Hindus were bannned from Christian churches by the British (I guess they didn't want the locals hanging around?), so they did a tit for tat and banned everyone from their temples. I thought it was weird about the Christians banning Hindus because I always think of Christianity as such an evangelical religion that they would want to bring people into the fold. Maybe Anglicans aren't as evangelical as folks where I come from?

The largest temple in Chennai.


A close-up of some of the figures on the sides of the temples.

India Part 3

Here is the stage where the wedding took place (that is the guru who led the ceremony):

The ceremony was very elaborate. Here is an offering that was made for the ancestors so that they would come down and bless the married couple:

In the evening there was a reception, which is literally that, a reception (not a party like we have here in the States).

All in all I had a great time, although I was only in India for four short days. After the wedding I visited some landmarks around the city, mostly some pretty amazing temples. It was very interesting and my friend's sister explained to me about all the different gods and stories behind them. Although I must admit I had a hard time wrapping my mind around the concept of polytheism, coming from where I come from.

India Wedding Cont'd.

For some reason blogger would not let me post this pic in the last post, so this is a continuation of the post below.

The ones in the middle are a model of a sari and a dhoti (sarong type dress that the groom wears). I don't think anyone actually ate them, but they looked nice :).

I was so jet lagged, I was literally falling asleep at the pooja. So I went off to sleep at a guesthouse with some of the groom's cousins from France, who were really nice (we are such an international bunch!) There were people there from the following countries: India, United States, Germany, France, and England. At the German Wedding there was also a Russian. Pretty cool, huh? (And all different religions, present as well, Christian (Catholic and Protestant), Hindu, Muslim, and Jewish). Shows you that on the individual level, we really can all get along.

So on to the wedding itself: the next day, we woke up quite early and went back to the groom's house to get ready. I wore sari for the first time, and thank God there were people there to help me put it on! (Actually the hardest part is the pleats and they were pre-sown for me by M's aunt). I wore a steel blue and maroon silk sari that M's mom sent for me which I love. Too bad I am anonymous, so you won't get to see the pictures ;).

The wedding itself took place in a hotel, here is one of the decorations from the hotel lobby right before you entered the wedding hall:


The ceremony itself was quite elaborate and took several hours to complete. It was really fascinating. People don't really watch the whole thing, they kind of mill around and stand on the stage and around the stage and take pictures. In all it was interesting.

Madras Marriage

Well, I want to apologize for my extended absences, I just have not had time and that can be explained later, but I would like to pick back up where I left off and continue to tell you about my trip this summer because it was a lot of fun and definitely a once in a life time experience. So after I left the airport I got into the car and headed off with my friend's dad to their apartment. Upon pulling out of the airport, immediate panic set in. Oh, no, we are driving 0n the wrong side of the road!! I am going to die!! It was an instinctual response, even though consciously I knew that they drive on the other side, my whole being was rebelling against it, and it took quite a while to get used to it. Not to mention the traffic! There are no lanes, people just drive helter-skelter, along with all the rickshaws, bicycles, motorbikes, pedestrians, and so on. Although Pakistan was much worse, but I will get to that later.

My friend's house was all decked out for the wedding:

Color design on the floor outside the apartment.

Front door of the apartment decorated
with flower garlands.

Everyone was ready for the wedding and reception, which were both taking place the next day, but I quickly fell asleep in the only room with air conditioning. My goodness it was hot! I slept until the afternoon and then got up for some lunch and just relaxed. That night they had a pooja to bless the clothes that they were wearing for the wedding. All of this was totally new to me, as the only thing I knew about Hinduism was what I had seen in Bollywood movies. During the pooja, everyone stepped forward to place turmeric powder and other substances (not sure what) on the bride and groom's hands and face. Also, some sweets were blessed to be taken the next day for the wedding. They were very cute.