If you're new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed or email alerts. Thanks for visiting!
Anyway, since the groom’s wedding party was stationed in a hotel, we had to conduct our haldi ceremony in a cramped Ginger Hotel room. Basically, the haldi ceremony involves smearing first the groom with copious amount of turmeric paste, starting from the feet and moving upwards to his face. It is said to be a purification ceremony. No one knew exactly what we were trying to purify until someone mentioned the natural cleansing properties of haldi. Probably, it was an organic and traditional spa-like treatment meant to clear your skin of blemishes, etc. Anyway, ceremonial or religious significance aside all my aunts and other ladies numbering more than 20 had a gala time plastering me yellow as I sat half-naked on a swivel chair covered with newspapers. Much merriment and jokes were tossed around as everyone seemed to enjoy this part of the ceremony. After the aarti, I was allowed to hit the shower and get all the haldi off however even after scrubbing hard for a good 30-40 minutes, I still looked a little yellow (not to be mistaken with shit scared). The only other haldi-related celebration I have seen was at Jejuri, a temple town in rural Maharashtra where you literally have a Holi-like celebration but with haldi.
After all the ladies recovered from the haldi fest, everyone dressed in their finery and assembled in the hotel lobby ready to head to Ash’s ancestral home in Bhubhaneshwar. My mom and few aunts carried with them the necessary jewelery and other assortment of gifts that they were expected to bestow on the bride-to-be. Although the haldi ceremony at the girl’s place is also supposed to involve similar smearing and plastering of turmeric on the bride, the primary intention is to adorn the bride with jewelery and other embellishments in order to get her ready for the wedding. They say that there is no going back on the wedding once the haldi ceremony is done. Mehendi is also applied either earlier or during this time.
The menfolk aren’t supposed to be around and the haldi ceremony is mostly a women’s affair. We arrived a little later and were allowed to watch from the back. After all, this was the first time the two families, cousins, grandparents, and all were meeting each other. The ceremony started with the Oriya Mangan Handi which involved 5 of Ash’s aunts and equal number of pots. The ceremony was accompanied by ‘ullu ullu’ chants which sounds downright hilarious and even the ladies on our side of the wedding party enjoyed joining in. After this brief ceremony started the much longer haldi ceremony. The girl is dressed in a simple white sari in which haldi is applied to her feet, hands, and face. She is gifted another white sari which is slightly more dressy. The girl then also is allowed to have a bath and she emerges dressed in that gifted white sari. She takes centerstage and five ladies which surprisingly exclude the groom’s mom take turns in dressing her up and adorning her with more jewelery. My mom however was at the sidelines barking instructions but mostly deferring to the most senior of my mami who probably had done quite a few of these.
The haldi ceremony was followed by dinner on the terrace. Interestingly, on that day according to the Hindu calendar and Oriya tradition, we were not supposed to eat onions, ginger, or garlic and hence all food was prepared sans those three important ingredients. And we hardly missed them. The food although completely vegetarian was absolutely delicious and our entire wedding party couldn’t stop singing praises especially more so after they were told about the onion-ginger-garlic factoid. Everyone enjoyed each other’s company and there was much merriment that accompanies a wedding party. The delicious Oriya sweets like Rasogulla (originated in Orissa and not Bengal) and more particularly, Chenna Pod Petha which was a big hit with all those who had it for the first time. The evening culminated with series of group photos and we headed back to our hotel eager to get a good night’s sleep before the big day tomorrow.
Next up - the wedding day
by Patrix | on Monday, January 21st, 2008 at 9:00 am | 
India, Personal . You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
Both comments and pings are currently closed.
January 21st, 2008 at 11:58 am reply
Turmeric is also a natural antiseptic. It is applied even to babies in our community.
January 22nd, 2008 at 1:42 pm reply
Bloghopper, yup! So I was told too and we do use it for burns and other medicinal uses. As a skin care product, remember Vicco Turmeric (nahi cosmetic)?
January 23rd, 2008 at 2:51 am reply
..the famous “mere hote, tumhare haat peele karne hai” ..i had gone and got jaundice so had my friends had a gala time making a lot of nasty remarks about the peele haat and wot nots…
thank your stars it wasnt combo of haldi and oil - i believe in some communities they do that ..imagine getting the paste off!
January 24th, 2008 at 6:23 am reply
well in our customs, we get lot of oil applied or rather poured over head…and imagine getting get after that function!..thinking of that even now gives me jitters!..