The Divine Wedding ...

Wedding at Guruvayoor temple is known for its chaos, crowd and hurriedness! It is crazy! The number of marriages held every day ranges from 35 to 100. So u can imagine the craziness! Owing to the rush and limited number of mandapams, each couple is allowed barely three to seven minutes for the wedding ceremony. Only the couple and some of their relatives alone are allowed near the mandapam; the others have try and get a glimpse from the distance. There have been cases where the bride and groom have got interchanged, and marriage happened and it couldnt be undone. :)

So u can imagine what we were expecting! We got the token for 9:00 AM on saturday evening from the temple. Usually weddings begin as early as 5:00 AM. So around 9 AM a huge party of folks both from the groom's side and the bride's side left for the temple on foot. It was like 10minutes walk. And when we reached the mantapam, the place was packed. We had to remove our footwear! So amisdt all the chaoes everyone managed to get near the mantapam. Our number was called out and it was told that only close family can come on the mantap. So from our side it was my dad, mom, me & Ram, my uncle (mom;s eldest bro) and his wife and from Anoops side his parents, sister, brother-in-law and 2 close relatives.

Amazingly the rest of the family could all get to stand around the Mantap. The marriage took easily 20 - 30 minutes. The priest who performed the wedding himself quite surprised that there was no hurriedness and everything went so peacefully and smoothly!

For me to behold the moment when Anoop tied the Thali on Reshma's neck was a moment that I will never forget in my life. They both looked made for each other and totally in love! My dad was beaming with joy the whole time.
It was like a dream come true for him. U can see the joy reflected in every picture!

After the wedding the entire procession then walked to the Marriage Hall were the remaining ceremonies were completed!

One thing to mention is the food! It was delicious! Very satwik and yummy! Guruvayoor is famous for its Pazham (banana) Payasam (porridge) made with Jaggery nd coconut milk. It was out of this world!

That day of the wedding was full of activities! There was so much going on. After lunch the bus whcih came from my hometown was leaving - that is all mymaternal and paternal uncles and aunts and cousins were all leaving.. hotels had to be cleared, everyone taken care of .. my dad was so busy that he didnt even get to eat the lunch!

Around 3 PM myself and few others rode with the groom's party to drop Reshma in her in-laws home. It was both joyous and a Sad moment for me. Me & My sister are inseparable - i cant explain it. It is a knowing beyond words, beyond events, beyond relationships. Our togetherness is the most cherished gift of this life and also, my attachment! :)