The ‘Kashi-yatra’ ritual evokes fears of Brahmins that their sons would become Buddhist or Jain monks. The ‘baraat’ comes from the Puranic story of Shiva’s wild hordes accompanying him to Himavan’s house to fetch his bride. The ‘sehra’ of the horse-riding groom, practised by Muslims also, comes from Central Asian custom of preventing the ‘evil eye’ from falling upon the handsome young groom as he sets out to fetch his bride. While ‘haldi’ (turmeric ritual) has Hindu roots, the ‘mehendi’ (henna ritual) has Islamic roots. The popular ‘sangeet ceremony’, once a North Indian practice, full of
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The Indian wedding we see now is a consortium of rituals from many cultures and origins.
