A Rajput wedding

The next significant ceremony is the 'Pithi Dastoor' conducted for the bride and groom in their respective homes and involves the application of turmeric and sandalwood paste and continues till the actual wedding. Once the 'pithi dastoor' starts, the bride and groom are forbidden to leave their individual homes. The ceremony performed for the bride is quite detailed when compared to the groom's and is an all ladies affair. The bride dresses in an orange 'poshaak', a Rajasthani dress, and comes to the ceremony under a silk canopy that is held up by the corners with swords by four ladies who belong to the bride's clan.

As we all know, music is an integral part of Indian weddings and Rajput weddings are no exception. During the 'pithi dastoor', 'dholans' or women singers with 'dholaks' sing auspicious pre-wedding songs and generally these dholaks are present throughout the wedding celebrations. The dholans sing songs pertinent to each occasion livening up the festivities in the homes of the bride and groom. The 'shehnai' and 'nagara' players also are crucial to their weddings but they play in the courtyard or the garden.

Another indispensable part of a Rajasthani wedding is the 'mehfil' that is held in the evenings and there are separate mehfils held for men and women. The men's mehfil has performances by singers. In the ladies mehfil, the women gather in a courtyard or hall and perform a 'ghoomar' which is a unique dance performed as a group. The role of the bride is to simply preside over the function and she can join the dancing occasionally though custom demands that she be more of a spectator. The ladies mehfil is an all women affair but an exception is made for the groom if it is held in his house.

A ceremony common to the families of the bride and groom is the 'mahira dastoor' and is performed by the maternal uncle of the bride or groom. The maternal uncle and his family make a grand entrance and are traditionally received by the bride or groom's mother. He gives gifts such as clothes, jewellery and sweets to the entire family and this is a symbolic function as it seen as a brother's duty to help his sister in her child's marriage due to the considerable expenditure that will be incurred.

We then come to the 'janev' ceremony that is important for the groom as he is given the sacred thread on the eve of his becoming a family man. The groom comes dressed in saffron robes like an ascetic and he has to perform a 'havan' before he can wear the thread. The wearing of the saffron robes means that the groom is presented with two choices he can either accept the responsibilities of marriage or renounce the world to be an ascetic. Once the havan is over and he wears the thread, he makes a mock attempt to escape the bonds of marriage and the maternal uncle must bring him back and convince him to marry.

The 'padla dastoor' is a custom followed only by the Rajputs that may be performed a day prior to the wedding or on the actual wedding day and involves the bringing of gifts to the bride, like clothes, jewellery and other gifts from the groom, by relatives of the groom. These have to be worn by the bride for the wedding ceremony.

The Rajput bride wears a resplendent traditional Rasjasthani 'poshak' for the wedding ceremony that is usually red in colour but you will also find orange, yellow, gold or pink poshaks being worn. There are certain traditional items of jewellery worn by the bride for the occasion that also have their own significance. The 'rakhri', a circular piece of adornment worn on the forehead in the parting of the hair signifies that the bride must 'walk on the straight line' while the danglers on her ears advise her not to listen to gossip. The 'timaniyaan', which is a choker encrusted with uncut diamonds, tells her that she should always bow her head in humility and the 'chudda' that is a set of ivory and gold bangles, reminds her to give to charity. She also adorns gold and stone-studded armlets called the 'bajuband', gold anklets, gold toe-rings called 'bichhiya', and a 'nath' or stone-studded nose ring. The anklets tell her to put the 'right foot forward' while the nose ring reminds her not to spend more than her husband can afford.

The Rajput 'baraat' is an all male affair and the bridegroom comes attired in a gold 'achkan', an orange turban adorned with a 'sirpech', a 'churidhar' or jodhpurs along with 'jootis' that are complemented with a necklace and a cummerbund. The members of the 'baraat' also wear achkans or sherwanis with jodhpurs and turbans, and proceed to the bride's house. Of course, there is no dancing and all members either ride horses or elephants and sport swords. The horse is an important animal for the Rajputs, so the groom must ride the horse at some point in the procession. The male members in the bride's family receive the baraatis and the groom is escorted to the ladies section where the bride's mother performs the 'arati'.

The groom then proceeds to the 'mandap' for the w