บท 62: MARRIAGE

The days passed by too quickly and today was the day when the various rituals for my marriage would begin. Considering that this was going to be a royal wedding, it was bound to be grand. We had all the works that I had only ever seen in historical masterpieces of Bollywood cinema. 

A very beautiful mandap¹  was set up in the palace gardens, it was beautifully decorated with flowers and had been hand sculpted by the talented artisans of our kingdom. The dresses for our wedding were also completed and we were all ready to proceed with the functions. 

The marriage ceremony began with the traditional baarat. Baarat refers to the groom's procession party. It is tradition that the groom and his family arrive to the wedding with the groom riding a horse and the rest dancing and enjoying around him while they make their way to the wedding.