My India - Indian Wedding

When I watched ''Eat Pray Love'' which Julia Roberts was the heroen I felt just like I was watching my life on the screen...I ate lots of things when I was wacthing the film too...

I burst in to laughings sometimes and also cried too...

It was like a therapy for me:) Kind of a way to emotional freedom...

Art has really great inspiration influence on people's evolution...

Especially Indian Wedding ceremony got me deeply...I re-member-ed...

One should definitly attend an Indian Wedding ceremony once in their life...

It is one of the most meanful, colorful ,shinning ,joyful, heartfull wedding experience I beleive...

Hindu Wedding ceremony in fact...

I want to share my feelings and observations about this ceremony now...

This marriage took place in the beatiful land named Goa in India. Goa has great beaches and climate...

It was December 1996 ...It seems ages ago...

Very early in the morning sister in law of the bride and her women friends came to her room and take her to the beach...

They were singing songs which she really did not know the meaning but she was just enjoying from their joyfull heart...

Firstly they decorated her hands and feet with beatiful Indian Henna.....Than after some time when they ''washed'' her in the ocean ...Indian Ocean...

After she had her bath in her room than great time came...

She put a bright purple sari with golden garnish on...She weared a long skirt and short blouse under her sari which are accepted as underwear in India. So be aware not to see any woman with skirt and blouse in India...This is not accepted as a kind and wise thing there...It is their custom...

Than she had green bangles which are the symbol of Goddess Lakshmi on her both ankles...

Wikipedia explains Lakshmi as below...

Lakshmi (Sanskrit: लक्ष्मी lakṣmī, Hindi pronunciation: [ˈləkʃmi], Tamil: லட்சுமி letchumi) is the Hindu goddess of wealth, prosperity (both material and spiritual), light, wisdom, fortune, fertility, generosity and courage; and the embodiment of beauty, grace and charm.

Also symbol of wifehood and motherhood I should say...

Suprisingly enough I was attended a ceremony for honouring the Lakshmi principle in us in Lisbon/Portugal in November 1996. Infact it was my first visit to Portugal...

Life has great circles and signs/messages...We really need to be in the moment to understand the story its tell about us...Portugal has a great place in my heart too...Also very interestingly India and Portugal have historical back ground and karma...We will go deep in this subject later:)

Back to the preparations...

Ofcourse her face was decorated beatifully and a red veil was fixed to her hair.

Some jewerelly for face , and hands and feet were also following...

You just feel so feminen and like a real queen...It is like Goddess in you is worshiped or honored...

Ofcourse groom has great fun with his friends during this period...They do a special turmeric (Haldi) ceremony...With the attendes of a local band , they crazyly dance and apply turmeric to their skin...In our case they had lots of fun in the ocean...

Than ceremony starts...

Hindu priests prepares a sacred fire between the couple...Their mother and father or relatives also would be near the fire...

This fire called as a Havana...Havanam (also Havana, Havan) is the term for a sacred purifying ritual (yajna) in Hinduism that involves a fire ceremony. It is a ritual of sacrifice made to the fire god Agni. After lighting a Havan Kund (sacrificial fire), objects such as fruits, honey, or wooden goods are put into the sacred fire. If there are any spirits that are evil around you or even inside you they get burned off in the sacred fire. It is believed that this sacrifice will bring health, happiness, luck and prosperity.

The official wedding ceremonies in Turkey just take 5 or 10 minutes and I think there is no spirit in it...Unfortunately it is so gross ...Even the dinning party does not create deep feeling...

Ever single person is aware of the meaning of wedding in India...They know and beleive these two souls have chosen each other for their spiritual / evolutionary growth...It is very respectable ceremony ... Infact two souls are ''serving'' in a very delicate way to each other...Marriage is accepted as a sacred tie between two souls...

Our western mind is generally work on the mental side or I should say ''left brained''...Nevertheless Eastern mind is generally work with emotional side or ''right brained''...This is Jung's view and it is exactly match with my feelings and observations...You need to understand the language of your emotions and symbolism to understand Eastern Mind and their beliefs , way of life...Especially about Hindu way of belief...

Ofcourse the best is to live the life in a balanced way...We call it ''Holistic Brained''...We can ''interact'' our both brains and extend our vision , perception, understanding...In my later writing I will go deeper in this subject too...

Back to topic one more again...

During the Havana everybody put some rice flowers food to sacred fire...

Than they tighed the piece of the sari the groom's cloth...Then the couple make seven rounds around the fire together and each time they say/pray good wishes and/or promises to each other for their future life...

When the ceremony finishes they feed each other with their hands and than the party starts...Lots of great music and dance ...Also most beatiful food are served...

As they say the most effective way of evolvement of the soul is in the personal relations. In another words our personal relations with our wife/husband, partner , lover what so ever we named the person are very strong spiritual experiences...

We entirely open our all bodies to each other...Emotional, mental,spiritual via our physical body...Yes two people experince and learn to become ONE...No matter if your beloved does not open herself/himself to your being...You keep open yourself...This is the way extending your ''love container/capacity''...As long as you see your beloved and the experience you are facing with the eyes of your soul or heart than you are gifted with great inner growth...They say when ever we feel some difficultius in the relation we should just keep in love and try to love ourselves more...The love we feel in our heart will remove all the unbalanced in the relataion and our beloved one becomes to balance again...

Therefore I beleive we should be thankful and greatful from deep of our hearts for whom really took a role on our journey as our close partner,wife/husband,lover....No matter what name we gave them ...No matter what as the experience painful or joyful...no matter they are close or far...No matter it is a real relation or just a platonic one...

As long as we open our being to the light of our beloved one , we are all gifted and transformed and evolved...Because we accept our reflection on the mirror of our beloved one...Simply we love ourselves and the all more and more...We rise to realm of Oneness...

I beleive we should just look at the eyes of our partner,wife/husband or lover ...Try to see and feel the one beyond form...We will recognize someone we have known...Just your reflection ...Look at them and see how they are beatiful loving kind gentel flowing joyful...

As they say love is not a feeling it is a level of conscious...Divine Love is the highest conscious or frequency in love according to me...

I beleive humanly love is just teaching us Divine Love ... Humanly love keeps us seeking in Divine Love...It is just like a burning fire which enlighten our way to Divinly Love in our heart.

We learn we are all ONE there is no others via humanly love...We experince Oneness...

We learn unconditional love. When we love ourselves we love all our reflections too without any judgement...

When me miss our lover this is actually we miss The Oneness ...The highest frequency of love...Some people call it as ''Home''...

As they say Life is God ,God is Life...Also Love is God, God is Love...So Life is Love, Love is Life...

We know perception is everthing...We live our life according to our perceptions...

If we beleive we fall in love than yes our experience may be about ''falling''...

So let us chance or perception...Together we can do it...

Let us all ''rise in love'' by our beloved one's shining being...

What ever we perceive our focus on in a person , we make it redouble in that person and in ourselves too...So ...We can create more love and light each others beings by only focusing on our lightful parts...Beleive it is easy and secure...Just willingness would be a good start...

There is a song of Pink Martini...''Lets never stop falling in love''...I like it...

I say ''Lets keep rising in love''...

This is why we are here and this is the name of the game...

''Rising in Love''...

I am a simple traveler on the earth and try to learn this game:)

with love

Funda