My best friend Vipin got married last week. The wedding was held at the bride’s hometown in Karnataka and we all had a great time.
Vipin and I have known each other for nearly ten years now. He came to Chennai, as a fresh MBA grad to join the agency I was working for. We struck a good rapport from day one, became best buddies and have managed to remain so till now. We have had great fun together during the one year period he was here in Chennai. He left my Agency to join Toyota in Bangalore, but we have never lost touch and continue to be best friends as ever.
My husband Anand still talks about the time he spent with Vipin during his Bangalore trip and vouches that was and would be the best ever trip in his life. However, both men refuse to tell me what they did together, till date.
Vipin is a “Malayali Jain”. I was very surprised when I heard it for the first time. He belongs to a small community of 20,000 plus Malayalam speaking Jains, who live in Wayanad district of Kerala. And there are Kannada speaking Jains too. And they are a vast majority living in Chikmagalur district of Karnataka. It is common for Malayalam and Kannada speaking Jains to marry each other. Vipin started looking for a bride a year ago and to know his story on how he met Latha, visit www.lathavipin.weddingannouncer.com.
Latha is a Kannada speaking Jain and she hails from a place called Kalasa near Horanad in Karnataka. It’s a beautiful valley and the Annapoorani temple there is a well-known pilgrimage centre. This is my third visit to interior Karnataka and I am in deeply love with that State. According to me it is “The Original God’s Own Country”.The place is full of coffee and tea plantations and it rained all three days while we were there. It’s a peaceful place and is untouched by tourists.
We had a great time and got an opportunity to meet Vipin’s family, whom I have known only by name till then and was also pleasantly surprised to find that most of his aunts, uncles and cousins have heard of me and Anand (thanks to Vipin).
This is the first Jain wedding I am attending and I found that many of their rituals are similar to Hindu weddings. I am also posting the wedding photographs taken by Anand here. The wedding feast was a mix of Kerala and Karnataka specialities and I have gained back a few kilos, which I am now trying very hard to shed 
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- View from our Hotel Room – Horanad
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- Bride grinding Navadhaniyam with other married women to signify prosperity
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- After grinding its pounding, the old fashioned way.
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- Guna Kamal?
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- Coming back from teerth yatra along with Latha’s dad
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- Costume changed! Ready to wed!
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- Welcoming the Groom!
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- Waiting for his Bride!
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- There she comes :-)
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- Screen dropped and garlands exchanged!
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- Bonded together…literally.
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- Kanyadhan
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- Mangalyadharan
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- Cho…chweet!
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- Holy thread? To protect them from each other?
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- Vipin’s toe ring
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- Latha’s toe ring
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- Performing pooja together
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- Performing Aarti
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- Lost in thought already!
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- Happily Ever After!
