Mewari horse dances for Krishna's wedding

I must be suffering from sensory overload for this evening when I ran into 3 wedding processions I couldn't find the energy to lift my camera! But this morning was a different case for I was woken by thumping and furniture moving on the roof and thought I would go and investigate. Half way up the wide, gracious, white marble staircase to the roof I met an enormous monkey coming down. It startled me somewhat but at least I knew who was moving the furniture around for there was a tribe of them sunning themselves while their babies leapt around. My appearance caused a bit of consternation and they moved to high ledges, some to the neem tree and others leapt the passageway to the opposite buildings.

Last evening I dropped my electricity adaptor which disabled it so this morning I went to see a Mr Fix-it to see what he could do. He was carefully taking it apart when the customer next to me grabbed it and a pair of pliers and said he could do it. I was frantically trying to stop him and get the thing back into safe hands but whatever he did murdered it and now I have an Indian substitute instead but it isn't a world wide version which is frustrating.

But if that hadn't happened I wouldn't have spent the next 4 hours with an enormous gathering of families and friends at a Temple to Krishna (or one of his other names) for I had planned other things for my day. It was only a skip and a jump from Mr Not-Fix-it and I couldn't resist taking shots of the crowd. Everyone wore new clothes, wedding jewellery, gold flashing everywhere, fantastic, ornate sarees and many men sported turbans which made it very colourful. I asked whether I could have more photographs and was drawn in with requests to stay and come to the wedding, to have lunch and please to send the photographs to a couple of email addresses that were quickly produced! Indians do love them.

A brass band, drummers and a mobile generator on a cart with loudspeakers were in attendance and so was a very beautiful Mewari 'dancing' horse with the typical inward facing ears. Garlands and offerings to the God were made – everyone went in and made obeisance at the shrine, the horse reared and danced for a few minutes and I had a red tilak marked between my eyebrows. We all went up to the dining hall to wait for lunch to be served to us as we sat on long strips of carpet on the concrete floor of the hall above the temple and were served by some of the men. Two lines of women, one of children and another of senior men. Then we women and children sat around while the men were served and my right hand was grasped to have a silver bracelet put on my wrist and my hand hennaed. Then we waited below for the shrine to be prepared and come out for everyone to see. The horse came forward and knelt down before it and was given special sweets to eat from a scarf looped under his mouth and then we set off with the God in his shrine on a stretcher to process around the local streets to the other side of the lake.

Now when you consider the roads are so narrow they should only really be one way and we were a hundred and fifty or more processors in the street which the traffic considered to be two way and not to be hindered by a religious procession you get the picture... there was only one confrontation...but in respect they didn't hoot but worked their vehicle or motorbike through the throng, people looked out from doorways, down from windows and roof tops and threw red rose petals, marigolds, baked rice and confetti down onto the shrine, and followers – it smelt delicious - colourful smoke flares were lit, the horse danced every time we stopped for the band to really set to and the ladies danced whenever they felt so inclined. Finally we stopped on a ghat beside the lake, the stretcher poles were removed and the top of the shrine too so that it would fit into a jeep. As it left everyone raised their hands and chanted as we watched it disappear to the Temple of His Consort where they would be married in another ceremony – I don't know all the right terms for very few people had much English and I don't know enough Hindi to really find out enough to explain it all – anyway about 500-1000 people were expected to greet His arrival and after the wedding there would be another feast.

Am still overwhelmed by the response to my Gypsy Wife - blessings and thanks to all – you are very generous. lots of pics from the day here