A man distributing Prasad (offering) to the people after a ritual. Chitkul wedding, Himachal pradesh.
The local weddings take place the Mathi temple. The locals say it is about 500 years old. The ceremony begins with locals gathering in the temple compound. The musicians play a variety of instruments which includes Ranasingha (a curved wind based instrument), Thonkru (a large trumpet), drums, cymbals, shehnai (indian oboe), Ghanta (gong) etc. There are a group of people who are members of the temple committee who are primarily responsible for the activities. First the priest performs a cleansing ceremony in all four directions of the temple. Then Prasada (offering) is distributed among the attendees. It usually constitutes of poori and halwa. Then the deity (Mathi devi) is brought out on a palanquin and taken to circumambulate the temple courtyard. The temple committee members take turns in transferring the palanquin to one another as it is tremendously heavy. Once this is done, they take the deity to the area where the wedding is to take place in the village. The deity visits the house of the bride and the groom to bless the union and then placed in the wedding area and remains there for a few days before eventually being brought back to the temple.
Size: 3509px × 5115px
Location: Chitkul, HImachal Pradesh
Photo credit: © wayfarer / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
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