The season of weddings is here!!!
The big fat Bengali weddings of Kolkata have undergone a sea of change since my childhood. Gone are those days, when we got together at our grand parents huge four storied house a month before the actual wedding date. At the actual wedding, every member of the family had to be in attendance come what may. To avoid becoming an outcast every lady member of the family arrived with their children much before their spouses who came much later (work kept them away), closer to the wedding date. Everyone stayed together under the same roof and had fun together. Simple was the wedding and the whole process. A couple of cooks cooked for all and all functions took place under the same roof. Earlier a galore of finger-licking delights prepared with love awaited us at weddings and we dug into these mouth-watering but simple dishes.
The olden days are long gone and Bengali weddings underwent many changes as time flew by. Weddings have become more glamorous now, with wedding planners planning every detail for the bride and grooms families. The grooms family, friends and relatives and even the brides , are put into five star hotels for a comfortable stay on all the wedding days and the wedding itself takes place in elaborate style in plush places.
A Bengali wedding is a long and elaborate affair. The sound of ulu and conch shell marks the begnning of a traditional Bengali wedding. It all begins with Ashirbaad. Ashirbaad is a pre-wedding ritual. On a chosen auspicious day, the elders of the grooms family visit the brides house with gold ornaments ,clothes ,sweets and misti doi and other gifts to bless the bride. A similar function takes place at the grooms when elders of the brides family bless the groom.
Aiburobhaat , Holud kota, Anondo Nadu, Dodhi Mongol are all pre-wedding functions.
And then Biye(the wedding)......
The Calcuttan's obsession with food is very evident at the weddings. Sweaters and shawls wrapped on expensive designer sarees( and nowdays other types of garments), faces glowing..... ready to have a good time... people attend weddings. It is true that Calcuttan's love their food, but weddings change everything. It unleashes in them an appetite for different sorts of food. Calcuttans are ready to explore the innumerable food options and would not settle for only the time-tested Bengali cuisine. Over the years, Calcutta's
stolid , unwavering food preferences have visibly evolved and its at this time that the shift in its food habits becomes most apparent. From traditional Bengali dishes we have graduted to Chinese, Mexican, Continental and fusion cuisine.
Bengali weddings are like carnivals and what is a carnival without an assortment of mouth watering delicacies.....
A carnival is all about celebrating the finer things in life.
Pic courtesy....Sreemoyee ghose,Trisha chakraborty,Sohini basu
& Chandan.
The big fat Bengali weddings of Kolkata have undergone a sea of change since my childhood. Gone are those days, when we got together at our grand parents huge four storied house a month before the actual wedding date. At the actual wedding, every member of the family had to be in attendance come what may. To avoid becoming an outcast every lady member of the family arrived with their children much before their spouses who came much later (work kept them away), closer to the wedding date. Everyone stayed together under the same roof and had fun together. Simple was the wedding and the whole process. A couple of cooks cooked for all and all functions took place under the same roof. Earlier a galore of finger-licking delights prepared with love awaited us at weddings and we dug into these mouth-watering but simple dishes.
The olden days are long gone and Bengali weddings underwent many changes as time flew by. Weddings have become more glamorous now, with wedding planners planning every detail for the bride and grooms families. The grooms family, friends and relatives and even the brides , are put into five star hotels for a comfortable stay on all the wedding days and the wedding itself takes place in elaborate style in plush places.
A Bengali wedding is a long and elaborate affair. The sound of ulu and conch shell marks the begnning of a traditional Bengali wedding. It all begins with Ashirbaad. Ashirbaad is a pre-wedding ritual. On a chosen auspicious day, the elders of the grooms family visit the brides house with gold ornaments ,clothes ,sweets and misti doi and other gifts to bless the bride. A similar function takes place at the grooms when elders of the brides family bless the groom.
Aiburobhaat , Holud kota, Anondo Nadu, Dodhi Mongol are all pre-wedding functions.
And then Biye(the wedding)......
The Calcuttan's obsession with food is very evident at the weddings. Sweaters and shawls wrapped on expensive designer sarees( and nowdays other types of garments), faces glowing..... ready to have a good time... people attend weddings. It is true that Calcuttan's love their food, but weddings change everything. It unleashes in them an appetite for different sorts of food. Calcuttans are ready to explore the innumerable food options and would not settle for only the time-tested Bengali cuisine. Over the years, Calcutta's
stolid , unwavering food preferences have visibly evolved and its at this time that the shift in its food habits becomes most apparent. From traditional Bengali dishes we have graduted to Chinese, Mexican, Continental and fusion cuisine.
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| A bengali Bride & groom. |
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| A Beautiful Bengali Bride |
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| Subho Dristi |
A carnival is all about celebrating the finer things in life.
Pic courtesy....Sreemoyee ghose,Trisha chakraborty,Sohini basu
& Chandan.
Madam,
ReplyDeleteThis is Nirmalya Basu from Lake Town. I would like to inform you that we have found out that my wife's photo is there in your in blog, which is there without taking permission from any one of us...
My mail ID: nirmalya.arunsign@gmail.com
Please contact me for further
Nice blog and thanks for sharing this information.
ReplyDeleteDestination wedding planner
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