OSHKOSH, WISCONSIN, USA, April 30, 2006: Colorful garbs, Indian music and dancing livened otherwise quiet streets near the Grand Opera House Saturday in festive celebration of another Roy family traditional Hindu wedding. Groom Raj Dhanasekaran, 28, arrived by horse and carriage in a procession that briefly closed down a stretch from the Park Plaza to the Grand. Horns welcomed his advent as he awaited his bride. Oshkosh native Raina Roy, 28, arrived in front of the opera house in an ornate red and gold palanquin, with six married men bearing the wooden carriage. The couple exchanged excited smiles and little waves from a distance. Curious community members took note, stopping to watch the splendid mid-afternoon spectacle. “It’s the first time I’ve seen anything like it,” marveled Jean Kargus, of Oshkosh, who watched the procession with her mother, Fern. “We’re just being nosey, we heard about it in the newspaper,” she said with a laugh. This isn’t the first time the community has gotten a taste of Indian culture; parents of the bride Anjishnu and Ruma Roy held similar ceremonies for their two eldest daughters, Semontee in 1994 and Sandana in 1996. Though the three girls were born and raised here, and are admittedly very Americanized, they speak Sanskrit and keep religious customs. It was important to have traditional Hindu weddings. “It’s part of our culture, and we want to keep that,” Raina Roy said from her parents’ home last week. They even passed down the palki each bride arrived in, which Anjishnu Roy made himself.
About 350 family and friends of the bride and groom gathered in the 600-seat theater to witness the on-stage ceremony, which followed the earliest Hindu texts, called Vedas. The stage beamed with bright reds, yellows and gold and was alive with flowers garlands and customary banana plants. The officiant explained in English the vows, blessings and rituals done in Sanskrit. It started with the sanctification of the mandap (or alter), welcoming of the groom by seven married women and led to exchanging flower garlands and taking vows around the sacred fire. The meaning behind these rituals, explained Anjishnu Roy, is “everything we do, we’ll do together.” Holding a radiant bride clad in a red and gold sari, the palki was carried up to the altar, where she was taken on a wooden board to her groom. Until this time, her feet didn’t touch the ground, symbolic that “this girl is very precious to us,” said Anjishnu Roy. “Take care of her.”
Aside from the Vedic Hindu traditions performed, the couple also incorporated American traditions like exchanging rings and having seven bridesmaids and groomsmen. Her friends were in awe of the whole occasion. “I heard this was going to be big, but I never thought it would be something like this,” said Tricia Eden, who attends medical school in Chicago with the bride. “This is so cool.” Ryan Saim, also a fellow med student, agreed. With a big smile and wide eyes, he said, “I didn’t expect this.” The couple will hold a second ceremony May 24 at the great Meenakshi Temple in India, where Hindu wedding fanfare typically spans seven days. The groom graduates law school, the bride from medical school in Chicago this May; they will move to Minneapolis, where Raina Roy is doing her residency at Mayo Clinic.