Rite 07 · Before the wedding
Haldi
Turmeric, laughter and colour — the morning the bride and groom are made to glow. Relatives smear the bright paste over face, arms and feet, for a shine and for protection; and from this hour the bride's parents fast, and won't eat again until she has left.
The whole weddingHaldi · हल्दी
Rite 07 of 19Known locally as
Haldi
/ hal·dee / हल्दी
the turmeric morning — the bright paste rubbed onto the couple by their kin, for a glow, for protection, and for the joy of it.
What it is
Relatives smear a paste of turmeric — often the same pithya — over the bride's and the groom's face, arms and feet, each in their own home, on the morning of the day.
Why it's done
Turmeric is auspicious, cleansing and protective. The haldi readies the skin and the spirit and is said to turn away the evil eye before the couple step into the biggest day of their lives. From this morning the bride's parents fast until she leaves.
How it unfolds
One by one the relatives come up, take a fingerful of the bright paste and rub it on — amid teasing, music, and a fair bit of smearing it where it isn't wanted.
Who needs to be there
Married women and close relatives — the bride with her side, the groom with his.
What's special — and how we keep it
The most joyful, least solemn rite of all — pure colour and noise. We remember it by the photographs: a courtyard of yellow hands.
Her side, and his
The bride's side
At her home, the bride's kin rub her with haldi — and from this morning her parents begin their fast, eating nothing until she has left.
The groom's side
At his, the groom's kin do the very same for him. The two never see it done to the other; each side glows yellow on its own.
Pandit ji, the mantra & the song Draft
The mangal geet
Haldi songs — teasing and tender by turns — are sung over the smearing on both sides.
In photographs
8 frames from this rite, in the order they happened.
Photographs in association with Balaji Photographer — a studio out of Barechhina, on the Almora–Pithoragarh highway.