Today, we were all invited to a wedding at a Sikh temple in Sacramento. It was one of the neatest experiences we've ever had. Sean and I both took a World Religion class while attending BYU-Idaho and learned that Mormonism and Sikhism are very similar. They have a temple where they perform marriages and guess what, all baptized sikhs wear special underclothing. Cool, right? For those who don't know a lot about Sihkism, they organized against caste system in India. They believed that every man and woman should be equal and that no one should ever be untouchable (lower caste people like farmers and servants could not be touched). They wanted everyone to be able to enter the Hindu temple, but of course, the Hindus did not like it very much. Many Sihks were persecuted for their beliefs and that is why they are known as to be always prepared to fight (against persecution). Also, Sikh temples always have a door on the each side of the building so that one may enter from any direction or walk of life. It was interesting to learn about the symbolism of the Sikh religion.
Unfortunately, we couldn't understand any of the things that were said during the wedding ceremony because they were speaking a different language (we think it was Hindi). But it was pretty cool to stand among the Sikhs and participate in their ceremony.
The guy in red robe is the groom, Pally. (Sean works with him. He is Indian but grew up in England.) They did a ceremony where the groom's and the bride's families exchanged "garland" (they look like leihs)... probably means they welcome each other. They chanted a few words in the process of exchanging the garland.
In the hallway in the temple, we were waiting for the ceremony to start. (Thank goodness they served breakfast there. We were so hungry!) Anyway, you see Sean wearing a white scarf around his head? It is required that you wear it to cover your head before you enter the temple. We tried to put it on Matt, but he didn't like it so much. But someone said that he didn't have to wear it since he is a baby and that no one was going to care. Phew...
Another shot of Sean and Matt. I love how Matt's sticking out his tongue in this picture.
That's me and Matthew. I bought a new scarf at H&M for this event last night and guess what, I totally forgot it at our apartment. I was pretty upset about it. But oh well, this rental scarf will do.
Hooray for a family picture!! I wish Matt was looking at the camera, though.
There were four huge video cameras in every corner, I think. That's the bright flash you see in this picture. Anyway, all men sat on the left side of the room and all women sat on the right side. Everyone sat on the floor without shoes. There was a priest in the middle and conducted the ceremony. It was pretty interesting. I was trying to watch the ceremony and Matt at the same time. It was a challenge but Matt was pretty good. Oh, I must tell you. There was another baby sitting next to us and Matt went and gave the baby a kiss! It was so cute!!
This was taken later tonight at the reception. They had really good food.
I was amazed by the gorgeous dress that the bride was wearing at the reception! So pretty. I would like to try on one of those sparkly, pretty dresses.
Matt was so excited to see a lot of people dance to loud music! The music was so loud, I could feel my heartbeat!
Another family picture... Yeah, Matt's not looking at the camera, again. Ugh! :-)
A lot of people danced at the reception.
With the groom.
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