Headlines
Jaipur's royal wedding an India, Pakistan affair
Jaipur, Feb 21
Over 3,000 guests attended the
lavish wedding here of a Pakistani groom and an Indian bride, both of
whom are from royal families.
Karni Singh Sodha, a Rajput who
hails from the erstwhile royal family of Umerkot in Pakistan's Sindh
province, tied the knot with Padmini Kumari, daughter of the royal
family of Kanota, part of the erstwhile Jaipur state in Rajasthan.
The wedding was solemnised at the Narain Niwas Palace here Friday.
"I
accepted the proposal as soon as it came. For me boundaries between the
two countries do not matter much," Man Singh, father of the bride, told
IANS Saturday.
"Over 3,000 guests attended the wedding," said Singh.
"It
was a royal wedding in the real sense. The food was lavish and the
arrangements were perfect. The erstwhile royals were dressed in their
traditional attire," said a guest, R.K. Singh.
The groom was dressed in a white sherwani while Padmini wore a Rajput dress and was adorned with traditional jewellery.
One of the three elephants that were part of the wedding procession was decked up in silver and gold ornaments.
"The
jewellery we used on the elephant was over 250 years old and was
brought from Kanota Library and Museum Trust. Initially all elephant
owners in Jaipur said no to us as they thought the jewellery was very
heavy, but finally an elephant owner agreed," said Singh.
Sources said around 125 of the 300 guests from the groom's side had come from Pakistan.
Matrimonial
alliances between the Rajupt families of Umerkot and Rajasthan are not
new as a few marriages have taken place in the past we well.
The
bride will stay in India until she gets a visa to go to Pakistan. The
groom and his close family members will stay here till the bride gets
her visa.