The spectacular Ambani wedding ceremony of the Republic of India, defined: NPR

What are reality TV celebrity Kim Kardashian, former British Prime Minister Tony Blair and famous Indian cricketer Jasprit Bumrah all doing in the same room together?

Actually, attending a wedding.

Anati Ambani, the youngest son of Asia’s richest man Mukesh Ambani, married Radhika Merchant in a three-day wedding ceremony in Mumbai this weekend.

This trend, which has been criticized for being a display of extreme privilege in a poor country, has been in the news for some time now, as pre-wedding ceremonies and celebrations have seen the presence of the most famous names. Planet.

The wedding is estimated to cost approximately $132 million to $156 million, but the actual figure is unknown.

Anant Ambani and his fiancee Radhika Merchandise pose for a picture during his Sangeet ceremony in Mumbai on July 5.

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Sujit Jaiswal/AFP via Getty Images

This isn’t the first time the Ambani’s have made headlines for their lavish weddings: In 2018, Beyoncé gave a live performance at Mukesh Ambani’s daughter Isha Ambani’s pre-wedding birthday party.

Mukesh Ambani is the owner of Reliance Industries, a multinational conglomerate that sells everything from petrochemicals to affordable phones.

Indian weddings are considered to be grand, lavish, with more than one spiritual ceremony and event to announce the bride and groom. It’s a billion-dollar business, making it the second largest wedding ceremony market on the planet behind the US.

Indian weddings stand out because they last for more than one day, with other occasions and celebrations that each have their own cultural usage.

The Ambani wedding ceremony is no exception. The celebrations started on Friday, 4 months before the wedding.

Indian weddings vary depending on the pockets of the families in the Indian Republic, and can be very small in some cases. The Ambani’s are from Gujarat, the northern region of India, and have adopted many of the traditional customs of that region.

the wedding itself

Billionaire Mukesh Ambani (centre) holds the hand of his son Anant Ambani as he walks out with Nita Ambani (right) at a wedding ceremony in Mumbai on Friday.

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Wife’s wedding celebration started personally on Monday Turmeric rites. one in Turmeric As per the ritual, turmeric paste is applied on the face or body of the bride and groom by their friends and relatives. Haldi, meaning turmeric in Hindi, is widely known for its anti-inflammatory and medicinal properties. Some people believe that turmeric has a purifying effect on the bride and groom. The ceremony is usually private and attended by only close friends and family, a practice adopted by Ambani.

The wedding started on Friday and continued till the next day. The first rites took place on the grounds of Mumbai’s Jio Global Conference Centre, which has a capacity of 16,000 people. A red carpet was rolled out for guests, which included wrestler and actor John Cena, singer Nick Jonas and reality TV stars Kim and Khloe Kardashian.

American actor and professional wrestler John Cena gestures while arriving at a wedding ceremony in Mumbai on Friday.

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A traditional Hindu wedding ceremony usually involves securing the bride and groom with a piece of cloth as the groom carries the bride around the fire pit seven times. known as ferrous, or marriage vows. A pandit, or Hindu priest, often recites vows in Sanskrit as the couple circles the fire.

Each circle around the hearth symbolizes each choice the bride and groom are making and a unique devotion they are making to God. as soon as the Pledge That’s over, the couple formally got married. The ceremony may take anywhere from 45 minutes to 3 hours depending on the actual traditions the couple is following.

The crowd at the Ambani wedding ceremony was so huge that the police had to divert visitors around the venue It is the monsoon season in India, and flights were being disrupted in Mumbai all the time due to heavy rains.

Reliance Industries Chairman Mukesh Ambani (left) poses with participants from his country at the engagement ceremony of his son Anant Ambani (third from left) and Radhika Ambani (second from left) during an event in Mumbai. Are shaking. , on January 19, 2023.

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(more than one) engagement ceremony

After a peace proposal at a temple later in December, the Radhika service provider attended her first engagement birthday party in January: a standard Indian mehndi ceremony. This ceremony, sometimes called the mehendi ceremony, is often conducted the night before the wedding. Henna, one of the dyes that leaves a red-orange stain, is applied to the bride’s hands and toes. Mehndi ceremonies are usually organized by the bridal party in the country, and are intended to give the bride a chance to relax, as it takes a few hours to prepare the mehendi for the nearest use.

After that ritual, the couple conducts a Gol Dhana Sanskar, a Gurjati engagement ceremony in which sweets made of coriander seeds are exchanged by the bride and groom. Generally, the bride arrives at the groom’s house with sweets and optional items that are exchanged between the families to represent their engagement.

Ambani’s Gol Dhana ceremony attracted the biggest names of Bollywood, including actors Salman Khan, Shah Rukh Khan and Aamir Khan, who are household names in India.

Pre-wedding ceremonies, tours and performances

The wedding first made headlines when singer Rihanna performed at a pre-wedding birthday party in her country of origin in March. The guest list of 1,200 included Mark Zuckerberg, Bill Gates and Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner.

In no time, at the close of their star-studded tournament, the country will embark on a spectacular four-day European tour. There was a strict no-calling policy, but leaked photos showed singers including Pitbull and the Backstreet Boys performing on the yacht. Katy Perry also performed for the family at one stop on her cruise.

The Ambani’s didn’t just make an ultra-rare performance at their pre-wedding festivities: More recently, Justin Bieber performed at another pre-wedding celebration at an art center in Mumbai set up by Anant Trader’s mother. ,

Regardless of whether Bieber’s performances are formally named, all of the events, which spanned multiple continents and months, can be considered part of one. music, Generally, Sangeet is a day-long birthday party of dancing and singing before the wedding. The folk participants usually perform a choreographed dance to a Bollywood song, leading to a final dance between the bride and groom, symbolizing the uniting of the two families. Guaranteed Music is actually a “sung together” form of Sanskrit.

This year, Antilia Mansion, the home of billionaire Mukesh Ambani, has been lit up ahead of the wedding of his son Anant Ambani and Radhika Merchant in Mumbai on Wednesday.

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What happens near marriage?

As soon as the marriage took place, the couple got engaged in a traditional Hindu ritual to the fullest, good blessings, Recognized As Divine Blessing Ceremony. Here the couple took blessings from the elders of the society. Normally, as the couples walk out they are showered with rose petals and rice, I am once again walked down the aisle, and this concludes the wedding ceremony for the bride and groom.

the upcoming, Mangal Ustav, or Reception: Like an American wedding ceremony, this is a celebration that turns into a playground right after the wedding ceremony is over. Right here, now the husband and wife have their first chance to dance as a married couple and promote their new opportunity.

Ambani’s wedding reception is expected to level the playing field at the Ambani country’s $2 billion residence in Mumbai, and the festivities are expected to be as star-studded and lavish as the four months that followed.