My Big, Fat Sikh Wedding

Not a Greek wedding, but a Sikh wedding. Sikh is a religion I know little about, but it's ranked as the 5th largest religion with about 20 million followers worldwide. Here's a little bit of information that I found on the religion...

Sikhism preaches a message of devotion and remembrance of God at all times, truthful living, equality of mankind, social justice and denounces superstitions and blind rituals. 

There is only One God. He is the same God for all people of all religions.

 The soul goes through cycles of births and deaths before it reaches the human form. The goal of our life is to lead an exemplary existence so that one may merge with God. Sikhs should remember God at all times and practice living a virtuous and truthful life while maintaining a balance between their spiritual obligations and temporal obligations.

 The true path to achieving salvation and merging with God does not require renunciation of the world or celibacy, but living the life of a householder, earning a honest living and avoiding worldly temptations and sins.

 Sikhism condemns blind rituals such as fasting, visiting places of pilgrimage, superstitions, worship of the dead, idol worship etc.

 Sikhism preaches that people of different races, religions, or sex are all equal in the eyes of God. It teaches the full equality of men and women. Women can participate in any religious function or perform any Sikh ceremony or lead the congregation in prayer.

Shikha, my teammate and friend, hosted her son's wedding in India over spring break. While that's the traditional Indian wedding I would have LOVED to have seen, we had already had our Bali trip booked. Luckily, we were also invited to their Singapore ceremony, hosted by the Bride's family. Tomorrow night is the reception at the Sentosa Country Club. Today's ceremony was held in the Sikh Temple, which meant no shoes and heads must be covered.

The groom entering the temple for a 'meeting' of the two families

The two families meet and embrace before the ceremony. Hyms from the Sikh Scripture are sung. Wedding guests gathered around to watch. 

T

Shikha, her son (the Groom), and Shikha's husband at the head table for a quick breakfast before heading upstairs to the temple. The bride is not present for the meeting or breakfast. 

Shikha has the biggest heart and zest for life! 

Inside the temple. The ceremony was very simple (and quite long). Everyone was seated on the floor, with men on one side and women on the other. 

The groom wears a sash that is then handed to the bride at the end as they walk around the Guru Granth Sabib (big white thing) four times -clockwise. The large flowers that are around the necks of the bride and groom were placed on by their parents. It appeared to be a blessing of sorts. 

These ladies walking down were a bit like bridesmaids, but no one stood up next to the bride and groom. In fact, the bride and groom sat for most of the ceremony.

While I don't know much about this religion and their practices, I found it all very interesting. The information here is my recollections put together from what I've read, what I saw and the questions I asked. I'm in no way an expert. :)

This was definitely a unique and fun experience!