Capturing a traditional Coorg wedding is always fun and exciting . Its lasts just for two days. For example the previous day there was already a lunch and dinner session, where the groom’s family and friends drank, ate and danced and then drank some more. This was at the groom’s home. In the bride’s house, her family and friends did likewise. And the guests of the two families did not meet at all.
But the next morning they all converged at the wedding hall, adorned in heirloom jewellery, dressed in beautiful, colourful silk sarees which are worn backwards. Let me explain, here in Coorg the saree is draped very differently from the rest of India. The pleats are behind and the pallav is wrapped across the chest, tucked over the right shoulder and clipped with a brooch. The Coorg women are indeed very beautiful.
So this the second day of the wedding celebrations the bridegroom arrives in the morning, around 10, with all his family members and sits surrounded by the women folk even as the maternal uncles of the groom and the bride ready themselves to indulge in the first ritual; Baale Birud, the slashing off of banana stems. It’s a ceremony which will prove the strength and skill of these Kodava men. Nine banana stems are vertically fixed to small wooden stakes in a metal stand, at even distance in a straight row, with the top of the stems decorated with flowers. The first member prays to his ancestors and the village gods and strides around these stems and then in neat strokes he slashes off three stems one after another. Then the next member takes over, slashing the next three and then the last member finishes off with the last three. There is a lot of mirth and laughter as this ceremony goes on, hooting and encouragement to do well and prove their warrior roots.
If the Coorg women are known for their beauty, the men are famous for their strength and valour. And dressed in their traditional clothes (kupya), the men look handsome in the long overcoats, with silken sashes around the waist..
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