Chris And Simi's Weddings, Part 2: The Baraat

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               By Patti Liszkay
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Chris And Simi's Weddings, Part 2: The Baraat

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...Continued from yesterday:
    On Saturday morning June 16, the day of Chris and Simi's weddings (see post from 6/21/2018), Romaine, Tom, and I walked from the Courtyard by Marriott across the street to the Reading Terminal Market for breakfast.

     The Reading Terminal Market, located next door to the Reading Terminal train station, is, according to its website,

​    One of America’s largest and oldest public markets, housed since 1893 in a National Historic Landmark building.

 The Market offers an incredible selection of locally grown & exotic produce,

​locally sourced meats and poultry,

...plus the finest seafood, cheeses, baked goods, and confections.

     Judging from all the folks who were eating at the market at 8 am,

​...and all the busy cooks,

...I'd venture to say that the Reading Terminal Market also offers some pretty good breakfasts, too.

​   In any case, we could vouch for the bagels from Spataro's,  as they were fresh,  jumbo-sized, and yummy.

     After breakfast we returned to the hotel to dress for the wedding, which started at 9:30 am,

​...and then we  met up with nieces, nephews, and cousins,

...with whom we walked from our hotel to the Bellevue Hotel a few blocks away on Broad Street, where the first wedding of the day, the Hindu ceremony, was to take place.

​City Hall

    on our way to our wedding we passed another Hindu wedding about to begin, the groom preparing for the part of the celebration during which he'd ride to meet the family of his bride in a carriage,

...which Chris would do on horseback.
     During this prelude to the Hindu wedding ceremony, known as the Baraat, the groom processes down the street riding an elephant, or a horse, or in a carriage, or on a motorcycle, or even, as in the case of my nephew Randy at his wedding to Anusha (see post from 7/7/2016), on the shoulders of some buddies,

...while the guests dance along the way.

     We arrived at the Bellevue and joined the other guests at the Walnut Street entrance to the hotel, from where the Baraat would begin.

  Theresa and my brother Jim, parents of the groom

​   My brothers Jim and Joe

My nephew Matt and his wife Suzy (see post from 7/15/2015)

​Emily and Tommy

Callie and Theresa

     Me

     The horse, lookin' good.

​    The drummer who would  lead the dancing.

     At 9:30 am Chris arrived, mounted his horse,

...and the celebration began.

    Led by the drummer,

​...and a DJ  playing the music,

...360 people danced joyfully up Walnut Street, which had been closed to traffic for the occasion,

...then, with Chris joining the dancing, down Broad Street, the main artery through downtown Philadelphia, which was also closed off to traffic,

​...while onlookers enjoyed the celebration from the sidewalk. 
  And I thought, I'm so glad I'm part of this, and not just watching it!

     Outside the hotel entrance we gathered around the groom for  a final happy dance,

     Then the Baraat was finished, and we entered the hotel for the first wedding ceremony.

     To be continued...

References:
https://readingterminalmarket.org/