Source: Sify News
WELLINGTON, NEW ZEALAND, September 20, 2002: New Zealand’s national museum, Te Papa, will launch a two-year long exhibition on Indian weddings as a way of honoring Indian migration to the country, a museum official said. “Aainaa — Reflections Through Indian Wedding” marks weddings here with photos, talks, dancing and music. Hindu, Sikh and Muslim weddings will all be displayed, Te Papa (“Our Place”) concept leader Robyn Anderson said. Although Indians have been coming here since the late 19th Century, both from India and from the sugarcane fields of Fiji, Anderson said the first Indian wedding did not take place until after World War II. Before then men went back to India to find partners and marry. Today the weddings are mostly held in New Zealand with a lot more mixed marriage couples choosing to have both a religious service, usually Hindu, and a civil one. Astrological charts are still consulted and the associated ceremonies may still last several days. The color of saris, the gold and the garlands make Indian weddings easy work for display, although Anderson says it is much more than just a lavish display. “It has a very serious element to it, as the wedding is a framework of engagement with the host society.”