Elizabeth Hurley's wedding in the presence of horses, camels and elephants

[Guest guest]

*Agencies*

*Saturday, March 10, 2007* *8:38:32 AM (IST)* *Horses, Elephants in

Pageantry at Hurley's Hindu Wedding *

*

http://www.daijiworld.com/news/news_disp.asp?n_id=31276 & n_tit=Horses%2C+Elephant\

s+in+Pageantry+at+Hurley's+Hindu+Wedding

+*

*Jodhpur, Mar 10*: White horses, elephants and priests blowing conch horns

starred in the Hindu nuptials of actress Elizabeth Hurley, who wrapped up a

week of lavish wedding celebrations in India on Friday.

 

Hurley, 41, her 42-year-old husband Indian businessman Arun Nayar and their

240 guests enjoyed the kind of pageantry once reserved for maharajahs as

they shuttled between palaces and an ancient hilltop fort around the

historic city of Jodhpur, in the desert state of Rajasthan.

 

Nayar trotted down the aisle on a white horse accompanied by caparisoned

elephants and camels at the climax of the wedding on Friday evening, said

staff involved in the nuptials.

 

Hurley, who has been staying at the grand, sandstone Umaid Bhawan Palace,

sported elaborate henna tattoos after she and her female guests took part in

a traditional mehendi ceremony.

 

Hurley and Nayar then went on Thursday to Nagaur Fort, about 130 km outside

the city, for a musical ceremony that included qawwali, or devotional hymns

performed by Sufi Muslims.

 

There was a wedding caravan involving 12 horses and 60 camel carts and

fireworks in the evening, a Jodhpur newspaper reported.

 

Nayar wore a diamond-encrusted sherwani, which is a traditional Indian

jacket, it added.

 

*Desert cuisine*

 

After a night's sleep in luxury tents, the party returned to Umaid Bhawan on

Friday for the Hindu wedding where priests blew horns made out of conch

shells and chanted Vedic mantras while the couple walked in circles around a

sanctified fire.

 

They then headed to the city's massive Meherangarh Fort overlooking the

blue-painted city to feast on Jodhpur's rich, buttery cuisine, accompanied

by traditional Rajasthani singers and dancers and showers of flower petals.

 

The guests dined on obscure Indian cuisine from Rajasthan, including wheat

dumplings mixed into a soup of savoury lentils and food wrapped in leaves

and cooked by embers while buried in the earth.

 

Designer Rohit Bal said he had designed many of the clothes being worn by

the couple, who have been partying non-stop since their civil marriage last

week at a castle in England.

 

Their two-night stopover in Mumbai was immersed in controversy after

authorities tore down part of a venue built to host the wedding party

because it infringed on a popular beach.

 

At Nagaur Fort, police beat some curious local onlookers with sticks,

according to witnesses.

 

But very few of the A-list celebrities touted in the media as potential

guests had turned up early in Jodhpur.

 

Hurley split with actor Hugh Grant in 2000, ending a 13-year relationship

that survived Grant's well-publicised encounter with a prostitute. In 2002,

she had a son with US film producer Steve Bing, but brought the child up as

a single mother.

 

She met Nayar, a jetset businessman and a friend of Bollywood film stars,

shortly after her son was born. Hurley and Nayar had a civil wedding last

week at an English castle.

 

Tom Ford, a designer and former director of the Gucci fashion house, and

Janet Street-Porter, a British journalist, are some of the best-known

guests. Bollywood actress Preity Zinta also had arrived on Thursday.

 

The celebrities, and the international press pack following them, have only

bemused the residents of Jodhpur, most of whom are hearing about Hurley and

Nayar for the first time.

 

" She is the oldest bride Jodhpur has ever seen " , said Kastury Ghosh, a

bridal shop manager, one of many residents struck by Hurley's age in a

country where most women become wives in their early twenties.

 

 

 

[Guest guest]

White Horses, Elephants, Camels, wonder who was the inspector/ animal

welfare officer entrusted for looking after the animals there

appointed by the Animal Welfare Board of India at the wedding.

 

No journalist, no photographer, no uninvited guest were allowed as per

media reports inside the premises. There was even a scuffle between

the journos and the security people there.

 

In such circumstances we do not know what they do with the animals

inside, they make them dance for hours, they make them perform tricks

or they simply rock with them all night long.

 

Think !

 

Azam Siddiqui

 

 

 

 

 

aapn , " "

wrote:

>

> *Agencies*

> *Saturday, March 10, 2007* *8:38:32 AM (IST)* *Horses, Elephants in

> Pageantry at Hurley's Hindu Wedding *

> *

>

http://www.daijiworld.com/news/news_disp.asp?n_id=31276 & n_tit=Horses%2C+Elephant\

s+in+Pageantry+at+Hurley's+Hindu+Wedding

> +*

> *Jodhpur, Mar 10*: White horses, elephants and priests blowing conch

horns

> starred in the Hindu nuptials of actress Elizabeth Hurley, who

wrapped up a

> week of lavish wedding celebrations in India on Friday.

>

> Hurley, 41, her 42-year-old husband Indian businessman Arun Nayar

and their

> 240 guests enjoyed the kind of pageantry once reserved for maharajahs as

> they shuttled between palaces and an ancient hilltop fort around the

> historic city of Jodhpur, in the desert state of Rajasthan.

>

> Nayar trotted down the aisle on a white horse accompanied by caparisoned

> elephants and camels at the climax of the wedding on Friday evening,

said

> staff involved in the nuptials.

>

> Hurley, who has been staying at the grand, sandstone Umaid Bhawan

Palace,

> sported elaborate henna tattoos after she and her female guests took

part in

> a traditional mehendi ceremony.

>

> Hurley and Nayar then went on Thursday to Nagaur Fort, about 130 km

outside

> the city, for a musical ceremony that included qawwali, or

devotional hymns

> performed by Sufi Muslims.

>

> There was a wedding caravan involving 12 horses and 60 camel carts and

> fireworks in the evening, a Jodhpur newspaper reported.

>

> Nayar wore a diamond-encrusted sherwani, which is a traditional Indian

> jacket, it added.

>

> *Desert cuisine*

>

> After a night's sleep in luxury tents, the party returned to Umaid

Bhawan on

> Friday for the Hindu wedding where priests blew horns made out of conch

> shells and chanted Vedic mantras while the couple walked in circles

around a

> sanctified fire.

>

> They then headed to the city's massive Meherangarh Fort overlooking the

> blue-painted city to feast on Jodhpur's rich, buttery cuisine,

accompanied

> by traditional Rajasthani singers and dancers and showers of flower

petals.

>

> The guests dined on obscure Indian cuisine from Rajasthan, including

wheat

> dumplings mixed into a soup of savoury lentils and food wrapped in

leaves

> and cooked by embers while buried in the earth.

>

> Designer Rohit Bal said he had designed many of the clothes being

worn by

> the couple, who have been partying non-stop since their civil

marriage last

> week at a castle in England.

>

> Their two-night stopover in Mumbai was immersed in controversy after

> authorities tore down part of a venue built to host the wedding party

> because it infringed on a popular beach.

>

> At Nagaur Fort, police beat some curious local onlookers with sticks,

> according to witnesses.

>

> But very few of the A-list celebrities touted in the media as potential

> guests had turned up early in Jodhpur.

>

> Hurley split with actor Hugh Grant in 2000, ending a 13-year

relationship

> that survived Grant's well-publicised encounter with a prostitute.

In 2002,

> she had a son with US film producer Steve Bing, but brought the

child up as

> a single mother.

>

> She met Nayar, a jetset businessman and a friend of Bollywood film

stars,

> shortly after her son was born. Hurley and Nayar had a civil wedding

last

> week at an English castle.

>

> Tom Ford, a designer and former director of the Gucci fashion house, and

> Janet Street-Porter, a British journalist, are some of the best-known

> guests. Bollywood actress Preity Zinta also had arrived on Thursday.

>

> The celebrities, and the international press pack following them,

have only

> bemused the residents of Jodhpur, most of whom are hearing about

Hurley and

> Nayar for the first time.

>

> " She is the oldest bride Jodhpur has ever seen " , said Kastury Ghosh, a

> bridal shop manager, one of many residents struck by Hurley's age in a

> country where most women become wives in their early twenties.

>

>

>