Evening Republican, Volume 20, Number 267, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 7 November 1916 — HINDUS WED WITH BRAHMIN RITES [ARTICLE]

HINDUS WED WITH BRAHMIN RITES

Strange Ceremony in New York Marks Romance Begun in Faraway India. BOTH ARE COLLEGE STUDENTS Incense and Flowers Are Most Important Feature of the Ceremony —lnstead of Ring, Bride and Groom Exchange Garlands. New York. —A romance which began in faraway India culminated here In the marriage of two young members of the Hindu priestly caste, both students at Columbia university. The bride was Miss Radhabai Pawar, a Brahminee, who lives at Whittier and the bridegroom was Shankar M. Pagar, a Brahmin, both sent to this country by the government of Baroda to complete their education. The ceremony was celebrated at the Vedanta society’s meeting place, 236 Central Park West, and lasted about 20 minutes. A formal Brahmin ceremony takes up three days, but Mr. Pagar and his bride have adopted many of the American customs and they welcomed the shorter ceremony. To be married in an orthodox Brahmin temple they would have been obliged to travel to Boston or to San Francisco, so they decided to be wedded by a member of the Vedanta society. About 50 persons were present, including some of the bride’s classmates, and a group of young Hindu students who are finishing their education at Columbia and New York university, all friends of the bridegroom. The ceremony was linpressivb, and for a short time it seemed as if the mysticism of Indliu the spirit of Veda, had settled upon this quiet corner in Central Park West. Wear Native Costumes.

The couple wore their native bridal costumes. The bride, who is twentysix years old, was dressed in a white silk sari, while the bridegroom, her senior by one year, wore a turban, shawl, and dhoti. It was a ceremony of love, of flowers, of incense. In all East Indian ceremonies incense is a most necessary thing, and it hung in purplish clouds over the young couplg who sat while the priest, Swami Bodhaianda, read verses from the sacred books of lu4ia, the Mantras of the Vedas. Instead of the ring ceremony, the bride and bridegroom exchanged garlands of flowers. There were flowers everywhere, it seemed. Hindus have married American women, but this is the first marriage on record in this country w’here a Hindu youth married a Hindu maid. After the ceremony the bride and bridegroom, followed by their Intimate friends, were whisked off in American style to the Hindustan Association of America, ,which occupies a plain brown-stone house at 364 West 120th street, where a supper of Indian dishes was served. But before the wedding feast the guests assembled in the large meeting room and blessed the bride with speeches. There also the mysticism of India and the materialism of America intermingled., On a small table, a soft golden light fell from a Buddha lamp, and In another corner an electric light glowed through an urn of alabaster, casting a white light upon the bride. She was surrounded by fragrant flowers, and fipon her ears felt the songs of her native land, mostly love songs. And some of them came from a phonograph, and other love melodies were sung, accompanied by a parlor organ. Feast of Indian Dishes. AH sorts of rare and highly spiced dishes relished by the Hindus were prepared by a Hindu chef for the feast. The bride and bridegroom sat at the head of the table, the bridegroom, meantime, having changed the robes of his land for American dress. Later the newlyweds left on their

honeymoon, and like other American bridal couples, they tried to keep their destination a secret. The bride took the degree of Bachelor of Science last year, and is now trying for the degree of Master of Arts. She is specializing in pedagogy. Mr. Pagar is a graduate of Wisconsin university, and has already taken the degree of Master of Arts at Columbia. This year he expects to take the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. Both were born in the state of Baroda, India, and they have known- each other since childhood. Their childish friendship ripened into love, and four years of separation did not lessen their affection. Mr. Pagar came here six years agrr after winning a scholarship at the University of Bombay, and his bride has been a student at Columbia for two years. They plan to return to Baroda next summer, and will take up educational service for the government. To the uninitiated in a wedding In Sanskrit, It was impossible to determine whether the word “obey,” was a part of the ceremony. One of the Hindu students present at the wedding, however, explained that the sacredness in which the ceremony was held by the Hindus obviated any emphasis on this point. So sacred is the ceremony, in fact, that only to those for whom the ceremony is being performed are its secret canons revealed.