The morning before the memorable evening is filled with preparations for the royal wedding in Udaipur. In the early evening gentlemen gather in the Durbar Hall for tying safas (traditional headgear of the long tie-and-dye scarves). The ladies are assisted by our staff with their attire and designer-wear. All the guests assemble at Shiv Pole at Shiv Nivas Palace, or Fatheh Pole at Fatheh Prakash Palce, where a welcome drink is served. A royal procession begins to form and the excitement grows dressed in Rajasthani attire sprinkling rose petals and attar (rose water) in the front, followed by Dhol/ Nagada (traditional drums used for all the auspicious occasions).
The guests follow a magnificently decorated horse bearing the bridegroom, white liveried men with lances line up the entire length of the procession route with mashaals in their hands. The procession heads towards the boat-jetty at the Promenade where the Palace band welcomes them; the guests are then ushered into decorated boats to be ferried across the Lake to Jagmandir, the island-palace on Lake Pichola. |