Jaipur's royal wedding an India, Pakistan affair

Jaipur, Feb 21 (IANS) Over 3,000 guests attended the lavish wedding here of a Pakistani groom and an Indian bride, both of whom are from royal families.

Karni Singh Sodha, a Rajput who hails from the erstwhile royal family of Umerkot in Pakistan's Sindh province, tied the knot with Padmini Kumari, daughter of the royal family of Kanota, part of the erstwhile Jaipur state in Rajasthan.

The wedding was solemnised at the Narain Niwas Palace here Friday.

"I accepted the proposal as soon as it came. For me boundaries between the two countries do not matter much," Man Singh, father of the bride, told IANS Saturday.

"Over 3,000 guests attended the wedding," said Singh.

"It was a royal wedding in the real sense. The food was lavish and the arrangements were perfect. The erstwhile royals were dressed in their traditional attire," said a guest, R.K. Singh.

The groom was dressed in a white sherwani while Padmini wore a Rajput dress and was adorned with traditional jewellery.

One of the three elephants that were part of the wedding procession was decked up in silver and gold ornaments.

"The jewellery we used on the elephant was over 250 years old and was brought from Kanota Library and Museum Trust. Initially all elephant owners in Jaipur said no to us as they thought the jewellery was very heavy, but finally an elephant owner agreed," said Singh.

Sources said around 125 of the 300 guests from the groom's side had come from Pakistan.

Matrimonial alliances between the Rajupt families of Umerkot and Rajasthan are not new as a few marriages have taken place in the past we well.

The bride will stay in India until she gets a visa to go to Pakistan. The groom and his close family members will stay here till the bride gets her visa.