A Sikh wedding procession

Musicians, dancers, and a large entourage accompany the wedding procession shown here. The figures are identifiable here as Sikh by their style of clothing, turbans, and beards. The young groom on horseback is at the painting’s center, his figure marked out from the surrounding bustle by the parasol held by his attendant.

It is unclear whether this painting represents a specific individual’s special occasion or if it is a more generic scene. The energy and festivity seen here are similar to that in the nearby painting of Guru Nanak’s wedding procession and may be familiar to some from contemporary Bollywood films and South Asian wedding traditions., Unlike the mythic wedding procession of the Hindu deity Shiva seen nearby, here we see a real-world wedding of a nineteenthcentury Sikh groom. The costumes and turban types make clear that this is a Sikh community event, but wedding processions of other groups in Punjab and Rajasthan are sometimes still similar today. The groom, in formal attire, rides a horse to the wedding site, which may be the bride’s home. Relatives and friends, both male and female, attend him, and there is festive music from instruments such as the oboe-like shehnai and a variety of drums—some, in this painting, carried by camels. Nearly lost in the crowd are two gesticulating female dancers. They, like the musicians, may be professional performers hired for the occasion. It is unclear whether what is shown is the wedding procession of a historical person who may one day be identified, or a generic scene.