HINDU WEDDING

As we got into Pokhara we stopped at a Hindu temple. It turns out that, in general, your stars need to line up just right to get married and it's only certain days that weddings are allowed, WITH THE EXCEPTION of this particular temple where you can get married any day you want. Binoy knew all that and hoped there would be a wedding there. We saw this and I don't pretend to understand it all, but it was interesting. It was the third wedding of the day. We were there about noon and watched for about a half an hour. 

Temple entrance. The we climbed MORE STAIRS to get in. 

The grounds. The white pointy building with the single red stripe is the actual temple. 

This is the bridal couple. They put the red paste on each other's foreheads.  Then they put the gold things around each other's necks. 

Then the bride's parents put on more red paste with them sitting under the tree. The people holding the white towel are relatives I think. 

The bride's mother and a couple other female relatives of the bride put on more red paste. I think it is more blessings. 

Then the bride's mother washed the bride's feet ceremonially. I didn't see soap or any scrubbing. The mom drank some of the water. She scooped it up in her hands and sort of poured it on her own face. 

When this was all done the couple went inside the temple and got the blessing of the priest. That makes them officially married. The bride never came vaguely close to smiling. She has to leave her home and join his and give up everything behind her.