Growing up, I always wonder why my cousins have both names, I'm used to call by their Chinese names. Then I realised their Indian names act as an English name in front follow by their Chinese names. They might not speak Chinese but at least they come back every year on Chinese New Year. My maternal grandparents have seven grandchildren. I expect that my oldest cousin will get married first but things turned around it was my cousin Kim Hua is the first to get married!
My cousin-in-law, Viknesh, is Indian, so the wedding is gone according by the Indian culture. To pay tribute to half of my cousins' half Chinese roots, I opted for a purple modern hanfu. Also, we were going to a Hindu temple, it's best to wear modestly (same applies to any worship places in Malaysia). At 10.30am, we went into the marriage registry office.
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| My cousin Kim Hua (right) and I matched in purple. |
The officiate spoke in Tamil and English, when she finally announced that Kim Hua and Viknesh are legally married, I led the cheering. After the registry, we proceeded to the main hall of the temple for a simple blessing ceremony. When I was about to go in, the temple keeper said: "Miss, please take off your shoes before entering," In any Asian households, shoes are left outside upon entering the house, it's the same thing when we visit any temples.
I have to say the herbal water was tasty! This is my first time at a Hindu temple, I'm quite fascinated by the colours. The Hindu priest performed the blessing ritual and there's a part which the oil lamp was passed around as a blessing. My uncle was explaining the ritual when they put the flower garland around the couple's necks, and the fun part was throwing flowers to the couple. The ceremony ended by walking around the temple hall and bowing to the elderly as a sign of respect.
I had some difficulties walking out of the temple because my feet stepped on the rice that was left during the blessing ceremony and it's off to the lucheon reception at Ganjaa 8 Royal Indian Cuisine. It's an all-vegetarian buffet and free seating too. We took a family photo on the stage and stayed back to witness the cake cutting. After that, it's time to head home (Melaka), otherwise, Lexi (the family dog) will be wondering where we were for the past two days.
I don't know who the next cousin is to get hitched, and I wish them all the best in this new journey and every happiness in years to come!
