Baraat

Baraat (Hindi: बरात) (Urdu: برات‎) is a groom's wedding procession in North India, West India and Pakistan. In North Indian communities, it is customary for the bridegroom to travel to the wedding venue (often the bride's house) on a mare, accompanied by his family members.

The baraat can become a large procession, with booking its own band, dancers, and budget. The groom and his horse are covered in finery and do not usually take part in the dancing and singing; that is left to the "baraatis" or people accompanying the procession. The groom usually carries a sword. The term baraati is also more generically used to describe any invitee from the groom's side. Traditionally, baraatis are attended to as guests of the bride's family.

The baraat, headed by a display of fireworks and accompanied by the rhythm of the dhol, reaches the meeting point, where the elders of both the families meet. In North Indian Hindu weddings, the groom is greeted with garlands and aarti. In traditional North Indian weddings, baraats are welcomed at the wedding venue with the sound of shehnais, which are considered auspicious at weddings by Hindus, Muslims and Sikhs alike.

Both men and women participate in the procession of a Punjabi baraat. Close male relatives of both the bride and groom always wear turbans, which indicates honor. When the baraat arrives at the wedding venue, a ceremony known as the milni (literally, meeting or merger) is carried out, in which equivalent relatives from the groom and bride's sides greet each other. This usually begins with the two fathers, followed by the two mothers, then the siblings, uncles, aunts and cousins; even distant relatives are included in the milni, which symbolizes the unification of the two clans.

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