Rajasthan: Bride dons sherwani, rides horse for pre-wedding ritual in Sikar district

JAIPUR: Breaking away from the stereotype, a 25-year-old bride from Sikar’s Ranoli wore a sherwani and rode a horse in a pre-wedding ritual of ‘Bandori’ prior to tying the knot on December 1. Initially reluctant, her family decided to go ahead with the bride’s wish to promote gender equality.
Bride Kritika Saini’s cousin Vishal told TOI, “Kritika wanted to ride a horse for Bandori and wear a sherwani along with the ‘pagdi’.She designed the sherwani herself and although initially the family was not keen on the idea, she managed to convince them. As she is the youngest of six siblings, her father wanted to fulfil all her wishes. They thought that this would be a novel way to promote gender equality and raise awareness about the same.”

According to Bandori tradition practised in Rajasthan, both the bride and groom are invited to a feast by the relatives. The groom, however, gets to ride a horse. “The groom also wore a sherwani,” added Vishal.
While Kritika has studied in fashion designing from Jaipur, the groom is an accountant by profession and works in a bank. Mahavir Saini, father of Kritika, added that his daughter got engaged about an year ago and it was at that point he decided that he will get her married off like a son. The bride designed the sherwani over a period of three months.
Kritika completed her MA two years ago after which she did a diploma of fashion designing from a private college in Jaipur. She served in the scouts for seven years and is the youngest of four sisters and two brothers.