Indian Vow Renewal Ceremony in Northern Virginia | Subha and KV

Subha and KV renewed their marriage vows earlier this month at their home in Herndon, surrounded by their closest friends and family. Their daughter Sirisha is the one who contacted me about photographing the event, and she explained all about the Indian traditions! This Hindu vow renewal ceremony is called a Shashti Poorthi, and is traditionally celebrated on the husband's 60th birthday. It's thrown by the couple's children, who didn't get to witness the original wedding ceremony :)

Subha and KV sat towards the front of their living room with the priest, and were surrounded by colorful fruit and gifts that would be used during the ceremony. Their children sat nearby, and the rest of the room was packed full of the other guests. The ceremony was mostly in Sanskrit, but some parts were in English so I was able to follow along.

For the next part of the ceremony, everyone moved outside to the deck. Each guest took a turn pouring a pot of holy water over the couple. Subha and KV were drenched by the end of it! But they were smiling and laughing throughout the process, and I know they were thankful for a nice warm day!

Everyone made their way back inside for the final part of the ceremony. Subha and KV's children washed their feet, and also fed them rice. When Sirisha accidentally fed her spoonful to her dad that was supposed to go to her mom, there were some big laughs!

Next up was an exchange of jewelry and garlands, followed by the rice! KV and Subha took turns pouring handfuls of rice over each other's heads, which eventually escalated to just dumping the entire bowl!

Thank you guys for including me in the ceremony, and making sure I sampled all of the delicious Indian food before I left!