SIRSI: Iconic comic actor Charlie Chaplin’s grandson Mark Joplin (60) married Tear Tiffani (52) over the weekend at Gokarna in Karnataka according to Hindu traditions.
The couple were dressed like traditional Hindu bride and groom, Rajagopal Adi, the priest who conducted the marriage ceremony, said.
Explaining that both Joplin and Tiffani have a common interest in Indian culture, Adi said Tiffani participated in the “Harikatha” and “Keerthana” with Joplin for several years.
They decided to marry as per Indian traditions and expressed interest in this regard to their friend Parameshwar Shastri, a hotel industrialist, who made arrangements for the wedding in his lodge at Kudle beach of Gokarna, Adi said.
Joplin has been a regular visitor to Gokarna for about 40 years, deeply interested in Indian culture, tradition and mythology and art, he said. He has knowledge of and command over the languages of Malayalam, Hindi, Tamil and Bengali and had published “Keertanas” on Sant Tukaram, Tulasidas, Jnanadev and Samartha Ramdas, he added.
The couple, who are followers of Swami Ramdas, Swami Sachchidananda and Swami Muktananda of Kerala, were learning music from Vidushi Usha Bhat of Kasargod for the past 15 years, Adi said.
Tera is Joplin’s longtime friend and daughter of a US industrialist.
“The wedding was marked by simplicity and a down-to-earth approach,” Rajagopal, who conducted the wedding on February 18, said.
The groom, wearing the customary white and gold shimmering Karnataka ‘peta’ or headgear and dressed in a white ‘dhoti’ and ‘vastram’, was led to the wedding ‘mandap’ in a procession with young women carrying trays full of auspicious symbols including hand mirror and flowers.
The ceremony commenced with the traditional ‘shuddi karan’, a purification ritual. The ceremony was marked by various rites before the bridegroom exchanged flower garlands with the bride, who was dressed in a sea-blue saree, her forehead covered by the ‘maangtika’ and hair adorned with fresh jasmine flowers.
Seated cross-legged, the couple repeated the Vedic mantras after the priest, and took the oath of marriage round the sacred fire. The groom also tied the mangalsutra, a symbol of marriage, around the bride’s neck.
The bride was also “given away in marriage” during the customary Indian “kanyadaan” ceremony. The bride assumed a new name as is a custom among Indian married women when they enter their marital house, he said.
The five-hour long wedding was witnessed by 25 friends and acquaintances of the couple, mainly Indians, he said.
The couple who later sat on a royal crimson colored throne, also received gifts. The bride was presented with saree and the bridegroom with traditional apparel.
The simple wedding was followed by traditional coastal Karnataka cuisine for lunch.
The menu for the guests included rice with a variety of curries and vegetables flavored with coconut and Indian spices, laid out on fresh banana leaves.
For deserts it was ‘jalebis’ (a sweet) and ‘payasam’, a traditional rice pudding.
“The bridegroom insisted that the lunch be pure vegetarian cuisine”, said the priest. The couple fed each other morsels of food, marking their unity.
Joplin, a lover of Indian culture, insisted that the marriage remain a low-key affair, he said.
Rajagopal said he was approached by the couple’s friend Parameshwar Shastri, a lodge owner, to conduct the ceremony. -PTI
