Map of Karnataka, India

Below are a few photos of a colorful Muslim wedding in South Karnataka, India. Photos by BoazImages from Flickr.

Readers are always welcome to send us their Islamic wedding photos. We are very interested in Muslim wedding customs and traditions all over the world.

Karnataka is a state in the southern part of India, bordered by the Arabian sea. It is an extremely diverse state linguistically and religiously. Apart from the majority Kannadigas, Karnataka is home to Tuluvas, Kodavas and Konkanis. Minor populations of Tibetan Buddhists and tribes like the Soligas, Yeravas, Todas and Siddhis also live in Karnataka.

Karnataka has made major contributions to classical Indian music, and southern Karnataka has its own distinctive cuisines.

Islam, which had an early presence on the west coast of India as early as the tenth century, gained an early foothold in Karnataka. Muslim traders also brought coffee, incense sticks and paper to the local economy. With the creation of Deccan Sultanates and the entry of Mughal rulers, Islam became the predominant religion in regions like Gulbarga and Bijapur.

While Hinduism is the majority religion, there are today more than seven million Muslims in Karnataka. Bangalore, which has become one of the top information technology cities in the world, has over one millioni Muslims.

Karnataka is a place of beautiful scenery and plentiful wildlife. It is also full of historical Islamic mosques and forts. The Khwaja Bande Nawaz Durgah in Gulbarga is regarded as one of the holiest Muslim sites in Karnataka.

Abeer Adel, 19, and her fiancé, Amgad Muhammad, 21, looked at engagement rings and other jewelry at a shop in Cairo. The two, who are cousins, said they planned to be engaged for four years.

In Egypt and across the Middle East, many young people are being forced to put off marriage, the gateway to independence, sexual activity and societal respect. Marriage plays an important financial role for families and the community. Often the only savings families acquire over a lifetime is the money for their children to marry, and handing it over amounts to an intergenerational transfer of wealth.

Bride and groom with the cake. (Editor's note: the fellow on the left is Tom)

The photos are by Tom, a European fellow living in Malaysia, from his Southeast Asia travel blog at http://studioplum.be/travelblog/

The photo captions are Tom’s. Click on the thumbnails below to see the full photos.

Two Malaysian Muslim Weddings: One in Perlis and One in Kuala Lumpur:

Conakry or Konakry (Malinké: Kɔnakiri) is the capital and largest city of Guinea. The city is a port on the Atlantic Ocean. It has a population of about two million. Guinea used to be part of the Songhai Empire until 1591, and then a subsequent Islamic state in the 18th century that brought stability and prosperity to the region. Around the same time Fulani Muslims immigrated to Guinea. The capital city, Conakry, was founded under French rule in 1890. Today Guinea has 24 ethnic groups, of which the Fulani form 40%. The population is 85% Muslim.

Here we see a wedding in the city of Conakry. These photos were posted on Picasa by Chantal:

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