AP News, March 9th, 2007
Elizabeth Hurley and Arun Nayar were married Friday in a traditional Hindu ceremony at Umaid Bhavan Palace. It was the second wedding for the couple in a week.
"We will be doing Hindu rituals, and they will walk around a holy fire seven times," said a Hindu priest, who declined to be named, before entering the palace.
The 41-year-old British actress-model and Nayar, a 42-year-old Indian businessman, were first wed in a private civil ceremony in a castle outside London. They have been celebrating with a week of lavish parties in Mumbai and in the desert state of Rajasthan.
Earlier Friday, noted Indian designer Rohit Bal told the Press Trust of India news agency that Hurley would wear a white "lehanga" and "chunni" _ a traditional Indian embroidered skirt and blouse_ detailed in silver. Nayar was to wear a matching "sherwani," a tight-fitting knee-length coat, Bal said.
The hour-long Hindu wedding ceremony was expected to be followed by a procession of elaborately painted elephants, camels and horses through the grounds of Umaid Bhavan, a massive sandstone domed palace turned luxury hotel.
The wedding party was then expected to move to the imposing Mehrangarh Fort that overlooks Jodhpur's famed old blue city for a final moonlight party. The couple and about 250 guests arrived in Jodhpur on Wednesday.
"We have been partying all night these days and get hardly any time for sleep," Evelyn Lauder, senior corporate vice president of The Estee Lauder Cos., told The Times of India newspaper. "I doubt if even the couple are getting enough sleep."
Security around the wedding party was intense, and roads leading to the venues were blocked. A team of security guards flown in from London were bolstered by another 50 guards from Mumbai.
Hurley appeared in the "Austin Powers" and "Bedazzled" films, and for several years was the international face of Estee Lauder cosmetics. Her 4-year-old son, Damian, accompanied the couple on their trip to India.
