The night before: building a floral mandap

Guests see the mandap for the first time when they walk in for the pheras. Few know that most of it was built the night before, by a team working while the sangeet was still going on. Here is how a typical floral mandap comes together.

The frame arrives in the afternoon: four or six wooden or iron pillars, a canopy frame and a raised platform, built in our partner’s workshop and taken apart for transport. In a palace courtyard, the team first lays protective sheets over the marble and checks the levels, because old floors are rarely flat. The frame is bolted together and tied down; in a lakeside venue, the evening wind can be strong.

The flowers arrive in batches from the wholesale market in Udaipur and from growers further away. Marigold, rose and rajnigandha strings are tied on in the cool hours after 10 pm, so they stay fresh. Orchids and roses for the canopy are kept in water until the last moment. A mandap for 300 guests can use well over a thousand marigold strings and 150 kg of loose flowers, and nine people work through the night. Rangoli and the sacred fire setup go in at dawn, after the priest checks the direction and the havan kund.

By 9 am, Raghav walks through with the décor lead and the priest, checks the seating for both families and the photographer’s lines, and fixes any last strings. Then everyone steps away, and the space is left quiet for the family.