Dawoodi Bohra

Dawoodi Bohra collective marriage at Udaipur ( Rajasthan, India)

Indian Islam is multiform : it counts many sects and divisions. The above photo shows grooms ( there are 108 !) participating at a collective marriage. They are parading in the streets of Udaipur before reaching the mosque where the 108 brides are waiting, the place where marriages will be formalized. All of them belong to the Dawoodi Bohra community, a muslim sect that emphasizes on tolerance and education. Dawoodi Bohra are ismaili shia whose ancestors came from Yemen in the 11° century or were “vaishya” ( the 3° class in the hindu hierarchy)  who converted to Islam. Essentially, they are relatively wealthy traders or professionals who have preserved their own identity, their own code of dressing…and obey to a powerful hierarchy of priests that excommunicate the refractories !