The Anand Karaj
The milni, the giving of the palla, the four laavan and the ardas, each understood and honoured.
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Sikh wedding photography, capturing the baraat with its dhol, the milni, the four laavan of the Anand Karaj and the emotion of the doli. London-based, we travel across London, the Home Counties and the whole of the UK.
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Wedding photography from £750
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A wedding specialism
A Sikh wedding centres on the Anand Karaj in the gurdwara, where the couple walk around the Guru Granth Sahib during the four laavan. It is photographed quietly, with heads covered and without flash in the darbar hall, and the milni, kirtan, langar and doli departure are covered around it. The days around it, the maiyan, the mehndi night and the jago, are lively and photographed very differently. Kaushik Bathia covers Sikh and Punjabi weddings from the Northwood HA6 studio, established 2001, across London and the UK, with coverage from £750. Marrying in the capital? See our Sikh wedding photographer London page. A second photographer is available for the largest celebrations, and we travel wherever your wedding takes place.
Check your date
I hired Kaushik for our wedding and I’m extremely glad I did!! Kaushik took amazing pictures and the quality of the pictures were amazing. Kaushik was very patient and was very helpful since the start. My family including our guest were constantly asking me who the photographer was as he gave the best service.
Kaushik was exceptional at creating our wedding photo album! He designed it so beautifully and his customer service was the best. The album quality and design is amazing, we loved it! Wow what a great job. Highly recommend for photo albums.
Kaushik was great, photos were returned quickly and we got all the shots we wanted. Excellent and professional.
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The milni, the giving of the palla, the four laavan and the ardas, each understood and honoured.
EnquireFrom the maiyan, mehndi night and jago to the reception, every event covered with care.
EnquireHand-finished albums that turn your gallery into an heirloom to pass down.
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A wedding specialism
A Sikh wedding gathers family, faith and colour across several days, and it deserves a photographer who plans around the rhythm of the week. We photograph the whole story: the maiyan and vatna at home, the mehndi night, the jago with its lit pots and singing, the choora ceremony, the baraat with its dhol, the four laavan before the Guru Granth Sahib and the tears of the doli. Nothing is missed, and nobody has to pause the ceremony to explain what comes next. In the gurdwara we work calmly and respectfully: heads covered, shoes off, no flash near the Guru Granth Sahib and no walking about during the ardas. We agree our positions with the granthi and the sewadars in advance, and we shape our coverage around your family and your timings rather than a fixed shot list.
How we work
We arrive early for the getting-ready and the sehra bandi, then follow the baraat and its dhol to the gurdwara. From there we work quietly through the milni, the kirtan sung by the ragis, each of the four laavan and the ardas, through to the sharing of karah parshad. Where the gurdwara welcomes it, we also photograph the langar, one of the most telling parts of any Sikh wedding, before the evening reception fills the floor with bhangra. For multi-venue days we bring a second photographer, and fine-art albums are hand-finished so your gallery becomes an heirloom. Our town pages cover Sikh weddings in Birmingham and, nearer our Northwood studio, celebrations in Southall, Harrow, Wembley, Hounslow and Slough. Sikh weddings sit within our wider Asian wedding photography and wedding work. If you are still planning the day, our guide to photographing the Anand Karaj walks through each stage of the ceremony and what it means for your coverage.
Check your dateAt a glance
| Event | What happens | When in the celebrations |
|---|---|---|
| Maiyan and vatna | Turmeric paste is applied to bride and groom at home by aunties and cousins, a warm, laughter-filled blessing before the wedding | In the days before the wedding |
| Mehndi night | Intricate henna is drawn on the bride and the women of the family, an evening of music, colour and detail | The evening before the wedding |
| Jago | Decorated pots are carried on heads through the house or the streets, with sticks, singing and dancing late into the night | A night or two before the wedding |
| Choora and kalire | The maternal uncle slides the red and ivory bangles onto the bride's wrists, then the kalire are tied and shaken over the unmarried girls | The wedding morning or the day before |
| Sehra bandi and baraat | The sehra is tied at the groom's house with blessings from grandparents, then the baraat dances to the gurdwara behind the dhol | Early on the wedding morning |
| Milni | The two families greet one another outside the gurdwara, pairs of relatives exchanging garlands, embraces and the odd playful lift | On arrival at the gurdwara |
| Anand Karaj and the four laavan | Before the Guru Granth Sahib, with kirtan from the ragis, the couple walk the four laavan joined by the palla placed by the bride's father | The morning ceremony, the heart of the day |
| Ardas, karah parshad and langar | The closing prayer is offered with the sangat standing, karah parshad is shared, then everyone sits together as langar is served | Closing the ceremony |
| Doli and reception | The emotional farewell as the bride leaves with her new family, throwing rice back over her shoulder, before the evening reception and bhangra | Afternoon, then the evening celebration |
Coverage and booking
Good to know
Sikh wedding coverage starts from £750 and is usually quoted per event or as a multi-day package. The celebration can span the maiyan and vatna, the mehndi night, the jago, the Anand Karaj itself and the reception. What moves the figure is the number of days, the venues involved, whether a second photographer covers the sehra bandi at the groom's house while the bride's morning is photographed elsewhere, and whether you add a hand-finished album. Our guide to Asian wedding photographer costs in London sets out what shapes a quote; tell us your dates and the gurdwara and we will price the day around it.
We cover our heads, remove our shoes and photograph the whole ceremony using available light only, since flash is not appropriate near the Guru Granth Sahib. We agree our positions with the granthi beforehand, keep low and to the sides of the darbar hall, and stay completely still during the ardas.
Yes, gladly. We photograph the maiyan and vatna at home, the mehndi night, the jago with its lit pots and singing, and the emotional choora ceremony with the kalire. Covering the full week means the finished story flows as one, and your family already knows us by the wedding morning.
Yes. We are based at our Northwood studio in North West London, and we cover Sikh weddings across the UK, including Southall, Slough and Birmingham. Travel from Northwood is set out in your written quote before you book.
For large celebrations we recommend one. While one of us is inside the darbar hall for the laavan, the other covers the sangat, the arrivals and the wider scene, or photographs the sehra bandi at the groom's house while the bride's morning is being covered at the same time.
We plan around the milni, the giving of the palla, each of the four laavan around the Guru Granth Sahib, the ardas and the sharing of karah parshad, and we agree the running order with the granthi beforehand so we are in position before each begins. That way nothing is missed and the granthi is never interrupted.
Yes. We design hand-finished, fine-art albums that turn your gallery into an heirloom to pass down through the family. A Sikh wedding gives an album a natural arc, from the mehndi night and jago through the Anand Karaj to the doli, and we guide you through sizes, materials and layout.
Where we cover
We travel widely for Sikh weddings, from London and the Home Counties to the Midlands, the North, Wales and Scotland. Find your town below, or just get in touch wherever you are.
St Albans, Hatfield, Welwyn Garden City, Hemel Hempstead, Hertford, Borehamwood, Potters Bar, Berkhamsted, Radlett, Cheshunt, Tring, Kings Langley, Abbots Langley, Chorleywood, Croxley Green, Sarratt, Welwyn, Wheathampstead, Harpenden, Bushey, Shenley, London Colney, Letchworth, Rickmansworth, Watford, Carpenders Park, Maple Cross, Mill End, Oxhey, Hoddesdon, Knebworth, Ware, Stevenage, Hitchin, Baldock, Bishop's Stortford, Royston
Luton, Dunstable, Houghton Regis, Leighton Buzzard, Flitwick, Woburn, Ampthill, Biggleswade, Bedford
High Wycombe, Beaconsfield, Marlow, Amersham, Chesham, Gerrards Cross, Chalfont St Giles, Bourne End, Princes Risborough, Chalfont St Peter, Denham, Aylesbury, Milton Keynes, Buckingham
Slough, Maidenhead, Windsor, Bracknell, Ascot, Wokingham, Sandhurst, Reading, Thatcham, Newbury
Staines-upon-Thames, Egham, Weybridge, Epsom, Redhill, Esher, Cobham, Woking, Leatherhead, Camberley, Guildford, Dorking, Reigate
London, Southall, Wembley, Greenford, Northolt, Feltham, Kenton, Sudbury, Harrow, Hounslow, Ilford, Forest Gate, Tooting, Hayes, Rayners Lane, Kingsbury, Hendon, Edgware, Stanmore, Pinner, Ealing, Neasden, Tottenham, Wood Green, Walthamstow, Acton, Willesden, Sutton, Kingston upon Thames, New Malden, Barnet, Brent, Camden, the City of London, Eastcote, Edmonton, Enfield, Greenwich, Hackney, Hammersmith and Fulham, Haringey, Harrow Weald, Hatch End, Hillingdon, Ickenham, Islington, Kensington and Chelsea, Lambeth, Lewisham, Merton, Newham, North Harrow, Northwood, Perivale, Redbridge, Richmond upon Thames, Ruislip Manor, Ruislip, South Ruislip, Southwark, Tower Hamlets, Uxbridge, Waltham Forest, Wandsworth, Wealdstone, Westminster, East Ham, Gants Hill, Croydon, Barking, Bromley, Barking and Dagenham, Romford, Bexley, Havering
Harlow, Loughton, Chigwell, Epping, Brentwood, Grays, Billericay, Basildon, Chelmsford, Southend-on-Sea, Colchester
Gravesend, Dartford, Sevenoaks, Tonbridge, Rochester, Gillingham, Maidstone, Tunbridge Wells, Ashford, Canterbury
Walsall, Dudley, Coventry, Solihull, Birmingham, Smethwick, West Bromwich, Wolverhampton
Burton upon Trent, Tamworth, Lichfield, Stafford, Stoke-on-Trent
Farnborough, Aldershot, Basingstoke, Winchester, Portsmouth, Southampton
By county
Anand karaj mornings and receptions, in the counties around London.
Popular sessions
Before the day, many couples book a pre-wedding or engagement shoot, which also helps everyone relax in front of the camera.
Maiyan · Baraat · Anand Karaj · Doli
Tell us about your wedding and we will send availability, ideas and pricing, wherever it takes place.