money garland

This image captures the classic money garland.

Not sure about the Pakistani variant of this and how it came to pass or how this became a normal way of honoring someone in India but in the wedding context, one explanation is that the money garland is gifted to the groom to evoke Lakshmi the Goddess of prosperity. Absurd? Tacky? Tasteless? Well if you think the plain vanilla money garland is ridiculous then wait till you see this.

Mayawati the Dalit Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh, India's most populous state (its the size of brazil!) has recently received the mother of all money garlands. Looks like an anaconda had too much thanni and rolled around in State Bank of India rupee notes like a mental case from Nimhans

Only pictures can capture this level of absurdity:
http://www.thehindu.com/news/states/other-states/article248101.ece