Mass marriages in Andhra; 12,000 enter into wedlock
May 20th, 2011 - 6:45 pm ICT by IANSHyderabad, May 20 (IANS) Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh N. Kiran Kumar Reddy lauded the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanam (TTD) trust for organizing mass marriages for poor people. About 12,000 couples across Andhra Pradesh entered into wedlock Friday as part of the sixth phase of mass marriages by TTD.
Amid the chanting of Vedic hymns, the marriages were performed in various towns of the state between 09.52 a.m. and 10.04 a.m., the auspicious time set by pundits.
TTD, which manages the affairs of the famous Tirumala temple, spent about Rs.7,000 on each couple, providing them a pair of wedding apparel, mangala sutra, silver toe rings for brides, besides food for 60 guests from both sides.
According to TTD Executive Officer I.Y.R. Krishna Rao, the newly-wedded couples would be provided a ‘darshan’ of Lord Venkateswara at Tirumala temple, besides transportation and accommodation in Tirumala town at a discount.
The temple body has so far performed marriages of 46,000 couples under ‘Kalyanotsavam’, launched four years ago, to strengthen the Hindu marriage system and to help the poor Hindu families perform marriages of their children in accordance with Hindu traditions.
TTD officials said the mass marriages were aimed at creating awareness among Hindus to curb wasteful expenditure and discourage conversions as socially and economically backward Hindus often become targets of conversions.
However, the programme was marred by controversies ranging from allegations of child marriage to those of a second marriage but the trust maintained that the marriages happened only after submission of relevant documents by all the applicants.
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Tags: auspicious time, chief minister, child marriage, darshan, hindu families, hindu marriage, hindu traditions, kiran kumar, lord venkateswara, marriage system, r krishna, relevant documents, second marriage, silver toe rings, sixth phase, tirumala tirupati, tirupati devasthanam, vedic hymns, wasteful expenditure, wedding apparel