Bangaloreans get knotty!

After five months without any auspicious wedding dates, there was a mad rush for mandap on the occasion of Akshaya Tritiya yesterday

After five months without any auspicious wedding dates, there was a mad rush for mandap on the occasion of Akshaya Tritiya yesterday

The city turned into one huge marriage procession yesterday, as approximately 8,000 weddings took place on the occasion of Akshaya Tritiya and Basav Jayanti.

Moreover, as it was Sunday, it added to the madness and therefore all marriage halls, caterers, decorators, purohits in the city had their hands full.

They raised their charges by about 40 to 50 per cent. Also, some of the marriage halls made more money than that actually make in a month.

Caterers and venues were all fully booked for the auspicious day.

Lokanath Reddy, manager of Sri Venkateshwara Kalyana Mandapa at Ring Road in Ullal, said, "After a very long time we received so many enquires.

Around 150 people called up to enquire about the availability of mandaps." He added that on a normal day, they take Rs 60,000 for the hall.
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But yesterday, people were willing to pay double the charge. "Our hall is a bit away from the city. You can imagine the amount of money the marriage hall owners in the city would have made," he said.

Similarly, another manager of a marriage hall in the city, said, "I had to refuse to about 35 people who have called me since morning to check if the hall is available."

Explaining the importance of the day, Bhanuprakash, a celebrated astrologer, said, "This day is one of the three days in a year that's considered to be most auspicious to get into a matrimonial alliance.
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Marrying on Akshaya Tritiya guarantees a peaceful married life." He added that importance of this day has turned into a windfall for purohits and astrologers across the city.

Akshaya Tritiya in Mythology

According to Indian mythology, Parashuram, the sixth avatar of Vishnu, gave the Akshaya plate to Pandavas on this auspicious day. The Treta Yuga started from on this day. Vyasa also asks Lord Ganesha to write the Mahabharata on this propitious date.