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Friday March 29, 2024

62 Hindu couples tie the knot at mass wedding ceremony

By our correspondents
March 20, 2017

Besides Karachi, intending brides and grooms from areas of Hub Chowki and Tando Allah Yar also part of the event

Drumbeats announced the entrance of Hindu couples for a mass wedding ceremony at the YMCA lawns on Sunday. The roads around the Sindh Governor House were cordoned off for security purposes, as buses filled with relatives of the brides and grooms made their way past the security checkpoints.

The stage was set for the rituals of the wedding ceremony to commence, as a pundit waited for the elders of the Hindu community to arrive. Governor Mohammad Zubair and other important figures of the city were also among the special guests.

With children running about the place and picking off orange flowers, drone cameras whizzed past them as audio technicians repeated the playlist comprising Bhajans (religious songs) and a few other wedding tunes.

Unlike many other couples who were yet to be settled in the Mandap, a small enclosure for the couples to perform their Saat Phere (seven circumambulations) – one of the most important features of a Hindu wedding, involving seven rounds around fire – Sunita and her would-be husband Eeshwar Laal were seated in the last row.

An annual feat for the past decade, the mass ceremony is organised by the Pakistan Hindu Council to help underprivileged community members get married.

“Another brother of mine was wedded at a similar ceremony,” said Laal’s sister Sawita, adding that her brother had submitted all the necessary documents many months ago and had been waiting for the ceremony that was supposed to have taken place three months back.

While there were couples from Karachi, many hailed from areas of Hub Chowki and Tando Allah Yar, with at least 20 of them from the latter.

Ramesh, who was representing as an elder for his niece, said his two nieces, who were sisters, had lost their mother so he was there for them.

“These days a wedding ceremony can cost around Rs400,000 and it’s almost impossible for these people to afford one. This gives them an opportunity to celebrate it in a grand manner with little or no investment, and the council gifts a certain sum to the couples as dowry.” Jiya, who was one of the brides, sat in a Ghoonghat (veil), while her groom exercised the traditional approach of using a handkerchief to partially cover his face.

Considered a ritual in families, it is not uncommon to marry off two siblings in a single ceremony, as Mala had come from Shireen Jinnah Colony to marry off her sisters-in law. While Anmol seemed comfortable, Anu Radha looked nervous, as her mother used the invitation card to fan the daughter.

Pakistan Hindu Council President Engr Hotchand Karmani said the body did not follow any criteria to select applicants, rather it accommodated all the entries they received.

“While it’s 62 this time, the highest number that we have had was 78. We encourage people to send their documents in time so we can proceed with the arrangements.”

Given that the ceremony was held within a week of Holi celebrations, the patron-in-chief of the Pakistan Hindu Council, Ramesh Kumar Vankwani, said all religious events – Holi, Eid, Easter, etc – should be celebrated with the idea of spreading goodness in everyone’s lives.

“We hold this service to make sure that those who are unable to celebrate the momentous occasion of wedding due to financial constraints come together with other members of the community and share these joyous times.”

He added that awareness for such events was needed so that people living in the outskirts could also heartily participate in such ceremonies.