Cows grace marriage ceremony in Surat

SURAT: This was a unique marriage ceremony where besides band, baaja and baarat, there were bovines too. At a swanky party plot located in posh Vesu, a couple took ‘saath pheras’ in the presence of two cows and two calves.
Rohit Garodia, 29, who is pursuing PhD in business administration, married Abhilasha, 28, a chartered accountant, with Hindus Vedic rituals. The cows and the calves were kept near the wedding mandap where the duo took the marriage vows.
Before the wedding, a procession was taken out in Vesu area, which was led by the cows and the calves. The first entry at the wedding venue was given to the cows and that the invitees and the couple followed them.
The wedding ceremony was based entirely on green concept. The marriage invitation cards were made digitally and sent through WhatsApp and email to save paper. Also, the guests at the wedding were served with water and other refreshments in kulhars. There were steel utensils to serve food to the guests.
Rampal Garodia, father of Rohit, said, “Tradition of marriage in the presence of cows is very old and we followed the same. We hope that people in our community will follow this tradition by giving a special status to the cows in marriage ceremonies.”
Garodia added, “All our invitees are happy that we started this new tradition of marriage. I met many of our relatives and friends who are so inspired by the tradition that they have decided to perform the marriages of their sons and daughters in the presence of cows.”
Sudhadevi Garodia, mother of Rohit, said, “Our wish has come true after all these years. We were waiting for this day for last many years. Me and my husband decided to perform marriage of our son in the presence of cows more than 10 years ago.”
Sushil Agarwal, textile businessman and a relative of Rohit, said, “It was a very different experience to attend a marriage ceremony in the presence of cows. I have seen cows munching over leftover food after marriage ceremonies. Here, they were not only given fodder to eat, but a separate space near the mandap for showering their blessings on the newly wedded couple.”