Lack of ‘muhurtams’ after January 9 is making parents of prospective brides and grooms to prevail upon ‘purohits’ (priests) to finalise the wedding dates.
The lockdown imposed in March this year, and the subsequent restrictions on social gatherings to check the spread of the coronavirus have made several families postpone the marriages of their children. There was a spurt in weddings during the last couple of months with ‘purohits’ saying that there are no ‘muhurtams’ during the period between January 9 and April-end.
Those who postponed their wedding due to COVID-19 and also those who are planning to getting married in February and March, 2021, rushed to the priests to fix an auspicious time to tie the knot.
Generally, Telugu weddings are not performed after ‘Nelaganta’, which falls a month ahead of Sankranti, i.e., on December 16. “Owing to the pandemic, several weddings are cancelled during the past five to six months. With no ‘muhurtams’ till May, the parents of prospective brides and grooms are agreeing to perform the weddings, even after ‘Nelaganta’ this year. The last auspicious ‘muhurtam’ is January 9,” says Muralikrishna, joint secretary, Uttarandhra Archaka Sangham.
“The maximum wedding ‘muhurtams’ are generally fixed during Magha and Phalguna masams, which are considered auspicious . This year, there are no ‘muhurtams’ during these two months in view of moodam,” he says.
The challenge before the parents of prospective brides and grooms is whom to invite in view of the restrictions on the number of guests, in view of the COVID-19 restrictions. Further, it is difficult to estimate the number of invitees who would attend the wedding.
“Our convention centre has a capacity of 2,000. We have a provision to split the hall but the restrictions on the number of invitees and pandemic threat is making clients to think twice before booking the hall. Though we are getting only 30% of what we used to get in the past, we are making the premises available with the hope of retaining our clients,” says Gouri Shankar, General Manager of Vizag Conventions, located beside the International Cricket Stadium at P.M. Palem.
“We have a sitting capacity of 1,000 persons. We are spending ₹2.5 lakh on salaries and ₹1 lakh on power a month. Though we are having good bookings, we are unable to meet the expenses in view of the restrictions on guests,” says Anil Kumar, proprietor of A 1 Grand, a convention centre, beside the Rushikonda Beach.