New Delhi Letter:With the planets perfectly aligned for a happy marriage, a record 36,000 weddings took place in India's capital New Delhi this week, throwing the city's normally chaotic traffic into further turmoil as hundreds of thousands of revellers thronged the festivities, writes Rahul Bedi
Police feebly imposed traffic restrictions as people braved freezing temperatures and joined marriage processions across the city led by ornately dressed bridegrooms riding white stallions.
This rush was the heaviest ever for Delhi on Wednesday, decreed by Hindu priests as the most propitious for weddings.
"Jupiter is on the ascendant on December 13th, making it the most favourable day to be married," astrologer Pankaj Khanna said. Couples that wed this day are guaranteed happiness by the gods, he knowingly stated. Those who have missed getting married this week would now have to wait until April next.
Indians primarily rely on Vedic astrology - which dates back to ancient Hindu texts - to fix the dates and times for weddings or even buying a car, a home or taking up a job. Auspicious days are nominated by Brahmin priests after elaborate mathematical calculations.
Most Indians have horoscopes - an elaborate grouping of Sanskrit symbols and diagrams - prepared, on the basis of date, place and exact time of birth and aided by old charts detailing star movement. They tend to live their lives by these projections.
Led by elaborately turbaned bridegrooms carrying swords and riding white mares, symbols in India of virility, the crowds danced their way to thousands of wedding ceremonies accompanied by the din of fireworks and competing off-key bands.
The wealthier grooms opted for horse-drawn carriages and even a string of elephants as they weaved their way to elaborately-decorated venues for weddings that are traditionally hosted by the bride's family, often at great expense.
Delhi's newly rich use weddings to showcase their wealth, helped in many instances by event planners who have multiplied over the past decade. The industry is now valued at more than $10 billion annually. Commodity analysts estimate that the demand for gold jewellery this season has hiked the metal's price to a 25-year high. India is the world's highest consumer of gold, primarily because of the vast amounts given as wedding gifts.
At several wedding locations, groups of men crowded around parked cars that doubled as mobile bars as strict excise laws largely limit drinking. "Getting a drink under such circumstances is like being in a scrum," said Ish Pal Singh Ghai. "It's a complete madhouse but fun," he added, as he fought his way from under a surging crowd guarding the boot of a large van and its spirited contents.
Hindu weddings for the rich span several days of feasting and revelry that culminate in the groom arriving at the head of a dancing party of normally tipsy relatives and friends.
After being formally greeted by the bride's family in an unending round of bear hugs, the couple are married in a ceremony lasting several hours presided over by a Brahmin priest chanting Sanskrit mantras in front of a fire that is considered sacred.
The unprecedented number of weddings this year was a bonanza for Delhi. Posh hotels and other venues were booked months in advance while priests and white mares were in short supply, with many having to navigate traffic snarls to make it to multiple venues. Overbooked priests were accused of "shortening" the vows.
"On auspicious days these priests run from one ceremony to another just to make money," said Purohit Mishra. Most will gloss over the five essential mantras necessary to solemnise marriages, he added sorrowfully.