Wednesday, November 25, 2009

Wedding halls packed to capacity

Wedding halls packed to capacity

TNN 23 November 2009, 11:30pm IST


KANPUR: With more than 10,000 weddings falling on three auspicious days on November 26, 29 and 30, the locals are left with but few options to decide the wedding venue. While the majority of parks, banquet halls, guest houses and wedding lawns got booked 8 to 9 months prior to the wedding dates, those who reached late are finding it hard to book a suitable venue for performing the ceremonies.

Aadietya Pandey, a city based astrologer said, "According to the Hindu custom, the auspicious time for wedding starts from `Devuthan'-- the period when Lord Narayan wakes up after four months of long sleep. On these three days -- November 26, 29 and 30, the sun is transiting in Scorpio which is the sign of planet Mars. This in turn affects the position of planet Jupiter, making these days auspicious."

Another astrologer, Pandit Geeteshwar said, "After December 12, there is hardly any `muhurat'. The planetary positions are not favourable for marriage after November, so a majority of people will tie the knot on these three auspicious days."

At the same time, the shortage of hotels in the city too has made the locals search for other venues as few could afford to book the five star hotels.

"Searching for a wedding venue has become tougher than searching for a life partner. As most of the city halls are booked for the day we had no option but to book a Gurudwara for wedding," said Rahul Kapoor, a software engineer, who will be tying the knot on November 29.

"I have been searching hard to get a suitable place for my wedding party. As such the five star hotels and the palatial bungalows are too expensive to afford. And the strength of members attending the party is too high following which I had to pay double the amount for booking a farm house on the Lucknow- Kanpur highway," said Ashwin Bajpai, a 28-year-old, whose wedding date has been fixed for November 30.


http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/kanpur/Wedding-halls-packed-to-capacity/articleshow/5262252.cms