Beltangady, May 1: A total of 207 couples hailing from different castes entered wedlock during the 37th annual mass marriage ceremony held at Amritavarshini auditorium of Shri Kshetra Dharmasthala near here on Wednesday April 30.

The couples who came in a procession entered the wedding hall after visiting the Shri Manjunatha Swami Temple.  After the traditional religious rites, the couples entered the wedlock in the auspicious Goduli muhurtam.

Out of the total 207 couples who entered the wedlock at Dharmasthala, 165 couples were from other districts while 6 were from neighbouring Kerala state. Among the rest 17 were from Beltangady, 9 from Bantwal, 4 from Puttur and three each were from Mangalore and Sullia. It was also a day of joy and celebration as 13 couples who are the beneficiaries of Shri Kshetra Dharmasthala Rural Development Project entered wedlock.

Interestingly, Thimmaraj from Mysore and Siddalingamma from Hassan were the only visually impaired couple who tied the knot on the occasion. They also had the distinction of being the 10,501st couple to get married at Dharmasthala.

As many as 112 couples are daily wagers, while two are in government service.

Invoking God's blessings on the occasion, Dharmadhikari Dr D Veerendra Heggade said that each couple who ties the knot has the responsibility of upholding the rich Indian family system.  He called on the couples to dedicate their lives to each other with total committment with a view to build a strong and ideal family.

Well-known film actor Ramesh Aravind was the chief guest on the occasion. Harshawardhan and Anamika Lodha of Kolkata's prestigious Lodha Group, Jayaraj, general secretary of department of state rural development and panchayat raj, Hemavati Heggade, journalist Neeraj Jain, Harshendra Kumar, Surendra Kumar and others were present on the occasion.