Beltangady: Dharmasthala - 238 Couples Wed at Mass Marriage Programme
Daijiworld Media Network – Beltangady (SP)
Pics : Keerthi Studio, Mangalore
Beltangady, May 1: 238 couples exchanged marriage vows and agreed to be man and wife, at the 39th annual mass marriage programme organized under the aegis of Dharmasthala Lord Manjunatheshwara Temple at Dharmasthala on Friday April 30. Their marriages were solemnized by a team of priests at 6.25 ‘Godhooli Lagnam’, and they got the blessings of Dharmasthala Dharmadhikari, Dr D Veerendra Heggade.
Speaking on the occasion, Dr Heggade expressed happiness at the fact that with the passage of time, the notion of dividing people on the lines of caste and creed, has been getting wiped off, and the principle of universal equality and accepting the entire human race as one religion, as been gaining strength. “We should develop the mindset to respect humanity and have a feeling that everyone is equal,” he told the couples and others present at the function.
Heggade lamented the fact that with the advent of modern ways of thinking, the way a man looks at life has also changed. He said it is disheartening to note that the mutual love, trust, understanding, faith, adjustment and dependence among the couples have been on the wane. “Worldly possessions cannot bring contentment in our lives. No one should take family life lightly,” he advised.
Heggade appreciated the fact that inter-caste marriages are getting more and more acceptance in the society, duly noting that among the couples who tied nuptial knots on Friday, 28 were inter-caste. He also stated all these inter-caste marriages were conducted with the concurrence of the parents concerned.
M R Jayaram, chairman of M S Ramaiah Educational Institutions, Bangalore, said that a woman has a place of pride in furthering the interests of a family and that a married woman always longs for the welfare of those close to her. He also stressed that tears rolling down the cheeks of daughters-in-law can never further the cause of the families of their husbands.
Hemavati V Heggade, local MLA Vasant Bangera, Gayatri Jayaram, Srivatsa Nahal of Birla Foundation, writer from Madhya Pradesh, Neeraj Jain, D Surendra Kumar, D Harshendra Kumar, Supriya Harshendra Kumar etc., were present. Dr E Mahabala Bhat conducted the programme. Harshnarayana Murty administered the oath.
So far, a total of 10,936 couples have married at the mass marriage ceremonies being conducted annually at Dharmasthala. A handicapped couple was also among those who got married here on Friday. The grooms and brides hailing from various districts including Udupi, Chikmagalur, Dakshina Kannada, Shimoga, Bangalore, Hassan, Mysore, Gadag, Kodagu, Davanagere, Dharwad, Uttara kannada, Chitradurga, Mandya, Belgaum and Bellary, besides a couple from Kerala entered wedded life at the mass marriage ceremony.