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Grand wedding raises eyebrows in Goa

Bombay-based Agnivesh Agrawal and Puja Bangur from Calcutta celebrated their marriage at the Taj Holiday Village in Goa, an estimated cost of Rs 100 million.

Several non-government organisations objected to the naked display of wealth at the wedding ceremony of the couple from the Marwari business community.

The wedding ceremony was on December 11, off the Sinquerim coast, at sunset, in the presence of top industrialists, film stars and state dignitaries.

The couple exchanged garlands imported from Singapore, in a huge dome-like six metre high mandir, built for the occasion by Film City artistes from Bombay on the lawns of the Taj Village, besides two smaller domes on both sides, making it a five-metre long dais.

The lawns were decorated with islands of flowers imported from Singapore, while an equally huge idol of Lord Ganesh was at the main gate. The mandir of Radha-Krishna of a similar size was at another end, from where the bridegroom started a procession.

Agnivesh, son of Anil Agrawal, approached the main mandap on horseback, with a well-decorated elephant with howdah [saddle] in front, while imported flowers were showered from a helicopter throughout the vrat. A special band came down from Pune, besides the local police band.

A 50-course pure vegetarian buffet, prepared by the Maharaj from Rajasthan, was arranged in eight stalls, besides a variety of fruits, fruit juices, sherbat and sweets. The mukhwas had 100 varieties, while special paan centre was set up by Dasi Brothers of Ahmedabad.

The celebrations began at the resort on December 9, with a Rajasthani programme on the first day, followed by a Falguni Pathak show the next day. A Bollywood special was presented soon after the spectacular wedding ceremony, by film stars Shah Rukh Khan, Ravina Tandon and Namrata Shirodkar.

It concluded with a cultural evening by Pandit Hariprasad Chaurasia and a special show by Daler Mehndi.

The sound system for the cultural extravaganza was from Bangalore.

The only thing Goan was the idyllic location, fully booked four and five star resorts as well as few other resorts and around 80 air-conditioned cars.

The families flew down in three chartered flights from Bombay and Calcutta.

At least four organisations, including the Rashtra Seva Dal and Committee for Eradication of Superstitions, strongly condemned the wastage of millions of rupees in this callous manner, when hundreds in the country continue to die of hunger and are deprived of educational facilities. "They could have very well donated it to charity," they said in a press note.

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