Former minister to organise mass marriage where his son will also wed; his other two children married in a similar way
Former minister to organise mass marriage where his son will also wed; his other two children married in a similar way
Former minister H Vishwanath is giving the big fat Indian wedding a whole new dimension. He's arranged a mass marriage in which his son too will be married.
Leading by example
His two elder children had married in a similar way. Vishwanath's daughter got married to a superintendent engineer, 12 years ago,u00a0 at a mass marriage where 124 poor couples exchanged vows.
When his eldest son Amith got married in 2008, 115 couples were part of the mass marriage.
This time, his younger son V Santhosh (27) will marry K Indumathi on February 15. The wedding will be a part of a mass marriage to be held at Arkeswara temple in K R Nagar.
Santhosh is Viswanath's third child and K R Nagar is his hometown.
"They say charity begins at home, and that is why I wantedu00a0 all my children to get marriedu00a0 at mass marriage functions. I want them to identify with the poor people," said Vishwanath. "Only then can I ask people to go in for a simple marriage."
Social event
Vishwanath has involved people across all castes and religions, in K R Nagar, to be a part of the social event.
Political barriers too seem to have faded as S Nanjappa, a JD(S) leader, chairs the committee constituted for the mass marriage, while Vishwanath is a Congress leader. Local MLA S R Mahesh and a BJP leader are also members on the committeee.
When Vishwanath's daughter was married, there were couples from other communities too who got married.u00a0
200 couples to wed
This time, 200 couples are expected to take part in the mass marriage.
Vishwanath said most of them would be tribals from nearby villages, and people from the town would contribute for the marriage.
All the couples would be gifted a silk sari and blouse, a Mysore silk dhoti and shirt, and a piece of gold that would be tied around the bride's neck by the bridegroom.
"We siblings are following the ideals of our father," Santhosh said.
"I am very happy to get married along with the poor. It gives me a great deal of satisfaction," he added.
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