BHUBANESWAR: The first two waves of Covid put on hold - or at least forced-cut - weddings in Bhubaneswar. But this time, not many are willing to back down. Not by Covid, at least although lavishness quotient may have been missing.
The State Capital hosted over 2,000 weddings in last three weeks and over 500 marriage functions are lined up over the next seven days. The numbers could go up as the wedding season will remain at its peak till March end. The Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) sources said the civic body has issued permission to around 7,627 weddings since October last year. License for wedding was given to around 2,500 weddings between January 16 and February 15.
An equal number of weddings were allowed between November 15 and December 15. The number of marriages that took place in the City between December 16 and January 15, however, was less than 250. “The number remained less mostly due to Covid-19 restrictions as the crowd limit in areas under BMC jurisdiction had been reduced to 50 against 100 in other places,” he said.
This apart, people avoid marriages, engagements in the month of ‘Pausha’ between mid-December and January as the period is not considered ideal for auspicious events.Marriage events, however, have picked up since January last week and those applying for conducting the events are being granted permission within 72 hours through the www.Bhubaneswar.me portal, official sources said.
KC Mishra, a resident, who postponed the marriage of his daughter in June last year due to Covid-19, said his family decided not to delay the event any further apprehending restrictions in future in the event of another spike in cases.
No big fat weddings
Even as the matrimony business is looking at brighter days, the weddings organised in the city are not lavish any longer. Baldev Biswal, founder of Royal Saga Event Management Company and Wedding Wale, said business is picking up slowly but is yet to bounce back as many are still not opting for high-end weddings due to Covid-19 restrictions.
Members of Gujarati and Marwari communities are known for their luxurious weddings but the Covid has forced their hands. “The number of big fat weddings as well as destination weddings in Puri, Bhubaneswar and other locations have either been cancelled or postponed due to the pandemic,” Biswal added.
Curbs needs to be lifted
Kalyan Mandap owners, event planners, catering and tent houses, meanwhile, have urged the government to increase the crowd limit for wedding events and social gatherings to 500 from the existing 100, to help revive the businesses. “As only a month is left for the wedding season, it would not be possible for the event organisers to recover from financial losses if the restrictions continue,” said Guru Charan Das, owner of Grand Caterer.