KRISHNAGIRI: It was a tryst with destiny for Sivalingapuram, a nondescript tribal village of Anchetti taluk in Krishnagiri district, as 25-year-old IIT-Madras project associate Dinesh SP and his techie bride Janaganandhini Ramasamy celebrated their wedding reception on metaverse, complete with blockchain technology and NFTs, at their hamlet of 50 households.
According to Dinesh, "Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, I had to cap the number of friends and family at 100 for my marriage and reception. So, I decided to solemnize my marriage in the presence of a small group of people at Sivalingapuram and hold my reception virtually on metaverse. I was also working on blockchain technology for the past one year."
As his father-in-law Ramasamy had passed away last year, Dinesh decided to gift his wife an 'avatar' of her father so that Ramasamy can bless the couple on metaverse. Three 'avatars' of Dinesh, Janaganandhini and Ramasamy were created along with some avatar of guests. A 15-member team of TardiVerse worked on the metaverse reception for a month in January.
Janaganandhini was visibly happy about her dead father coming alive for her virtual reception. "Child marriages are rampant in our locality, but my father encouraged me to complete college education," said the techie working in a Chennai company.
The couple had picked Hogwarts theme from Harry Potter for their reception. A musical concert was also conducted via metaverse from Chennai. The event ended with the wishes of PMK youth wing leader Dr Anbumani Ramadoss. Food was delivered at home for about 200 people who attended the reception on metaverse from Chennai.
Dinesh is North Chennai district secretary of Pasumai Thayagam, the environment wing of the PMK. The event was held with the support of CoinSwitch Kuber, a crypto exchange, and TardiVerse, a technology company.