CHANDIGARH: Marriages may be made in heaven, but stars sometimes delay the unions on earth. This summer will not see any ‘big fat Punjabi wedding’ due to the inauspicious ‘Mal Maas’ period that has come after a decade. That is bad news for wedding industry. With no ‘band, baja, baraat’ lined up, the business of wedding venues, caterers, ghodiwalas et al. will take a big hit.
“No marriages will take place due to ‘Mal Maas’ or ‘Adhik Maas’ (an inauspicious month in astrological jargon, lasting from May 16 to June 13). All auspicious activities like marriage, purchase of house or precious items like gold, entry of brides into their marital homes, start of new ventures etc. is forbidden. Apart from this, no will marriage take place during the ‘shraadh’ period between September 25 and October 9,” said astrologer Madan Gupta Spatu.
“Progressive people who do not believe in astrology may go ahead with marriage ceremonies between 11.30 am and 12.30 pm on Sundays because Sunday is considered to be the most auspicious day in many religions.” Another astrologer, Ram Prakash Semwal, said, “Mal Maas has come after 12 years this time. No auspicious activity is done during this period.”
As a result, hardly any bookings of wedding halls, resorts or hotels have been done. Catering business has also been hit. Punjab has around 3,000 wedding halls. “Every year, there is huge booking in summer months and then from October onwards, but not this time. Though Sikh weddings will not be affected, the business is down by 25-30 per cent,” said Sukhdev Singh Sidhu, president of Punjab Marriage Palace and Resort Association. On an average, every resort sees 80 to 100 functions every year, he added.
“May, June usually see about 25 booking per resort. But this time, hardly four to five bookings have been made while there are hardly any booking for October-November,” said Rakesh Mohan, owner of another resort.Caterers are also feeling the pinch. Shirom Lamba, owner of Grande Catering, rued, “This year, we are getting orders for other functions and parties but not Hindu weddings. Even for coming winter, business does not look promising.”
Jewellers and beauty parlours are also affected. Rajiv Sahdev, President of Chandigarh Jewellers’ Association, said, “Our sale is down by 50-55 per cent. We are yet to come out of the impact of GST and demonetisation, and now this!”