Rush for heavenly weddings

In Delhi alone about 12,000 couples are to tie the knot in ceremonies across the capital.

Banquet halls have doubled their prices and wedding outfitters are working overtime to cope with the rush in demand.

Hindu priests are planning frantic dashes across a city choked with wedding processions as they conduct multiple marriages to meet young couples’ desire for the day that will give their nuptials a fair wind.

The clamour is all the greater since it comes at the end of a lean patch.

An unusual planetary alignment from June until late October resulted in a virtual bar on marriages after the astrologers said any unions in those months would be unhappy and almost certainly doomed to failure.

But today the planets will be in perfect alignment - the best in 18 years for a happy marital life.

The date is also the anniversary of the wedding of god king Ram, from Hindu mythology, and his queen, Sita.

Indian parents, who still regard arranging successful marriages for their offspring as their most sacred duty, are taking no chances. With the juxtaposition of the moon, a symbol of health, and Jupiter, indicative of prosperity, most people feel today will give the best chance of a long and happy marriage.

"No harm will come to couples who are married on that day," said the Delhi-based astrologer Veena Varma. "The entire day is auspicious and so marriages can be held at any time."

The glut of weddings has left those who did not have the foresight to plan months ago scrambling to find venues and bands.

Among the prospective couples who struggled to make their arrangements in time is a businessman, Ravish Sharma, from Delhi, and his fiance, Sudeshna .

"We are yet to find a single decent banquet hall and caterer," Mr Sharma said. Even his family’s priest has deserted them because he has too much on his plate and left it to his understudy to do the honours.

India’s wedding industry, which caters to increasingly lavish marriages and is worth 700 million annually, is cashing in on the sudden turnabout.

At Palms Court, one of Delhi’s leading banqueting facilities, staff took the booking for 27 November four months ago.

Its manager, Manish Thakur, said the venue had resisted the temptation to raise prices to capitalise on demand, but others at Delhi’s 150 gardens and halls had doubled prices and even squeezed in two or more parties on the same day.

"We had to turn many people away once we had the booking," said Mr Thakur, whose facility caters to 800 guests at a time. "But that’s business. We prefer to concentrate on one party and give a high-quality service."

Like any businessman, Summit Diwan would prefer trade to be evenly spread throughout the year.

But Diwan Sons, an outfitter specialising in elaborate sherwani long coats and saafa tailed turbans traditionally worn by Punjabi men on their wedding day, has had to adjust work schedules to meet demand.

Each bejewelled and embroidered coat can run to 900, so it is well worth paying tailors the extra rupees required to encourage them to work overtime.

But the wedding bands that must grace every marriage can only be in one place at a time. Delhi’s Swagat Band has upped its rates from 6,000 to 8,000 rupees (85 to 115) for today.

"I’ve been getting lots of calls, everyday asking if the band is available," said Amarjit Ahuja, the band’s owner. "We put up our rates. But people have been offering us even more to cancel our existing bookings."