Marriage venue turns into funeral ground

Kirodi Lal, a vegetable vendor  and his wife Ganga Devi had left no stone unturned to make wedding of their daughter a memorable affair.

But the wedding turned out not only to be  unforgettable to groom and bride but for everyone who attended it, although for different reasons.  Despite a major mishap that claimed 24 lives at the wedding venue,  amid rain and storms, the family battled all odds throughout the fateful night to conduct the nuptial rituals of Dharmendra and Asha Saini.

Like every bride, Asha too had her dreams of  the world witness the sparkling ceremonies on a beautiful stage. But phera's, the most important ritual of the wedding, where the bride  circumambulates around the sacred fire in a  decorative mandap, took place inside a dingy 6 x 6 feet corner of her house. Instead of the bright lights and cheering guests, three candles, two priests and six relatives were witness to a solicited bond between the couple.

The house still has the fresh Kumkum (Vermillion) sprinkles on its walls suggesting an auspicious ceremony.  Bride's mother Ganga Devi, who is puzzled , whether to celebrate her daughters wedding or mourn her father's demise told DH, "After the wall collapsed, for three hours we were rescuing the guests and relatives. But around 3 AM  priests suggested that we should tie the nuptial knot of the couple  on the scheduled mahurat (auspicious time)." Since marriage lawn had turned into a mass 'funeral ground,' family brought both Dharmendar and Asha to their house 3 kms from the venue and priests performed the remaining ceremony.

Anju Saini younger sister whose hands are painted with Henna points towards a wall which says 'Shubh Vivaah', "A few days before wedding we painted our house for my sisters wedding. Last night there was no light due to bad weather and after the  fatal accident everything seemed impossible for a few hours, but we all tried to make it happen." Interestingly there is no wedding photograph of the couple, who returned to Jaipur on Thursday early morning. Groom Dharmendra resides at Jaipur's Chaura Rasta situated in Walled City. Out of the sixty Baraatis who accompanied groom, one died on the spot and 7 are injured.