Opulence, that’s how people describe marriages in Tamil Nadu. Whether the bride and groom hail from the rich and powerful families or from the lower middle class strata, marriages in Tamil Nadu are known for their extravaganzas, mind boggling entertainments and unique and exquisite spread of lunch and dinner tables. The number of persons attending the marriage reception and the kind of swanky cars in which the guests arrive are an indication of the social stand of the hosts.
Though the Dravidian movements in the State claim that they have revolutionised Tamil society with self-respect marriages, touted as simple events sans Vedic scholars for solemnising the most important event in the lives of youths, it is all for public consumption. You may not see Brahmin pundits officiating as “God’s Representative” during the ceremony. But there are new avatars of EV Ramasamy Naicker (founder of Dravidian movement who propounded the idea of self-respect marriages) playing the role of the pundit. The marriages continued to be glittering events where music concerts and western dance events by the stars of Kollywood played major role.
Not any more. The coronavirus, which struck Tamil Nadu early this month, has taken the glamour and crowd off the marriages. The last four days saw people hailing from upper middle class families doing away with all opulence, high-end celebrations and the unique spreads during lunch and dinner. Gone are the glitterati and chauffer driven limousines. And above all, the venues have been shifted to the sanctum sanctorum of temples! The priest of the temple blesses the couple, who exchange the garlands (made out of minimum number of flowers) which are sanitised. The minimum number of guests who grace the occasion are welcomed not with the traditional sandal waters and pastes but with sanitisers with which they could clean their hands!
The amount of loss suffered by the catering agents because of the corona virus attack is beyond comprehension. “Usually there would be a minimum of 6,000 guests for a marriage. The coronavirus has brought it down. We serve 14 to 20 course meals during lunch which include vegetable biriyani, fried rice, parothas, puris, vegetable curries and sweet delicacies,” said Manikandan , a lead caterer from Ambur near Velore.
Monday saw a youth belonging to the political outfit led by film star Vijayakanth tying nuptial note in Chennai. He was forced to do away with all celebrations because of the Section 144 but he shifted the venue to the actor’s residence so that his “God” could grace the occasion. A wheel chair bound Vijayakanth, who is keeping indifferent health for the last two years attended the marriage covering his face with mask and blessed the couple.
Elsewhere in the State, the bride, groom and their immediate relations constitute the list of guests. The same is the case in Kerala with parents of soon to be married youngsters deciding to do away with the air-conditioned wedding halls, lavish feasts, and related rituals which would help them save a few lakhs.
COVID virus too has its advantages !