Pics: Spoorthi Ullal

Daijiworld Media Network - Mangaluru (ANK)

Mangaluru, Feb 23: District in-charge minister and minister for Muzrai, Kota Srinivas Poojary inaugurated a workshop on 'Sapthapadi Mass Marriage' here at Townhall on Sunday, February 23, organised by Hindu religious organisations and district religious endowment department.

Addressing the gathering Poojary said, "This is the first time in the history of the state, a workshop for mass marriage is being organised. There are 34,000 temples in the state and only 100 A grade temples have been selected to conduct the mass marriages. The marriages will be held across the state simultaneously. In the districts like Gadag, Raichur, Bijapur, Hubli, Yadgiri there were no A grade temples, so we had to opt a few historical and renowned temples from these districts."

"The mass marriage event lacked publicity so even when the chief minister Yediyurappa unveiled the logo of the event, he made sure that steps were taken to publicize the event and ordered every information department to publicize the event adequately to reach the masses," he added.

"We have even launched Sapathapadi Rathas across the state to publicise the mass marriages. As envisaged the bridegroom will receive Rs 5,000 and the bride will receive Rs 10,000 to buy new clothes for the wedding. The bride will also receive Rs 40,000 to buy Mangalasutra and bonds worth Rs 10,000 from the Revenue Department under Adarsha Vivaha scheme. The couple from SC/ST communities will receive a bond worth Rs 50,000 from the Social Welfare Department," Poojary maintained.

"All the MLA's, minister's, pontiffs of various mutts have shown their support for this event. The marriages are not only for the poor but also for those who want their wedding to be conducted in a modest manner," the minister said.

MP Nalin Kumar Kateel said, "Endowment Department was once known for their rude and sluggish attitude. The department restricted itself to only Bengaluru. But today through the efforts of Poojary the department has reached out to the masses. I always felt many faced lot of difficulties to get their work done in the Endowment Department as the officials are not customer-centric, I would like to congratulate Srinivas Poojary for transforming these officials. This event will be a perfect platform for those who wish to get married in a humble manner."

As many as 20 temples have been selected from the district. The mass marriage event in the district will be held on April 26 and May 24.

The temples selected for the mass marriages in the district are Kateel, Someshwara, Bappanadu, Kudupu, Kadri, Mangaldevi, Nandaneshwara temple Panambur, Mahaganapathy temple Katipalla, Kavoor Mahalingeshwara temple, Shibaroor Kodamanthaya temple, Maroli Suryanarayana temple, Polali, Nandavara, Panolibail, Puttur Mahalingeshwara, Uppinangady Sahasralingeshwara temple, Sauthadka Mahaganapathy temple, Anantheshwara temple Ballamanja, Subramanya and Mallikarjuna temple Thodikana.

Member Karnataka state Dharmika Parishat Dr Maharshi Ananda Guruji, Mangaluru South MLA Vedavyas Kamath, Mangaluru North MLA Dr Bharath Y Shetty, Moodabidiri MLA Umanath Kotian, Puttur MLA Sanjeev Matandoor, deputy commissioner Sindhu P Rupesh, additional deputy commissioner M J Roopa and others were present.