Chamarajanagar: Seven couples, frustrated by the repeated postponements of a mass marriage ceremony organised initially at the Male Mahadeshwaraswamy Temple in the Male Mahadeshwara (MM) Hills in Chamarajanagar, have taken matters into their own hands and tied the knot at their own expense.

Initially, the Sri Male Mahadeshwaraswamy Temple Development Authority had scheduled the mass marriage ceremony for Aug. 23. However, it was subsequently postponed to August 28 and then delayed again. This continuous rescheduling disappointed the prospective brides and grooms who had eagerly registered to get married at the sacred abode of Lord Mahadeshwara. In response, seven couples decided to exchange their vows at Salur Mutt in the hills.

Marriage on the sacred grounds of Lord Mahadeshwara is considered highly auspicious. A total of 67 couples from various parts of the State, including the district, had originally registered their names for the mass marriage.

Unfortunately, due to the repeated postponements, seven economically disadvantaged couples decided to take matters into their own hands and finance their own weddings.

These seven couples are Jagadish from Chamarajanagar and Kavyashree from Nanjangud, Mahesh Kumar from P.G. Palya and Ramya from Horalavadi in Mysuru district, Udaykumar and Sneha from Talawadi, Dinesh from T. Narasipur and Nirmala from Mysuru, Mahendra from Halepura and Mangalamma from Aralipura in Chamarajanagar, Sanjay and Sowbhagya from Mysuru and Ravi and Sowmya from Chamarajanagar.

In response to the situation, Saraswathi, the Secretary of the Sri Male Mahadeshwaraswamy Temple Development Authority, Saraswati, clarified that the mass marriage ceremony had been postponed for specific reasons but assured that there would be no further changes to the schedule. She appealed to devotees to cooperate with the Authority.

Saraswati explained, “Due to necessary corrections in some of the documents and awaiting the availability of the District Minister, we are planning to hold the mass marriage ceremony on either Sept. 3 or 6. We request all registered couples to cooperate with the Authority during                                         this process.”