Sri Shivamurthy Muruga Sharana of Bruhanmutt, Chitradurga, has said that 11,500 couples have tied the knot at the mass marriage ceremony being organised by the mutt on the fifth of every month for the last 25 years.
Speaking at the silver jubilee celebrations of the marriage ceremony at the mutt premises here on Tuesday, he said there was an increase in the number of devotees of the mutt in the last two and half decades owing to the social works taken up by it.
The mass marriage ceremony was launched by the mutt to cut down unnecessary expenditure and help the poor and downtrodden people.
“The marriages conducted by the mutt has helped the poor and the middle class avoid dowry and other expenditure. There are instances of remarriage of widows too,” he said.
Government’s largesse
Minister for Social Welfare and district in-charge H. Anjaneya said the State government would pay Rs. 50,000 for 99 couples from the Scheduled Castes 65 from the Scheduled Tribes who tied knot on Tuesday. A sum of Rs. 2 lakh would be paid for inter-caste marriages.
Minister for Cooperation H.S. Mahadev Prasad said the Bruhanmutt was known for bringing in changes in society and rejecting superstitious beliefs and rigid practices.
As many as 207 couples tied knot in the mass marriage ceremony. G.H. Tippareddy, D. Sudhakar, T. Raghumurthy, MLAs, and Jayamma Balraj and Raghu Achar, MLCs, were present.
