Birlas help 71 couples tie the knot

KOLKATA: As BK Birla group patriarch Basant Kumar Birla and his wife Sarala Birla embarked on their 71st year of marriage on Monday, 71 couples from Renukoot in Uttar Pradesh tied the knot in a mass marriage organized at the Milan Mela grounds. where 71 couples from Renukoot in Uttar Pradesh tied knots in the city in a traditional wedding ceremony.
Every year, the This type of mass marriage is organized every year by Aditya Birla Centre for Community Initiative and Rural Development organizes a mass marriage for underprivileged couples. This year, 71 couples were brought to the city in the Renukoot-Howrah Special train.
On Monday morning, the Milan Mela grounds were decorated with traditional mandaps. While priests chanted hymns aloud, the Milan Mela premises smelled of ghee and camphor.
The elderly couple sat through the marriage along with other family members - Rajashree Birla (wife of late Aditya Birla), Manjushree Khaitan, Jayashree Mohta and Kumar Mangalam Birla.
The newly-weds are scheduled to leave for their native place on Monday night.
After the marriage ceremony came to a close, the elderly Birla couple went to every mandap to greet the newly-weds and blessed them. They even handed over gifts to the new couples.
Amidst the loud noise of shehnai played by the nahabats, the couples sat in traditional mandaps as the pandits chanted hymns aloud. The enclosed premise of Milan Mela ground was filled with smell of ghee and camphor, which is used for yajna in marriage.
A family friend of the Birlas said: "This type of mass marriage is organized every year by the Aditya Birla Group. This year it is being organized in the city."
Another family member said this tradition of conducting mass marriages was a regular activity where economically marginalized people tie the knots. activity is a regular one to help the economically marginalized tie their knots.
"This is just an effort to help them start a new life," she said.
Earlier, the Birla family had facilitated a similar kind of mass marriage in the Sunderbans to help the lesser privileged lot. people over there start a new life.