Stars play truant with betrothed

HYDERABAD: Blame it on stars. Courting couples ��� desperate to get married but with parents who swear by astrology ��� will have to wait for over two months to tie the nuptial knot. Reason: There are no muhurats for marriage as well as other auspicious events from the last week of August till the first week of November.
According to Srisailam temple astrologer Pandit Butte Veerabhadra Daivajna, the year 2005 has a few auspicious muhurats due to different astrological factors.
In the first half of the year, over 75 days from February 23 to May 10 were declared inauspicious due to Sukra mudam ��� the astrological phenomenon of Venus being in conjunction with Sun ��� which is inauspicious to perform auspicious events.
Accordingly, parents as well as couples waited till Vaisakha masam ��� second month of Telugu calendar, which began on May 11. And the state witnessed lakhs of marriages in May due to this lean period.
Now also there are no muhurats both in September and October as the former one falls in Bhadrapada ��� the sixth month of Telugu calendar ��� which is inauspicious for p e r f o r m i n g m a r r i a g e s . While the next Telugu month ��� Ashviyuja, which falls in October, is also not suitable due to Guru mudam: the astrological phenomenon of Jupiter being in conjunction with Sun, which is also inauspicious for performing good events, Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams temple astrologer Tangirala Prabhakara Purnaiah Siddanthi told the Sunday Times of India.
Marriages could be performed from Karthika and Margasira months, which fall in November and December, he said. According to a worried father, D Ramachandra Rao, most marriages in Andhra Pradesh are being performed only after fixing auspicious muhurats.
Therefore, even if marriages are fixed, both the parties will wait till the auspicious time, he said.
However, for those people whose marriage is fixed, this lean period has its own advantages and disadvantages. It will provide ample time to know each other, says K Srinivas, a software professional. But for some others, the long period is too long to bear, he said.