Karnataka: Govt scheme for more mass marriages

MYSURU: The state endowment department is stepping in to help poor families who can’t afford the increasing cost of marriages. Free mass marriage initiatives will be launched in all major temples across Karnataka , including Chamundi Hills , Mysuru, Sri Kanteshwara Temple, Nanjangud, and MM Hills, Chamarajanagara.

Under the initiative, temple managements will provide the mandatory 8-gram gold mangalasutra for the wedding, new clothes for bride and bridegroom, and lunch for guests. Temples that register huge revenue annually may have to fund such weddings organised by their poorer counterparts. In the first phase, one hundred temples will be handpicked to implement the scheme, which will be extended to all the temples eventually, said endowment department sources.

An officer from the Mysuru endowment office confirmed that at least two rounds of department-level discussions have already been held, and officers are awaiting government guidelines. “These mass marriages are planned in all the group A temples. We will begin organising marriages once the guidelines are issued,” he said.

Endowment minister Kota Shrinivasa Pujari confirmed that the new scheme will be implemented soon, initially in major temples.