The pandemic may have thrown wedding planners out of business, but love in the time of familial opposition has given birth to a new enterprise called “marriage shops”.
Amid the surfeit of eloping couples approaching the Punjab and Haryana high court for protection in the face of threats from disapproving families, Chandigarh has seen marriage shops mushroom on its outskirts to provide everything that their grudging kin won’t.
From wedding rituals at a temple or gurdwara to “authentic” marriage certificates and budget shelters that promise security and privacy, there is nothing that these shops lining the approach road to the famous Mata Mansa Devi temple in Panchkula won’t provide for a fee.
In most cases, runaway couples want to hurriedly tie the knot, collect proof of the marriage and approach the high court with protection petitions. Over 100 such petitions have been filed daily during the Covid-19 pandemic, involving mostly lovelorn couples from Punjab and Haryana. While opposition from families is mostly on account of caste, creed and similarity of gotra (a social taboo in Haryana), the marriage shops have no boundaries when it comes to providing services to these couples.
TOI found the entire passage leading to the main entrance to the Mansa Devi temple dotted with boards inviting couples to solemnise their weddings with proper marriage certificates.
The package comes with wedding finery, make-up for the bride, photographs and even the presence of a lawyer, should the couple need protection from intruding family or relatives. The marriage shops have a ready inventory of all articles needed to arrange a quick wedding.
Couples are allowed to visit the temple wearing their rented wedding attire to seek the deity’s blessings. The clothes and imitation jewellery have to be returned once the photo session is over.
Starting from Rs 5,100 for a ceremony that comes with a marriage certificate, packages can go up to Rs 16,000 that includes rituals, the services of a photographer and a lawyer to assist the couple in filing a protection plea in the high court.
These marriage shops also organise weddings for couples referred to them by advocates as proof of marriage helps strengthen a petition. A shop owner told TOI that most eloping couples “need a lot of guidance”, including street-smart advice like wearing masks for the photograph that will be attached to the petition.
Akhilesh Pandey, a priest seated inside a shop named Vaidik Poojan Kendra, said his senior — head priest Pandit Rakesh Sharma — was an expert in solemnising such weddings and arranging every document required to get a favourable order from the high court. “Everything can be done within two days; nobody else can guarantee this. We have been solemnising around 70-80 weddings in a month, and some of these couples are those approaching the high court for security.”
Based on service quality, marriage shops are recommended by satisfied couples to others like them who require similar services . Sonipat couple Vinay and Kiran Dahiya, who were recently shot by the girl’s family while living in Delhi, had tied the knot through one such marriage shop near the Mansa Devi shrine.
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