Mad rush for marriages in Maagha maasam with auspicious muhurats

VIJAYAWADA: The continuation of Covid19 infections, limited auspicious Muhurats in February and unavailability of good Muhurats till April is leading to a mad rush for marriages in Andhra Pradesh.

Eight auspicious Muhurats were available in the Telugu month  Maagha Maasam (February) and hence many families are performing marriages now by following Corona protocol. They are fearing a further spread of the third wave in the coming days.

The Corona lockdown restrictions in the second wave foiled the efforts of families to perform marriages and many parents are now performing marriages on the available dates.

Minister for municipal administration Botsa Satyanarayana performed his son’s marriage on Friday. 

The coronavirus cases started decreasing majorly for the past few days from the earlier tally of 15,000/10,000 infections per day to 1,500 per day now. According to Pundits, auspicious Muhurats are available on February 5, 6, 7, 10, 11, 12, 14 and 16. 

The Guru Moudhyami (Moodham) will start on February 20 and end on March 23. Marriages and other auspicious events will not be performed during Moodham as it is seen as inauspicious.

Good Muhurats are unavailable from March 23 to April 1. The auspicious Muhurats are available on April 2, 3, 6, 7, 13, 15, 16, 20, 21, 23 and 24 as also on May 4, 11, 12, 13, 15 and 26.

In view of the present improvement in the Covid-situation, many  families sought February 11, 12, 14 and 16, treating them as auspicious Muhurats. They fear there is a chance of an increase in the pandemic spread in the coming days. If so, it would spoil the marriage plans. Hence, the frenzy to hold marriages in the present positive phase.

Notably, the demand is huge for Purohits (priests) to perform marriages. They are demanding Rs 30,000 to Rs 60,000 for a marriage and several priests perform two to five marriages a day. Further all the marriage and function halls have been reserved. This is forcing several parents to opt for hotels and open places to perform the marriage of their children.

Pundit Ramgopal Sastry said Maagha Masam is treated as the best month to perform marriages. There were no auspicious Muhurats till April 2. Hence, families are performing marriages  in a simple manner.

He said the fears about a recurrence of the pandemic persisted. This is prompting them to perform marriages by following corona protocols and without any delay. Nearly 50,000 marriages would be performed during the auspicious Muhurats in AP.

Event organiser S Krishna said all marriage and function halls were fully booked for the auspicious Muhurats in February, April and May. Families are inviting a lesser number of people for marriages in view of the corona crisis and the increase in the costs for feasts.

He said there were 16 Kalyanamandapams belong to Vijayawada Municipal Corporation and 70 marriage and function halls of private persons in Vijayawada. Bookings would be full for the auspicious Muhurats and similar conditions prevailed in other cities and towns across 13 AP districts.