VIJAYAWADA: Andhra Pradesh is witnessing a mad rush for marriages during August due to non-availability of auspicious Muhurats for next three months.
According to the almanac, only 10 auspicious days are available during the present Sravana Telugu month – the dates being August 4, 5, 6, 7, 10, 11, 12, 17, 20 and 21. August 6, 10, 11, 20 and 21 are considered auspicious Muhurats for weddings.
Priests say Sravana is the holiest month of the Hindu calendar. Majority of events and programmes, mainly marriages, are performed in this month. The other auspicious months for weddings are Bhadrapadam, Aswiyuja and Karthika, with Aswiyuja and Karthika being more favourable.
However, this year, there are Moodham or Soonya prevailing during the months of Bhadrapadam, Aswiyuja and Karthika. Hence, for next three months, there are no auspicious days for marriages. This is forcing parents to perform weddings of their children during this month itself.
A parent V. Bhaskara Rao said they first thought of performing the marriage of their son in the Karthika Telugu month. But Moodham dampened their plans. He pointed out that the next good Muhuratam is in January next year, which is too long a wait. Hence, they have advanced the wedding of their son to this month itself.
Priest K. Mallikarjuna Sastry pointed out that though pandemic situation has been largely controlled, unavailability of auspicious Muhurats for three months is forcing parents to perform marriages of their children in the current Sravana month itself. He recalled that usually, summer season is famous for weddings, as these months coincide with holidays. But summer seasons during past two years did not help due to Corona crisis. Now, availability of Covid vaccines has contained the pandemic to a large extent.
Mallikarjuna Sastry said nearly one lakh marriages are scheduled to be performed on the auspicious 10 Muhurats during the month of August in Andhra Pradesh.
Interestingly, there is huge demand for purohits to perform weddings, as Muhuruts are few. Priests are demanding ₹30,000 to ₹60,000 to perform a marriage. Several purohits are busy performing two to five weddings on a day.
Further, all function halls have been reserved for marriages in advance. This is forcing several parents to opt for hotels and open places for performing weddings of their children.
