Hyderabad: Kanyasulkam, the tradition of offering money to a bride’s family at the time of marriage has returned among Brahmin priests, along with Swayamvaram, allowing a girl to choose her husband among several prospective men.
In the Brahmin community, men, especially priests, are not finding suitable matches. To find girls for priests, the Brahmin Bhavan has started an incentive campaign along the lines of Kanyasulkam.
Brahmin Bhavan founder president K.N. Giri Prasad Sarma said most Brahmin girls these days were highly educated and were not willing to accept a priest as husband.
“Lakhs of priests in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana state can’t get married. Priests including archakas and Veda pundits are facing this problem and it has become a threat to the profession among future generations,” he said.
“After several surveys and queries to Brahmin girls, we have sorted out what a Brahmin bride actually wants. The girls are demanding protection, financial stability, care of their parents after marriage and better education for their children,” he added.
“We have decided to launch a massive campaign on the incentives to brides who are willing to marry a priest. We will gift a fixed deposit of Rs 2 lakh to the parents of the bride. Besides, we give an assurance to the brides there will be no clashes in future in their family life. If parents of the brides are dependents, we will provide shelter to them with three meals for their lifetime. If the groom loses his job as an archaka, we will provide the same job with a better salary. We will take responsibility of functions like Srimantham, Barasala and Upanayanam of their children,” he said.
Mr Sarma added, “Seven Brahmin girls from the two states have responded positively. Among them, five are from Hyderabad, one from Draksharamam and another from Vijayawada in Andhra Pradesh. We have started the campaign just a week back and have got a good response. As muhurthas will be available in August, we are expecting more response from Brahmin girls across the two Telugu states. The concept is similar to Kanyasulkam, but it is an incentive from Brahmin Bhavan. The selected brides will choose their husbands through a Swayamvaram, which is scheduled in August.”
