₹90 lakh FD for 300 couples at Bageshwar Dham:Gold-silver jewellery in Jaimala plates; Nepal bride finally selected after four-year wait

Preparations are in full swing at Bageshwar Dham in Khajuraho, where 300 couples will be married in a grand mass wedding ceremony scheduled from February 12 to February 15. The three-day event will feature different rituals each day, along with arrangements for guests and devotees. As part of the wedding support, each couple will receive a fixed deposit of Rs 30,000, collectively amounting to Rs 90 lakh for all couples, along with gold and silver ornaments and household items worth Rs 2 lakh per couple, according to the organizers. This is the seventh edition of the mass wedding ceremony at Bageshwar Dham. Applications from 13 states, one bride from Nepal This year, the trust received over 1,500 applications from 13 states. A 600-member survey team, drawn from 60 districts, conducted a month-long verification process. After scrutiny, 300 couples were selected, including one couple from Nepal. ‘They are now daughters of Balaji,’ says Dhirendra Shastri Addressing the preparations, Pandit Dhirendra Shastri, head priest of Bageshwar Dham, said, These girls are now daughters of Balaji. Their weddings will be conducted with full dignity and grandeur, in the presence of saints, mahants and spiritual leaders from across the country. He said the survey team had initially identified more than 600 extremely poor, orphaned, motherless or fatherless girls, but due to limited resources, only 300 brides could be accommodated this year. To witness the preparations for the marriage of 300 couples on February 15, i.e., Mahashivratri, Dainik Bhaskar’s team reached Bageshwar Dham. Read the report VVIP invitations, gifts packed in advance The Bageshwar Dham office has been bustling with activity. Staff members are working late into the night, verifying VVIP invitation cards and cross-checking names and addresses using digital lists. Meanwhile, volunteers are carefully packing gifts for the brides and grooms. According to event coordinator Kamal Awasthi, all arrangements are nearly complete. “Clothes and essential items have already been distributed. All couples have been asked to report on February 13 at 8 am. The wedding mandaps and food pavilions are being prepared,” he said. Nepal bride gets her turn after four years One of the selected brides, Asmita Sunar from Nepal, shared her story over the phone. She said her family has always struggled financially. Her mother works as a domestic helper in Delhi, her father is a daily-wage labourer, and her brother works in Kerala. Asmita said she suffered from a serious illness, with doctors allegedly saying she had mental health issues. After visiting Bageshwar Dham, she claims she recovered. “My mother had been applying here for my marriage for four years. This year, my turn finally came,” she said. Asmita will marry Mej Bahadur, also from Nepal’s Kanchanpur district. ‘Poor, but don’t feel poor today,’ says Vidisha bride Sapna Ahirwar from Ganj Basoda in Vidisha district lost her father and lives with an ailing mother and younger brother. “There were days we struggled for two meals. My mother was always worried about my marriage,” she said. After applying for the mass wedding, she received a call confirming her selection. The organizers provided her wedding lehenga, sandals, and her groom’s sherwani and accessories. “I am poor, but today I don’t feel poor at all,” she said. ‘A dream come true,’ says Orphaned bride Another bride, Sapna Vishwakarma from Raipura Kishangarh, lost both her parents in childhood and was raised by her uncle and aunt. “Getting married at Bageshwar Dham feels like a dream. I never imagined my wedding would happen on such a grand scale,” she said. Mass wedding on Maha Shivratri The main wedding ceremony will take place on February 15, Maha Shivratri. The entire Bageshwar Dham complex will be specially decorated for the occasion. The event is expected to draw saints, religious leaders, devotees and guests from across the country, making it one of the largest mass wedding ceremonies in the region this year.