Houses turn marriage halls on Vadapalani street
Yogesh.Kabirdoss@timesgroup.com 04.03.2018
Chennai: On auspicious days, it’s rush hour at Vadapalani Andavar Street as couples queue up outside micro marriage halls, where weddings take place by the minute. All the marriage halls on this street are tiny, about the size of a living room. But that’s just what these halls are, the drawing rooms of homes, painted, polished and dressed up by their enterprising owners, who are tapping into the demand for affordable places to tie the knot. And Vadapalani – the marriage quarter of the city on account of the famed Murugan temple – is now home to more than 15 of these ‘houses’ of marriage, all within 200 metres of the temple.
The home-halls, either leased or sold to professional marriage service companies, operate from a space of 300 to 500 square feet, and are so in demand that two to 10 weddings take place every ‘Muhurtham’ hour. On the more auspicious days, it isn’t unusual to see several weddings taking place simultaneously with couples either sharing the tiny stage or anxiously waiting their turn outside the congested halls.
Mani, who runs an agency providing a slew of marriage services, says the mini halls offer packages for weddings. “The halls come with priest, garland and materials required for marriage rituals under one roof. The bride and groom just walk in with their families, tie the knot and leave, all in a matter of minutes,” he says.
Mani adds that the Murugan temple, nominal rates for marriage-related expenses and recent restrictions over the number of marriages permitted inside the temple premises have all added to the lure of Vadapalani. A traditional marriage with a sumptuous spread for 50 guests can be arranged at Rs 1 lakh at these micro halls, says Mani. Enquiries with different marriage halls revealed that packages were available from Rs 8,500 to Rs 35,000 depending on the decorations, volume of guests and number of hours spent at the halls. Official sources with the Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments Department say that 800 weddings were reported at the temple in 2017. “We now allow only a maximum of 25 weddings on the temple premises per ‘Muhurtham’,” says a temple official. When the demand rises, these halls come in handy, with more than 1,500 marriages being conducted in these mini halls every year.
The home hall owners provide acertificate as a proof for the wedding, while few go the extra mile facilitating registration of marriages at the sub-registrar office on the same day of the wedding. Sampath, who visited Vadapalani for a relative’s wedding, says he came for one wedding but witnessed several. “It is a new experience for me because I have never seen so many weddings take place so fast under one roof,” he says.
Most residents in the locality though aren’t pleased with the increasing number of mini weddings as the swarms of people and vehicles lead to traffic snarls around the temple and on the arterial Arcot Road.
ONE FOR THE CAMERA: Weddings take place by the minute in Vadapalani
Yogesh.Kabirdoss@timesgroup.com 04.03.2018
Chennai: On auspicious days, it’s rush hour at Vadapalani Andavar Street as couples queue up outside micro marriage halls, where weddings take place by the minute. All the marriage halls on this street are tiny, about the size of a living room. But that’s just what these halls are, the drawing rooms of homes, painted, polished and dressed up by their enterprising owners, who are tapping into the demand for affordable places to tie the knot. And Vadapalani – the marriage quarter of the city on account of the famed Murugan temple – is now home to more than 15 of these ‘houses’ of marriage, all within 200 metres of the temple.
The home-halls, either leased or sold to professional marriage service companies, operate from a space of 300 to 500 square feet, and are so in demand that two to 10 weddings take place every ‘Muhurtham’ hour. On the more auspicious days, it isn’t unusual to see several weddings taking place simultaneously with couples either sharing the tiny stage or anxiously waiting their turn outside the congested halls.
Mani, who runs an agency providing a slew of marriage services, says the mini halls offer packages for weddings. “The halls come with priest, garland and materials required for marriage rituals under one roof. The bride and groom just walk in with their families, tie the knot and leave, all in a matter of minutes,” he says.
Mani adds that the Murugan temple, nominal rates for marriage-related expenses and recent restrictions over the number of marriages permitted inside the temple premises have all added to the lure of Vadapalani. A traditional marriage with a sumptuous spread for 50 guests can be arranged at Rs 1 lakh at these micro halls, says Mani. Enquiries with different marriage halls revealed that packages were available from Rs 8,500 to Rs 35,000 depending on the decorations, volume of guests and number of hours spent at the halls. Official sources with the Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments Department say that 800 weddings were reported at the temple in 2017. “We now allow only a maximum of 25 weddings on the temple premises per ‘Muhurtham’,” says a temple official. When the demand rises, these halls come in handy, with more than 1,500 marriages being conducted in these mini halls every year.
The home hall owners provide acertificate as a proof for the wedding, while few go the extra mile facilitating registration of marriages at the sub-registrar office on the same day of the wedding. Sampath, who visited Vadapalani for a relative’s wedding, says he came for one wedding but witnessed several. “It is a new experience for me because I have never seen so many weddings take place so fast under one roof,” he says.
Most residents in the locality though aren’t pleased with the increasing number of mini weddings as the swarms of people and vehicles lead to traffic snarls around the temple and on the arterial Arcot Road.
ONE FOR THE CAMERA: Weddings take place by the minute in Vadapalani
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