Kathmandu (dpa) – Hundreds of devotees thronged the biggest open space of the Nepalese capital, Kathmandu, on Saturday to witness the wedding ceremony of the Hindu god Utsava Beram and his spouses. Three jeweled and colorfully decked statues, from the South Indian Tirupati Balaji temple were brought to Nepal late Friday for the wedding ceremony, the first time the deities were removed from Indian soil. The wedding took place in an elaborate ritual, with a sacred fire burning, as garlands and gold necklaces were exchanged with the traditional Hindu wedding tune played on a traditional shehnai in the background. The statues of Utsava Beram, a form of the Hindu God Vishnu, wed his two spouses, Sridevi and Bhudevi at the ceremony. “According to mythology, the wedding takes place in memory of the time Vishnu was on the verge of separation with one of this wives, Laxmi, which ended in reconciliation with the efforts of other gods, Brahma and Maheshwar,” said Basudev Sharma, a Nepali priest who was attending the wedding ceremony. “And it is a very special occasion, which only the fortunate get to witness.” Tirupati Balaji is one of the richest Hindu temples in India, and receives millions of visitors every year, who offer millions in cash and jewelry. “We've received over 300,000 visitors,” said Upendra Mahato, the chairman of the Shree Tirupati Balaji Wedding Festival Main Celebration Committee. He explained the festival was targeted at Nepalis who could not afford to travel to India. “We're organizing the festival for peace and economic prosperity of the country, at this time of political transition.” People had thronged the wedding venue since early in the morning to witness the ceremony, which lasted for more than three hours late Saturday. Organizers said the statues would be returned to India on Sunday, accompanied by the 60 Indian priests who had arrived in Nepal to conduct the ceremony. BM ShortURL: http://goo.gl/2ZV87 Tags: Ceremony, Deities, Hindu, Nepal Section: East Asia, Religion
