Yogi govt’s another diktat: No “wedding bells” during Kumbh! 

The Yogi Adityanath government, has released an order, reportedly banning all marriage functions in the state scheduled on the days preceding and the days after the ‘Kumbh snaan’ or ‘Kumbh bath’ that usually takes place between the months of January and March in 2019.

This arbitrary diktat has startled many families in Prayagraj (erstwhile Allahabad) who had upcoming weddings, scheduled in that period.

The district administration has sent copies of the order to all wedding hall owners and hoteliers, instructing them to cancel all wedding bookings during the specified time. The order states “no weddings will be allowed a day before and after the days of the ‘Kumbh snaan’ or ‘Kumbh bath’, which will be held between January and March next year.” The copies of the order have been sent to all the wedding hall owners and hoteliers, asking them to cancel all the bookings during the specified period.

Reports suggested that the new order by the government has put those families in a fix who had their wedding functions scheduled for the first three months and had already made advance payments for guest houses, caterers and wedding venues.

Many families, who had planned weddings months ahead are now looking for alternatives to deal with this situation. Some are reportedly planning to postpone the dates (which are often set months before the function) or changing the wedding venues out of Prayagraj to nearby districts. People in the wedding business are equally perplexed as they are dependent on the marriage season for their earnings

Hotels and guesthouse owners have expressed their concern over the government order citing huge business losses during the wedding season as well as the major inconvenience that the order would cause to several families who have wedding functions scheduled.

“When we told families about the new order, some were nervous, some wanted to take legal action. We would also urge the government to give a rebate to at least those guest houses which do not fall on the path for the Kumbh Mela and would not cause obstruction to the seers and saints visiting the mela,” said a guesthouse owner

It’s worth noting that the devotees take six important ‘snaan’ or baths during the holy pilgrimage of Kumbh - Makar Sankranti and Paush Poornima ‘snaan’ in January, Mauni Amavasya, Basant Panchmi and Maaghi Poornima ‘snaan’ in Feburary and Mahashivtarti ‘snaan’ in March. Many saints, seers and pilgrims from across the country are expected to attend the Mela.

However, it’s not the first time that an unreasonable decision has been made by the BJP Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh.

Earlier, the government had ordered the closure of all tanneries in Kanpur from December 15, 2018 to March 15, 2019 in order to keep river Ganga clean during the Kumbh in Prayagraj.

There are also reports that following the renaming of Faizabad and Allahabad to Ayodhya and Prayagraj respectively, the government is considering a demand by local seers to ban the consumption of non-vegetarian and liquor in the region.