This story is from February 13, 2015

Star-crossed on V-Day

An inauspicious constellation of stars and mahurat this V-Day has made people change their plans of tying the knot today
Star-crossed on V-Day
An inauspicious constellation of stars and mahurat this V-Day has made people change their plans of tying the knot today
Lovers in the city may be looking forward to Valentine’s Day to profess their love, but those tying the knot this year have avoided doing so today. And the reason -- an unfavourable shaadi mahurat.
Inauspicious yog
According to the astrologers, Valentine’s Day this year is mired with a certain dosha which makes it an unfavourable wedding date.
"February 14 has two major planetary configurations in which auspicious ceremonies like weddings are not held. One is the Bhadra kal which though gets over at around 3pm. It is followed by a major inauspicious yog called Mrityu baan yoga which is in effect till the next day. Ceremonies like weddings are best avoided in this period," says Dr Chandramauli Upadhyaya, an eminent scholar and astrologer of Varanasi.
Dittoing this is another astrologer Raman Bhola who says, "Apart from the above stated flaws, a constellation of five-six stars is considered auspicious for wedding and this Valentine’s Day, there is no such constellation which makes a shubh mahurat for weddings," he says.
No bookings
In fact, a lack of booking in the hotels and marriage lawns for weddings are an indication that people are not keen to tie the knot on that day. Ajay Mishra, manager at Hotel Surya tells us, "There are no bookings in either of our two lawns or two banquets halls for weddings on February 14. Valentine’s Day is more for having fun but when it comes to serious issues like marriage, people still go by the mahurat."

Elaborating on this is Balveer Singh Rathore, Sales Manager, Taj Gateway Hotel, Ganges, Varanasi. "Getting married on Valentine’s Day is still a concept confined to the metros. In places like Varanasi, where traditions are still strong, people go by the mahurats and since February 14 is not a good mahurat for marriages this year, we don’t have any wedding taking place in our hotel. Though on a favourable wedding mahurat, we have an average of three weddings taking place on the same evening," says Rathore.
Expressing a similar view is Harish Lalvani, owner of Shubham Lawns, a prominent wedding lawn of the city. "We have no bookings for weddings on Valentine’s Day. Mahurats are important for people who believe in such concepts, especially in a place like Varanasi. They will prefer getting married on a shubh mahurat rather than opting for a Valentine’s Day wedding that celebrates love," he says.
No V-Day Wedding
Even those taking the plunge in February preferred the mahurat to V-Day. Piyush Mishra, who is currently working in US, recently got married on February 8, says, "My family follows the concept of mahurat very strictly so the our wedding date was decided by them. Though I did want to get married on Feb 14 but because there was no shubh mahurat, we had to forgo the plans. Now, we are going on our honeymoon on Valentine’s Day," he says with a smile.
Similarly Rashmi Gupta, who is getting married on February 16 says, "Personally, I would have loved to get married on Valentine’s Day but my parents decided otherwise as they believe in auspicious timing which is not today.."
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