Came to See Durga Puja Pandal, Got Married with Organizer Committee's Help

Kolkata. A young couple out to visit a Durga Puja pandal made the sudden decision to get married in the face of family opposition. At the puja pandal in Ward 10 of Ashoknagar Kalyangarh Municipality in North 24 Parganas district, 26-year-old local Tanu Adhikari and 18-year-old Soumi Dafadar from Khardah tied the knot. Soumi stated that her family was against their relationship. Garlands, the groom's traditional Bengali headwear 'topor', conch-shell bangles, and other essential wedding items were quickly arranged. The priest conducting the Durga Puja rituals was informed, and arrangements for the wedding were made at the mandap. At night, in front of the deities, the couple got married following traditional rituals. During the ceremony, hymns were chanted, garlands were exchanged, and vermilion was applied. People who came to worship and view the idols became witnesses to the wedding. Many stayed to watch the ceremony, while some captured the moment on their phones. Videos of the wedding have gone viral on social media. After the wedding, Tanu Adhikari shared that they had no immediate intention of marrying, but circumstances forced them to take this sudden decision. Soumi had come to meet her lover at the puja pandal when she started receiving phone calls from her family, which panicked her. She felt that upon returning home, she would be confined, her mobile phone snatched away, and she would be married off to someone else. Taking no risks, she immediately proposed marriage to Tanu. Netaji Sangha's Durga Puja was in its 25th year, and this unexpected wedding at the mandap became a unique attraction on the puja's silver jubilee.