A temple wedding for Varun

Overlooking the Ganga,the ceremony was performed by a team of pundits,headed by Shankaracharya of Kanchi Kamkoti Peetham,Swami Jayendra Saraswati,and was attended by a handful of family members and close friends of Varun and his mother Maneka Gandhi. The nearly three-hour-long ceremony was a first of sorts for the Gandhi family as the marriage was solemnised inside a temple. All the earlier weddings in the family that of Indira and Feroze Gandhi,Rajiv and Sonia Gandhi and Varun’s parents — Sanjay and Maneka Gandhi — were held inside family’s home.

“Maneka Gandhi has been closely associated with Shankaracharya of Kamkoti Peetham,and it was her as well as Varun’s desire to get married in this temple. Varun had in fact wanted a very traditional ceremony,complete with all the rituals,” said a family member close to Varun.

The ceremony started at 6.30 in the morning and was performed as per the Sanatan rituals. “Varun was eager to understand each and every rituals that were performed. The wedding rituals were a mix of north Indian and Bengali style,while the engagement and earlier rituals were performed in Tamil style. This wedding has become an amalgamation of Hindu rituals from across India,” said K Venkataraman Ganpati,one of the priests who took part in the wedding. The rituals included Ganesh pujan,matrika pujan,laaj hom,jaimaal,saptpadi,sindoor daan and aashirwaad.

Incidentally,no one from the family of Varun’s aunt,Sonia Gandhi,attended the wedding. Priyanka Gandhi who was expected to attend did not turn up. She was reportedly unwell. Varun’s elder cousin brother Rahul Gandhi too is nursing an injury.

After the rituals were performed,Varun came out holding his wife’s hand and posed for the media. A smiling Maneka,who accompanied them,said: “I am happy that my son got married here in Kashi,which is a holy city. I want the entire nation to bless the couple.” Bride’s mother,Aruna Vasudev,a well-known film critic,also could not hide her happiness and said Varun is a “nice boy”. “We are happy to have him as son-in-law,” she added.