A temple recreated for the lavish wedding of ex-minister Janardhana Reddy's daughter in Bengaluru
Away from the tired and furious crowds at banks and ATMs after an overnight currency ban, Karnataka politician and mining baron Gali Janardhan Reddy is hosting a blockbuster wedding in Bengaluru with a budget that matches that of a movie.
The
wedding of the former minister's daughter will be held at the Bangalore Palace grounds on Wednesday.
No one doubted that the invitation in October, which came in a box with an LCD screen playing a song featuring the Reddy family, was just a preview of an even bigger production.
With some help from Bollywood art directors, lavish life-size sets have been put up at the venue, replicating landmarks like the Vitthala temple of Hampi and the Cowl Bazaar in Chennai.
The wedding of Karnataka mining baron G Janardhana Reddy's daughter is on Wednesday.
There are replicas of the homes of bride Bramhani Reddy and groom Rajeev Reddy. The dining area is designed like a village in Bellary, the Reddys' hometown.
Around 40 bullock carts will ferry invitees from the entrance to the wedding hall. There are flower elephants, musicians and giant balloons with images of the Reddys. Eight priests have been brought in from the famous Thirumala temple. Sources close to the Reddys say some 50,000 people, including politicians and celebrities, have been invited and around 3,000 security men will stand guard.
The organisers claim that around Rs. 30 crore is being spent on the wedding.
If the invitation boxes had everyone gawping, the event takes it several notches up - unlike many other weddings that have been less insulated by a massive cash crunch after the shock abolition of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes last week. Many have had to rush to the banks to replace cash withdrawn in bulk as wedding expenses.
Asked about the politician's extravagance, Arundhati Bhattacharya, the head of the State Bank of India or SBI, advised in an interview to NDTV: "Pay for weddings by cheques, and if you can't, come to us, we will hand-hold you through the process."
The Reddy wedding organisers claim that around Rs 30 crore is being spent and "all of it has been paid upfront to event management companies by cheque and is accounted for."
There are replicas of the houses of the bride, Bramhani, and groom Rajeev Reddy.
Mr Reddy has reportedly promised to produce all the bills later.
Counted among the most powerful men in Karnataka, the 49-year-old was a minister in the BJP government headed by BS Yeddyurappa till July 2011. He spent three years in jail in an illegal mining case and was released last year on bail.
Karnataka health minister Ramesh Kumar had called the wedding an ugly display of wealth and asked for a law to curb such ostentatious functions. Many politicians were expected to give the wedding a miss. Mr Yeddyurappa was seen attending today's celebrations.