Bhubaneswar/Cuttack, Nov. 29: Amidst demonetisation, the subsequent cash crisis and inconveniences faced in everyday life, God has come to the rescue of those who want to tie the knot - at least it seems so.

Families of prospective brides and grooms in the twin cities have opted for temple wedding to dodge the dual blow of demonetisation and the lack of kalyan mandaps with legal documents.

K. Srinivas's marriage to Snehlatha, both residents of the capital city, was about to be postponed in the wake of cash crunch. But, since the groom's brother had arrived here on a one-month leave from the USA, the postponement was ruled out and an alternative to a hotel for solemnising the ceremony had to be found. Srinivas said one of his friends told him to hold the wedding at a Hindu or Arya Samaj temple.

"We zeroed in on the Kedar Gouri Temple," said Srinivas, a software professional, adding that the wedding that was held on November 27 was a simple affair.

Srinivas's original budget for the wedding was around Rs 4 lakh, including food. But post-demonetisation, he became apprehensive of spending too much using cheque or debit cards. "Most caterers would not agree to accept cheques or payments through debit cards. The same goes for decorators," he said. He spent around Rs 40,000 on his wedding, including Rs 18,000 as temple expenses and rest on decoration, travel and so on.

"Arranging money was turning out to be a problem. I consulted some of my friends, whose wards had got married at temples. They all said it was the most cost-effective way of getting married. My family also agreed," said Srinivas's father K. Ananth Rao.

Wedding bells are ringing in the temples not just in cities, but also in the rural areas. The temples in Bhubaneswar charge anything between Rs 5,000 and Rs 10,000 for weddings. It includes cost of the mandap, wedding materials and priest expenses. The charge for food that is vegetarian ranges from Rs 150 to Rs 350 per plate. The cost includes food with seating arrangements for 300 persons in some temples. In Srinivas's case, approximately 250 people attended the ceremony.

"Everyone is cost cutting because of the imposed limit on cash withdrawal after demonetisation. People are now opting for simple marriages," said Arya Samaj (Bhubaneswar) pracharak Purushottam Arya. He said the number of weddings this year at the Arya Samaj site had gone up. "A wedding or engagement ceremony is being held here every day for the past 15 days. Last year, hardly four weddings were conducted during the period," he said.

The failure of banks to provide Rs 2,50,000 to those families preparing for weddings has prompted people to prefer temples to hotels. Digambar Acharya, a priest at Vishnu Mandir in Saheed Nagar, said temples provided all facilities for marriage ceremonies, including the catering services. "This year, the temple is booked till December 15 for marriages and ring ceremonies," he said.

In Bhubaneswar, marriages are solemnised at Vishnu Mandir and Arya Samaj at Saheed Nagar, Kali Temple at Baramunda, Kedar Gouri temple at Old Town and so on. All these temples have witnessed a spike in bookings for marriage functions and are booked till December 15.

In Cuttack, demonetisation is not the only factor that motivated people to flock to the temples for weddings. There is one more - the closure of illegally functioning kalyan mandaps, which has made it hard for people to organise such ceremonies.

Patapol resident S. Mohan Rao, 35, said: "We had booked a kalyan mandap at Meria Bazar by making an advance payment of Rs 5,000 in September. However, our booking was cancelled as on November 6 the civic body refused permission to the mandap," said Rao. He said since they failed to arrange for an alternative venue, they opted for temple wedding by depositing a fee of Rs 4,000.

Rao's brother S. Laxman Rao said the family was short on cash after the Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes were scrapped. "We had a bank deposit to the tune of Rs 1 lakh. But we could not withdraw it owing to restrictions that was limited to Rs 24,000 per week," said Laxman.

Not only the Raos, but also several other people in Cuttack are opting for temple marriages that are mostly being solemnised at three major temples, including the Gadagadeswar, Raghunathjew and the Tarini shrine.

Over 15 marriages have been conducted at these places in the past two weeks, while the number is likely to cross 50 by the end of the marriage season in January. "Already four marriage functions have been held at the Gadgadeswar temple in the past one week. We hope that the number of marriages at temples will go up as a lot of people are coming and enquiring about the availability," said chief temple priest Bishnudutta Panda.

The scenario is not much different in the coastal belt of Kendrapara. "An amount of Rs 10,000 is enough for organising a wedding at a temple. The cost includes performance of the marriage rituals at the mandap, payment to priests and hospitality extended to about 100 guests," said Baldevjew temple's executive officer Balabhadra Patri.

The officer said that a dozen of marriages were being solemnised every day at the Baldevjew temple - most of them prompted by the recent demonetisation drive.

"I had planned to hold the wedding of my daughter at home with an estimated budget of Rs 2 lakh. But, I decided otherwise following the demonetisation-triggered crisis. Withdrawal of Rs 2.5 lakh from bank account was a cumbersome process due to complex technicalities. In sheer desperation, I made up my mind to hold the marriage at the Baldevjew temple," said bride's father Dharanidhar Mallik from Bandhakata village near Kendrapara.

While the temple management charged him Rs 1,662 as fees, the marriage feast consisting of the temple prasad cost him Rs 3,200. Another Rs 3,500 was spent on conveyance.

The groom, Manoj Mallick, 28, who works in a private company in Paradip, said that initially he was hesitant about a temple marriage but it turned out to be a nice affair. "Everybody, including my friends, were happy with the hospitality extended by the temple priests and management," he averred.

Additional reporting by Manoj Kar in Kendrapara