Kendrapara: The wedding functions scheduled during day hours bore the brunt of Opposition-sponsored shutdown with people cutting short the celebrations.

Wednesday being the Magha Saptami, dozen of weddings were solemnised at Baldevjew temple in district headquarters town. But, ceremonies could be concluded with utmost difficulty.

"With vehicles going off the road, there was inordinate delay in the arrival of brides and grooms and their relatives. On usual days, the ritualistic puja for solemnisation of wedding comes to an end by noon. Today, there was delay of three to four hours," said Nrusingha Patri, a local priest.

Things were the same at Sarala temple in Tirtol block of Jagatsinghpur district.

"Everything went awry. With great difficulty, we arrived at the temple hiring auto-rickshaws. We had to cough up the double price of the original fare," said Gobindpur villager Rabindra Rout, father of a bridegroom.

"I had arranged the wedding of my daughter during day hours. With great difficulty, the wedding rituals were performed amid thin attendance. The bridegroom procession had to be suspended. The marriage feast has been rescheduled to night to stop the inconvenience to guests," said Jagatsinghpur resident Bhagaban Mishra.