Bhaichung with Madhuri on Monday. A Telegraph picture.

Tinkitam (South Sikkim), Dec. 27: Indian soccer?s lone pin-up star, Bhaichung Bhutia, today tied the knot with his sweetheart of seven years, Madhuri Tipnis.

The traditional wedding in his native Tinkitam village was a private occasion attended by family members and close friends.

Dressed in a brocade and silk Khechen (a traditional Sikkimese dress), the Indian soccer skipper brought home his new wife late in the morning.

Bhaichung and Madhuri had been staying at Mount Narsing Resort at Ravangla, south Sikkim, for the past two days.

A bongthing (priest) offered prayers at the footballer?s house and chanted hymns invoking divine blessings for the newly-weds.

Family members then wished them with traditional khadas (silk scarves). Today?s ceremony is considered the most important in the Sikkimese marriage roster as the bride enters the groom?s house and they are considered a couple.

The main wedding reception has been fixed for December 30.

Today, a large red-and-gold banner (the colours of East Bengal, the club Bhutia plays for) adorned the pathway to a gate built to give a traditional welcome to the guests.

?I am happy for having chosen Maddy (as he calls Madhuri) as my life partner. She is the only person I could have married,? Bhaichung told The Telegraph.

He had first met her at a friend?s. Originally from Manipur, Madhuri is now a hotel industry professional with the ITC Group. Her father, Ashok Tipnis, is a retired army captain who now works with the Village Volunteer Development, an NGO in Imphal.

At her wedding, Madhuri was accompanied by her parents, brother, uncles and aunts, including former chief of air staff A.Y. Tipnis.

More than 1,000 people are slated to attend the reception, the menu for which will be predominantly Sikkimese, said a family member.