Indian wedding, known as an elaborate affair with beautiful decorations, colorful clothes, music, dance and rituals, have taken a different turn after a couple got married on Monday at a COVID-19 care centre wearing protective gears after the bride tested positive on their wedding day.
The couple, whose names were not made public, decided to go ahead with the ceremony in the courtyard of the COVID quarantine centre in Baran in the western state of Rajasthan.
Under a bright red and yellow canopy and in front of a sacred fire, the bride and groom exchanged wreath of flowers, wearing matching blue protective suits, visors and face masks.
Photos shared by health authorities also shows the priest and three close relatives wearing personal protection equipment (PPE) gear at the ceremony.
The region’s chief medical officer, Sampat Raj Nagar stated that three regional officials were also present at the wedding in Rajasthan state’s Baran district, to ensure it was done in accordance with “full COVID-19 protocol” including ensuring physical distancing.
In a video of the ceremony, the priest, wearing a white PPE suit, can be heard chanting mantras and passing instructions to the couple for the wedding rituals.
The bride and groom later hang wreath of flowers upon each other amid showering of petals and clapping by the relatives and officials.
#WATCH Rajasthan: A couple gets married at Kelwara Covid Centre in Bara, Shahbad wearing PPE kits as bride’s #COVID19 report came positive on the wedding day.
The marriage ceremony was conducted following the govt’s Covid protocols. pic.twitter.com/6cSPrJzWjR
— ANI (@ANI) December 6, 2020
According to Dpa, health teams came to know the COVID-19 results at the last minute, stopped the bride and her family from reaching the wedding venue and instructed them to report to the COVID-19 centre instead.
Local health official, Sheikh Arif, who supervised the wedding, said;
The families were in a dilemma but insisted that, according to customs, they had to go ahead with the wedding since some initial rituals were done. Respecting their sentiments, the administration gave the approval for the marriage at the centre with all necessary checks.
Arif added;
We were really tense but managed to conduct this unusual marriage in times of COVID.
The bride and her mother, who also tested positive, are now quarantined at the centre.
We will do follow-up tests and it is only when she (bride) gets a negative COVID-19 report that we will release her and she can go to her husband’s place,.
Photos and videos of the wedding have since gone viral on Indian social media space, with some calling it the `Great Indian Pandemic Wedding’ while others congratulated the couple on the marriage.
India has the world’s second-largest caseload after the United States, with more than 9.6 million infections and over 140,000 deaths.
Via dpa/NAN.
