With the brides dressed in traditional red and gold embroidered saris and the grooms in long tunics and turbans, 151 young couples tied the knot at a mass wedding in Gujarat on December 6.
The nuptials were hosted by Mahesh Savani, a diamond trader who has been paying for the weddings of fatherless women in the city of Surat for several years.
Savani first stepped in to play the role of the father in 2008, when one of his employees died a few days before the weddings of his two daughters.
Every year since then, Savani has paid for the weddings of young women from poor families who have lost their fathers.
Savani said that the wedding and gifts for the 151 couples cost over Rs 5 crore, with around 1,00,000 guests joining in the three-day festivities that ended on Sunday.
He says,“I see this as something sacred, so I am not counting the expense.”
The businessman, who has made his fortune in diamond trading and real estate, said he saw himself as a “foster father” to the young women. He gave each of the brides gold jewellery, clothes, and pots and pans to set up her new home, much like the dowry given in traditional Indian weddings.
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