Kerala mulls bill to stop lavish weddings

Thiruvananthapuram  :  The Kerala government will soon come up with a bill that will prevent ostentatious weddings where people flaunt their wealth, Social Welfare Minister M.K. Muneer said here Monday.

Muneer told the state assembly that the situation has reached such a “dangerous level” where weddings only mean flaunting of one’s wealth.

“We are working out on how we can prevent this excessive flaunting of wealth on the occasion of weddings and it would be through a new law,” he said.

Congress legislator C.P. Mohammed had earlier raised this issue through a submission.

He said people have reached a stage where they try to “wear a dress made of gold”, and that ostentatious weddings have become a law and order problem too.

Muneer said Pakistan’s Punjab province has a very strict law that prevents ostentatious weddings.

When it comes to food during weddings in Kerala, people nowadays leave nothing to chance to have a gala time.

At Christian weddings, lunch with biryani or fried rice costs as much as Rs.600 a plate while at Hindu marriages the traditional “sadhya” (the 23-course vegetarian lunch with three-four types of payasam) costs a minimum of Rs.150 per plate.

These days, people also appoint wedding planners and include a special music band, a decorated stage and special vehicles to bring the couple to the wedding venue.