Guruvayoor Sree Krishna Temple in Thrissur has the rare credit of witnessing the highest number of weddings in a single day with 277 ceremonies taking place in 2017. On January 17, 2024, however, the temple achieved the rare feat of hosting a wedding where Prime Minister Narendra Modi led the ceremony and performed the ‘Kanyadaan’ (giving away the bride).
The bride, Bhagya Suresh, daughter of Malayalam superstar and former BJP MP Suresh Gopi and the bridegroom was Sreyas Mohan. At 8:45 am, adorned in a Kerala-style white dhoti and shawl, PM Modi handed over the flower garlands to the couple. They exchanged the garlands in a Mandapam in front of the temple. The PM blessed the couple who touched his feet after the traditional ceremony attended by the top brass of Malayalam screen including Mammootty, Mohanlal, Dileep, Jayaram, Khushboo and Biju Menon along with Suresh Gopi.
Despite the grandeur, Bhagya chose an elegant and simple look for the wedding, donning an orange silk saree for the occasion.
On Monday, Suresh Gopi accompanied by his family offered a five sovereign golden crown to Our Lady of Lourdes Metropolitan Cathedral in Thrissur as an offering before the marriage.
Before vesting blessings upon the couple, the Prime Minister commenced his day by offering prayers at the temple. He participated in a ‘Thulabharam’ (weighing scales) at the temple, an offering to deity by weighing against a commodity – lotus buds equalling his weight. He also blessed four more couples, among the 77, who tied the knot at the shrine on Wednesday.
Following the temple ceremony, a wedding reception took place at the Gokulam Convention Center in Kochi with several dignitaries attending it.
Suresh Gopi, national award-winning actor and a former nominated member of Rajya Sabha, is expected to be the BJP candidate from Thrissur Lok Sabha seat. In 2019, he staggered both the rival alliances, led by Communist Party of India (Marxist) and Congress respectively, with an impressive show by adding 17.05% votes to BJP than 2014, reaching close behind the Left candidate.
Sreyas, a businessman, and son of S Mohankumar and K Sreedevi, is a native of Mavelikkara settled in Thiruvananthapuram.
Bhagya Suresh, who graduated from the UBC Sauder School under British Columbia University, is the second daughter of Suresh Gopi and Radhika. The couple’s first child, Lakshmi, passed away following an accident when she was just one-and-a-half year-old, on June 7, 1992. Though they have four children including Bhagya, according to the couple, Lakshmi will always be there permanently in their hearts.
Gokul is the elder brother of Bhagya who has a younger sister Bhavini and a younger brother Madhav who shares the name of his father’s character in ‘Ekalavyan’, the film, which made him a superstar in 1993.
Coming back to the marriage numbers, the temple authorities even considered limiting the maximum to 200 a day. However, later it was decided to set up two more additional ‘Mandapams’ apart from the three permanent ones. Only a maximum of 20 persons were allowed for each marriage. The marriages began at 5 am and were over by around 11 pm.
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