Varun Gandhi, BJP MP and the youngest scion of the Gandhi family, married Yamini Roy Choudhury, a graphic designer, at a simple yet elegant ceremony at the Kanchi Kaamkoti Math on the banks of Ganga river in Varanasi here on Sunday morning.
The marriage ceremony, which lasted over two hours, was presided over by Kanchi Shankaracharya Swami Jayendra Saraswati. “The rituals were conducted according to Sanatan Hindu traditions and the couple was blessed by all the priests,” the Shankaracharya told reporters in Varanasi.
Varun, 30, wore a traditional silk kurta and dhoti, offset by an “angavastram”, while the bride wore a pink silk sari that had been gifted by late Indira Gandhi to her daughter-in-law and Varun’s mother Maneka Gandhi more than three-and-a-half decades ago.
The temple complex had been decorated with flowers and special sweets were served to the guests present at the ceremony.
The marriage was attended by close relatives of both the families after which they all returned to Delhi by chartered plane.
Ms Priyanka Gandhi Vadra was scheduled to attend the wedding ceremony but could not make it owing to ill health.
The newly-married couple posed for photos for hundreds of media persons gathered outside the marriage venue. Asked how he felt being married, Varun said he was “feeling great”.
His mother, Ms Maneka Gandhi said, “I want the entire country to bless the couple,” when asked what she wished for them.
Tight security arrangements had been made for the wedding and only designated guests were allowed entry into the temple complex during the marriage rituals.
The grand reception scheduled to be held in Delhi on March 8 has already been cancelled following the death of Varun’s maternal grandmother, Amteshwar Anand.