Guruvayur (Keralam) | The Guruvayur Sree Krishna Temple is witnessing a record 437 weddings on Sunday, the highest number of marriages being held at the temple on a single day, Devaswom officials said.

Guruvayur Devaswom Board Chairman A V Gopinath told reporters that it was the first time such a large number of weddings were being held at the temple.

“As many as 437 weddings are being held in Guruvayur today. For the first time in Guruvayur's history, this many weddings are being held. The most important factor here is the cooperation of the public in Guruvayur. Restrictions have been placed on regular devotees coming for darshan, and the public has extended immense support to facilitate this auspicious time for the weddings,” he said.

He said the Devaswom had arranged all necessary facilities for the marriages.

“More than 100 personnel from the police department are deployed for crowd management. Ambulance services have been stationed to assist anyone who falls ill, and doctors are on standby. Whatever facilities can be arranged for a wedding in Guruvayur, we have made for them,” he said.

Gopinath said the wedding ceremonies began at 4.10 am and around 137 weddings were conducted within the first two hours.

Officials said the first Sunday of the Malayalam month of Chingam is considered auspicious for marriages at Guruvayur, leading to the large number of weddings being held on Sunday.

Six mandapams have been set up in the temple courtyard for conducting the marriages, they said.

Tokens have been issued to each wedding group, while the number of people accompanying the bride and groom has been restricted to 24 to avoid overcrowding, officials said.

More than 60 weddings are being conducted every hour across the six mandapams, officials added.