Puri: Before the wedding vows could be exchanged, the administration stopped the ceremony. The invited guests, along with the bride and groom’s families, had to leave. The Puri Municipality dismantled the wedding stage that had been set up on the beach. The welcome arch and seating arrangements for guests were also removed. This unusual situation unfolded on Wednesday at Puri Beach.
A man from Rourkela had obtained permission from the municipal authorities for the event. According to prior arrangements, guests from both sides had arrived in Puri that morning. Since a grand wedding celebration was to be held at a public beach, there was considerable curiosity among onlookers. A local hotel had taken responsibility for organizing the wedding event. Over the past 10 days, preparations for the stage and welcome gate were underway at the beach.
Inside the hotel rooms, the bride and groom were getting ready while traditional wedding music played outside. The groom’s procession had arrived for this unique wedding. At this moment, an event manager recorded and shared visuals of the wedding setup on social media.
Following this, police and municipal enforcement officers arrived at the scene and dismantled all wedding arrangements at the beach. District Collector Siddharth Shankar Swain stated that no permission is granted for weddings, rituals, or personal social events at public beaches. However, questions arose about how the Puri Municipality had granted written permission despite this policy.
Municipal officer Abhimanyu Behera clarified that permission can be given for social and cultural events within municipal areas upon payment of the required fee. However, a dispute regarding the event management company handling the setup for this wedding led to the major incident.
Last year, two weddings had taken place at Sipasarubali and Chakratirtha beaches, organized by beachfront hotel owners. Despite complaints, the district administration and municipal authorities had not taken any action at that time. As a result, demands have been raised for the administration to issue a written ban on future beach weddings to prevent such incidents.
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