Breaking away from tradition, God Agni (god of fire) along with God Varun (god of water) on Monday stood as joint witnesses as 28-year-old Chandan and 25-year-old Dipti tied the nuptial knot, 12 feet under water amidst chanting of mantras.
The bride, dressed in a pink chania choli, sans the traditional ghungat, stepped into the water in the midst of loud cheering by the bemused relatives and the cacophony of mediapersons, who jostled with each other to capture the rare wedding on camera for posterity.
The wedding, conducted inside a pool of a marine centre here, had the setting of a traditional Maharashtrian marriage, including the ashta pooja, kalash pooja, the Saat Pheras and even the Kanyadaan.
The Kanyadaan was performed by the bride's father.
The couple, who had been subjected to over a month of gruelling practice including scuba diving, treadmill, aerobics and weightlifting, spent 30 minutes under water to break an earlier record of ten minutes set by a Thai couple who had tied nuptial knot under water a few years ago.
The couple had earlier been engaged midair and Ravindra Kulkarni, a marine commando, from a family of priests, performed the rituals.
{{/usCountry}}The couple had earlier been engaged midair and Ravindra Kulkarni, a marine commando, from a family of priests, performed the rituals.
{{/usCountry}}The entire wedding was witnessed by ten persons under water and 300 persons above water.