Ash to marry tree first

Those keenly anticipating the wedding of Bollywood heartthrobs Aishwarya Rai and Abhishek Bachchan hold on for a while. If reports were to be believed, then Aishwarya is right now getting ready to marry a ‘tree’. This, of course, would just be a ceremonial one — leading up to her wedding with Abhishek.

A day after the Bachchan family and Aishwarya left for Mumbai after performing pujas at Vishwanath Temple and Sankat Mochan Temple on Monday, the temple town is abuzz with talks of the ceremonial ‘Kumbh Vivah’.

A renowned Vedic Brahmin requesting anonymity said: “Aishwarya will have to marry either a peepal or banana tree or with an idol of Lord Vishnu (of gold or silver), in case she is manglik.” ‘Kumbh Vivah’ is performed for manglik girls to ward off ill effects.

“Since there are reports that Aishwarya is manglik, priests will certainly advice performing of ‘Kumbh Vivah’ before the actual marriage,” said Sridhar Pandey, a priest who took part in the puja for the Bachchan family and Aishwarya at the Sankat Mochan Temple.

Astrologer Chandrasghekar Swami of Bangalore said that: “Abhishekh and Aishwarya were in the holy town (Varanasi) at my suggestion. I had advised both the families to perform this corrective puja at an ancient Shiva temple.”

Swami is the first astrologer to say that Aishwarya is manglik. Ajitabh Bachchan, brother of Amitabh had air-dashed to Bangalore early this year to meet Swami at the behest of Aishwarya’s father Krishnaraja Rai with the horoscopes of the two actors. Ajitabh also accompanied the Bachchan family and Aishwarya to Vishwanath Temple.

With the trip to the holy town, the Bachchans have sent out a message across that Aishwarya was now part of their family.

Email Prabhu Razdan: prabhu.razdan@hindustantimes.com