Wedding of fatherless brides by diamond merchant

A diamond trader from Surat, Gujarat held a mass wedding for more than 200 fatherless brides and gave each of them gifts worth lakhs, to help poor women start a new life. Mahesh Savani performed the Hindu wedding ritual of kanyadaan — the practice of giving away one’s daughter in marriage — for 236 fatherless brides from poor families at a mega-wedding event in Gujarat on Christmas. Hundreds of brides in colourful ethnic attire and ornate jewellery performed their wedding rituals in front of thousands of guests in the city of Surat, a hub for the diamond polishing industry. Savani, who believes that giving away brides is a blessing from God, has been organising similar mass weddings every year since 2012.