With 277 ceremonies conducted in 2017, the Guruvayoor Sree Krishna Temple in Thrissur has the unique distinction of having recorded the most marriages in a single day. However, the temple accomplished the extraordinary achievement of having a wedding on January 17, 2024, in which Prime Minister Narendra Modi conducted the proceedings and carried out the “Kanyadaan” (bride giving away).
The bridegroom was Sreyas Mohan, and the bride, Bhagya Suresh, was the daughter of Malayalam celebrity and former BJP MP Suresh Gopi. Wearing a white dhoti and shawl in the Keralan manner, PM Modi gave the newlyweds the flower garlands at 8:45 a.m. In front of the temple, in a Mandapam, they exchanged garlands. Following the customary ritual, which was seen by the crème de la crème of the Malayalam film industry, including Suresh Gopi, Mammootty, Mohanlal, Dileep, Jayaram, Khushboo, and Biju Menon, the PM blessed the couple who touched his feet.
Bhagya wore an orange silk saree for the wedding, opting for a sophisticated but understated style despite the grandeur.
Before the wedding on Monday, Suresh Gopi and his family made a donation to the Our Lady of Lourdes Metropolitan Cathedral in Thrissur: five sovereign golden crowns.
The Prime Minister began his day with prayers at the temple before bestowing blessings upon the newlyweds. At the temple, he took part in a “Thulabharam” (scales weigh-in), where he weighed himself against a commodity—lotus buds—that matched his weight. Among the seventy-seven couples who were married at the shrine on Wednesday, Jesus also blessed four more pairs.
A wedding celebration was held in Kochi’s Gokulam Convention Center after the temple ceremony, and a number of dignitaries attended.
The BJP’s nominee for the Thrissur Lok Sabha seat is anticipated to be actor and national award winner Suresh Gopi, who was previously a nominee for the Rajya Sabha. With an outstanding performance in 2019, he stunned the two opposing coalitions, headed by the Congress and the Communist Party of India (Marxist), respectively, by giving the BJP 17.05% more votes than in 2014 and finishing just behind the Left nominee.
Sreyas, a businessman residing in Thiruvananthapuram, is a native of Mavelikkara and the son of S Mohankumar and K Sreedevi.
Suresh Gopi and Radhika’s second daughter, Bhagya Suresh, is a graduate of British Columbia University’s UBC Sauder School. On June 7, 1992, the couple’s first child, Lakshmi, died as a result of an accident when she was just 1.5 years old. The couple claims that even though they had four children, including Bhagya, Lakshmi will always have a special place in their hearts.
Gokul is the older brother of Bhagya, who has two younger siblings: a younger sister named Bhavini and a younger brother named Madhav, who goes by the same name as his father’s character in the 1993 movie “Ekalavyan.”
Returning to the subject of marriage numbers, the temple officials even entertained the idea of capping the total at 200 every day. Later on, however, it was decided to establish two more “Mandapams” in addition to the three permanent ones. A maximum of twenty people might be involved in any one marriage. The weddings ended at around 11 p.m., having started at 5 a.m.