A Shahjahanpur businessman organised a mass wedding for 101 financially disadvantaged couples. The interfaith ceremony combined practical support with a call for inclusive social service.
The initiative was organised by namkeen businessman Vinay Agarwal, who said that growing up without a sister had inspired him to help women from financially struggling families get married.. (AI generated image)
Shahjahanpur,Oct 26, 2026 16:35 IST
A businessman who grew up without a sister helped 101 couples from financially disadvantaged families get married at a mass wedding ceremony in Uttar Pradesh's Shahjahanpur, bringing Hindu and Muslim families together, news agency Press Trust of India reported.
At the ceremony held at Khirni Bagh on Sunday, 93 Hindu couples married according to Vedic rituals, while religious clerics conducted the nikah for eight Muslim couples. The brides were prepared for the event at beauty parlours, and the couples arrived at the venue in 101 cars.
For 24-year-old Muskan's family, the ceremony made it possible to hold her wedding without taking on debt. Her brother Shahid told PTI that their father drives a rickshaw and their mother sells paan and supari. The family struggles to arrange even two meals a day, making it difficult to borrow money for the wedding.
“In such circumstances, our sister's wedding is being celebrated with great pomp at this ceremony. It is by the grace of Allah,” Shahid said.
Pooja, a woman with a disability from Jamuka village, and her groom Ramniwas also married at the ceremony. Both have disabilities affecting their legs, and neither owns agricultural land nor has a stable source of income.
The initiative was organised by namkeen businessman Vinay Agarwal, who said that growing up without a sister had inspired him to help women from financially struggling families get married. Agarwal told PTI that he began helping at weddings in 2018, initially attending ceremonies without an invitation to offer assistance.
On the advice of his mother, Saroj Agarwal, he later organised the initiative more formally. In 2023, he arranged weddings for 11 women, followed by 21 the next year and 51 thereafter. This year, the number rose to 101. He said the initiative would continue and the number of brides would not decline.
Agarwal said his aim was not limited to organising the wedding rituals but also included helping the couples set up their homes. Each newly married couple received a television, refrigerator, washing machine, bed, cupboard and other items for daily use. His wife Shweta, brother Kunal, sister-in-law Neha and mother Saroj helped organise the ceremony and its rituals.
He said the event is held around Ram Navami to mark the birth anniversary of his late father, Ashok Agarwal. Around 200 applications were received this year, and 101 brides were selected after a three-stage verification process. Applications from women marrying for a second time and those from financially well-off families were rejected, he said.
Agarwal said he did not accept financial contributions from others for the initiative. When people offered help, he asked them to organise weddings for women in need themselves and said he would assist them if required.
Shahjahanpur-based doctor and social worker Satya Prakash Mishra said it was a matter of pride for the city that 101 couples had benefited from the initiative. He said social service should be carried out without discrimination based on caste, religion or financial status, and urged others to help people in need.
The ceremony enabled 101 Hindu and Muslim couples from financially struggling families to begin their married lives, with Agarwal and his family arranging the rituals and providing essential household items.
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