BANGALORE: Weddings are indeed a gala affair. Needless to say, it takes a considerable amount of time to assess venues for the D-day. Prospective couples end up exploring dozens of banquet halls, choultries and resorts to seek out the perfect place to tie the nuptial knot. However, in the garden city, wedding choultries have always occupied a special place in every Bangalorean’s heart. As part of the community hall series, City Express takes a look at some of issues like inadequate parking facilities, lack of fire safety measures and exorbitant rates with choultries in Bangalore. Located on Bannerghatta Road, the Chandrodaya, Suryodaya and Arunodaya Convention Centres were built in 1995 by Dr Prem Chandra Sagar. With ample parking space, the centers have earned quite a reputation for excellence in maintenance as well as security in the city. “Our housekeeping staff comprises ten members. We ensure that cleanliness is maintained at all the centers on a regular basis. As far as security is concerned, we have ten guards in all working on a shift basis. We are also well equipped with fire safety measures here; and power backup generator with 24 hours water supply,” said Mohan, assistant manager of the Sagar Group.Owing to the location of the halls, organising events like exhibitions, music recitals, etc on a large scale may be cumbersome. “Despite the increasing popularity of resorts, lavish hotels and exotic locations, 75 per cent of the Bangaloreans prefer holding their weddings at choultries. And, in terms of revenue generation, we have had a pretty decent year. We charge around `250,000 (for 2 days) for Chandrodaya and Rs 150,000 (for 2 days) for the twin halls — Suryodaya and Arunodaya,” he further added. However, the narrow roads in front of these halls induce complete road blocks during weddings. Also, lack of BBMP community halls in the area prove to be an inconvenience to the general public who cannot afford such exorbitant rates. Said Shyamala A, “After various reports on deaths due to dowry, it is sad to see that the government is not intervening on issues such as expensive choultries. While other communities have their own safety nets in the form of choultries in the Hindu marriage system; the groom’s family demand choultry of a certain price to play the status game.” If the BBMP community halls are adequate, then these choultries will suffer business. Established in 1946 by a board of trustees, Gullistan Shaadi Mahal on Infantry Road comes under the direct management of Karnataka State Board of Wakfs. “We charge Rs 51,000 per day. Last month we held 28 functions here. Well, the number keeps fluctuating. We have four security guards looking after the hall every day. And, our house keeping staff ensures that the place is well maintained. We are looking forward to renovate this hall soon and hopefully all issues will be sorted out by then. We organise weddings only and do not encourage music recitals as noise pollution is a major concern,” said Abdul Saleem, manager. Lack of parking space and inadequate fire safety measures are some of the major issues observed at the Mahal.Run by the police department, Mangala Kalyana Mantapa in Koramangala 7th block, is both spacious and centrally located. Maintaining the highest levels of hygiene and security, the Mantapa is open to both weddings as well as socio-cultural events. Primarily meant for the police department officials; the hall can also be utilised by the local community at all times. “Though employees have to shell out the charges for service tax, etc; we charge a nominal fee for outsiders. We mainly have NGOs and other charitable agencies organising events here. However, 95 per cent of the time, employees use the hall for various functions. Housekeeping and security is also well looked after. We pay the trade license tax, luxury and service taxes, etc to the BBMP on a regular basis,” said K A Dharmappa, Officer in-charge.
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