MP pundit in Bachchan wedding

Bhopal, Apr 20 (UNI) A 'pundit' from Jabalpur, Madhya Pradesh, will be among the 11 'pundits' performing the wedding rituals of Bollywood stars Abhishek Bachchan and Aishwarya Rai in Mumbai tonight.

Bengali rituals would be a part of the elaborate wedding at megastar Amitabh Bachchan's palatial bungalow 'Prateeksha', according to Pundit Vasudev Shastri of Jabalpur.

Pundit Shastri, who was already in Mumbai, told UNI over telephone that the 'barat (wedding procession)' would leave Amitabh's bungalow 'Jalsa' this evening for his former residence 'Prateeksha', where all the marriage rituals would be held.

Probably, the nuptial knot would be tied at 2300 in the presence of a select gathering of close friends and relatives.

Bengali and Gujarati speaking pundits have been invited for performing rituals. Hymns from all the four Vedas would be recited, he said.

Pundit Shastri claimed that he came in contact with the Bachchan family after Amitabh Bachchan suffered a crucial injury during the shooting of 'Coolie' in 1983.

Abhishek's maternal grandmother Indira Bhaduri, a resident of Bhopal, is already in Mumbai to attend the lavish wedding.

She and her husband late Tarun Coomar Bhaduri, a veteran journalist, had hosted a reception at a local hotel in 1973 after the wedding of their daughter Jaya Bhaduri with Amitabh Bachchan.

UNI