PM Modi Seeks Blessings of Jyotirmath and Dwarka Peeth Shankaracharyas at Anant Ambani-Radhika Merchant Wedding

Prime Minister Narendra Modi sought the blessings of Jyotirmath and Dwarka Peeth Shankaracharyas when he met them at the ‘Shubh Ashirwad’ ceremony of Anant Ambani and Radhika Merchant at the Jio World Convention Centre in Mumbai on Saturday.

Videos posted on social media showed Shankaracharya of Dwarka Peeth Swami Sadananda Saraswati and Shankaracharya of Jyotirmath Swami Avimukteshwaranand giving a mala and a saffron stole to the Prime Minister.

Back in January this year, the four Shankaracharyas had skipped the consecration ceremony of the new Ram Temple in Ayodhya objecting to the ceremony being conducted before the construction of the temple was completed, calling it “against the shastras”.

At the ceremony, PM Modi blessed the newly-wed couple Anant Ambani and Radhika Merchant who touched his feet to seek his blessings.

PM Modi was received at the venue by Reliance Industries Chairman Mukesh Ambani and his wife Nita Ambani and was escorted into the venue where hosts of celebrities, film stars, cricketers, business tycoons, and politicians had assembled.

The wedding on Friday culminated months of pre-wedding events in India and abroad. The attendees included Bollywood icons Amitabh Bachchan, Shah Rukh Khan, Salman Khan, and Ranbir Kapoor; cricketers Sachin Tendulkar, Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Jasprit Bumrah, Hardik Pandya, and Suryakumar Yadav.

Former British prime ministers Tony Blair and Boris Johnson and Saudi Aramco CEO Amin H Nasser were also on the guest list.

Politicians who attended the wedding included Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, his deputies Devendra Fadnavis and Ajit Pawar, RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadav, Samajwadi Party President Akhilesh Yadav, his wife Dimple and Shiv Sena (UBT) head Uddhav Thackeray. Maharashtra Governor Ramesh Bais also attended the reception.

FIFA President Gianni Infantino, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu and his deputy Pawan Kalyan, too, were in attendance. NCP (SP) supremo Sharad Pawar and Congress leader Kamal Nath were also among the attendees at the event.

The groom, Anant, 29, oversees the oil-to-telecom conglomerate Reliance Industries Ltd’s renewable and green energy expansion while the bride, Radhika Merchant, also 29, is the daughter of pharmaceutical tycoon Viren Merchant and is the marketing director for his company, Encore Healthcare.