Tommy weds Jelly: Dogs married off in lavish wedding ceremony in UP’s Aligarh

Lucknow, January 17

This wedding had all the essentials like ‘Band, Baja, Baraat’, lavish food cooked in ‘desi ghee’ and guests dancing to filmy songs, but the bride and groom who took the ‘pheras’ were dogs named Tommy and Jelly.

The marriage was held on the auspicious day of Makar Sankranti (January 14) for which all the arrangements were made at Sukhrawali village of Aligarh district, where a tent was erected for the ceremony.

Devesh Chaudhary said that the idea was mooted by his nephew who has eight months old Tommy, a male dog.

“Jelly is a female dog whose owner is my father-in-law Dr Ram Prakash Singh, a resident of Tikri Raipur in Atrauli area of Aligarh. When we gave him the idea of marriage, he readily accepted it,” Devesh Chaudhary told PTI.

Chaudhary’s uncle Dinesh Chaudhary, who is Tommy’s owner and former head of Sukhrawali, made all the arrangements.

A guests’ list was prepared and pandit was called to perform the marriage.

The ‘baraat’ (marriage procession) of Tommy, with a garland around his neck, was taken out in the village with ‘dhol’ playing and people dancing to its beats, Devesh Chaudhary said.

During the marriage, the pandit performed all the rituals with ‘mantras’, and ‘saat pheras’ (seven rounds of fire) was also done, he said.

“For guests, dishes prepared in ‘desi ghee’ included two vegetables, halwa, raita and puri. We spent about Rs 1 lakh on the function,” Devesh Chaudhary said.

The food was also served to stray dogs in nearby areas.

“We arranged several e-rickshaws on which the food was kept and went to nearby areas and fed stray dogs,” he said.

Those attended the marriage also appeared very enthusiastic as it was peculiar and they participated in all the rituals held in a real marriage.

“With this marriage, we also tried to give a message against animal cruelty. The marriage might appear symbolic but our purpose to give the message was served,” Devesh Chaudhary said.