Indian Diamond tycoon pays for the wedding of 236 fatherless brides

Local television channel TV9 Gujarat filmed the wedding from a helicopter which showed the enormous wedding setup with hundreds of brides in colourful saris and ornate jewellery.

Indian brides sit for a group photo before a mass wedding hosted by a diamond trader in Surat, India, Sunday. Source: AP/ Ajit Solanki

An Indian diamond tycoon, Mahesh Savani hosted a mass wedding for 236 fatherless brides in India on Sunday.

He also performed the ritual of Kanyadaan as a foster father to the brides from poor backgrounds and showered each of them with gifts worth thousands.

Mr Savani, who is a diamond trader based in Surat city in Gujarat, said performing ‘kanyadaan’ which is the act of giving away the bride was a blessing from God.

Source: TV9 Gujarat

It is not the first time he has done it.

Mr Savani began the event after one of his employees passed away just days before his daughter’s wedding. 

In 2015 Mr Savani sponsored 151 brides whose fathers had also died and in 2014 he had organised 111 weddings. 

On Sunday, he said: 'With Sunday's mass wedding, I have become a proud father to have performed the kanyadaan of over 700 girls.'

Local television channel TV9 Gujarat filmed the wedding from a helicopter which showed the enormous wedding setup with hundreds of brides in colourful saris and ornate jewellery.

Source: AFP

Mr Savani gifted each of his foster daughters, some gold, sofas and beds worth 500,000 rupees.

His own two sons also got married at the same ceremony, making a total of 238 brides. 

While majority of the brides got married by hindu rituals, five of the brides were from the Muslim community and one was a Christian.