Last week, Anant Ambani tied the knot with his childhood sweetheart and pharmaceutical heiress, Radhika Merchant, daughter of Viren and Shaila Merchant. Their lavish wedding ceremony attracted a plethora of celebrities, politicians, renowned film stars, and top cricketers from around the world. Mukesh Ambani, Chairman and Managing Director of Reliance Industries Limited, blessed the couple during his speech, wishing them “sukh (happiness), swasthya (health), samriddhi (prosperity), and safalta (success)” in their journey ahead.
Mukesh Ambani shed light on the profound significance of a traditional Hindu marriage, highlighting it as a pivotal sanskaar that intertwines an individual with society, duty, and spirituality. He said in his speech, “Our most valued family, friends and guests. Especially our friends from around the world who have come from a long distance. Good evening. We have with us as our special guests today our spiritual and religious leaders. They have come specially to bless Anant and Radhika. Aap sab ko mera saadhar Pranam. To all
our guests today, on behalf of Neeta and me I have to say that the bharat took over
and we could not welcome you as we would have liked to from our heart. So, my
apologies. We wanted to welcome each and every one of you and I take this
opportunity that Neeta, I along with Shaila and Viren welcome each and every one of you with a warm heart.”
He continued, “In the indian tradition, marriage is between two individuals whereas a wedding is between two families and all their friends and near
and dear ones. Therefore, we are profoundly grateful to all of you for sharing our joy and excitement at the auspicious wedding of Shubh Vivah Sanskar of Anant and
Radhika. This is the final and the most auspicious ceremony of their divine union and the last wedding in our family. Neeta has worked very hard to curate a deeply
immersive experience of India’s rich culture and a spirit of a traditional indian wedding over the next two days. Participate wholeheartedly in the festivities and enjoy them to your heart’s content. I am sure all of us together will make memories that will last forever.”
Mukesh Ambani added, “I must say that we have started well. I was overjoyed to see
many of you dance rapturously in the Barat ceremony as a part of the groom’s procession. And only I thought that I could dance with my granddaughter. But Boris beat me to it. He had two daughters with him and he did a great job. Boris. So that
truly was a hurricane, wasn’t it? Now the calm has descended. It’s time for the sanctified rituals of a traditional hindu marriage. In the presence of all our loved onesand well wishers like you on this long awaited occasion I invoke with utmost devotion the blessings of our kul devata, our gram devata and ishta devata and all the elders of the Ambani and the Merchant families. The first to bless Anant and Radhika will be
their doting grandparents. Those who are with us today and those who are in heaven today. I pray to the almighty that Radhika and Anant be so blessed that their life
together is filled with Sukh, Swasthya, Samridhi and Safalta. Happiness, health,
prosperity and success. I also pray for the good health and the limitless happiness and the boundless success for each and every one present here and your blessings for Anant and Radhika on this auspicious day.”
“Together with all of you we invoke Panch tattva, the five foundational elements of mother nature that nurture all life on planet earth so that they offer strength and sustenance to the couple. Sanatan
Dharma mein Vivah ko jeevan ka sabse mahatvapoorna sanskar mante hai. Anant kaal se, vivah vyakti ko samaj se, dharam se aur adhyatma se jodta hai. When marriage is performed according to the Sanatan vidhi it acquires the divinity of celestial unions. Just as
Lakshmi resides in Vishnu’s heart, Anant will always keep Radhika in his heart. This will make their married life beautiful, blissful, smooth and cultured. The Vedas regard marriage as a duty towards humanity. Marriage is the basis of a family. Family is a
basis of community and community is the basis of society and the larger human family. Marriage thus becomes the most essential guarantor of the continuity, cohesion and well being and progress of the human race. Therefore, the matrimony of Anant and Radhika commits them to serve humanity as a whole. Friends, guests,
ladies and gentlemen. The air is filled with a spiritual aroma. Gods and goddesses have
descended from heaven into this Vaikund lok. All of you have settled and now with
your blessings and good wishes let us begin the most pious ceremony of Shubh
Vivah. Thank you, Jaishikrishna,” he concluded.
Anant Ambani, 29, on Friday got married to pharmaceutical heiress and childhood sweetheart Radhika Merchant, 29, daughter of Viren and Shaila Merchant, at a star-studded event attended by celebrities from across the globe, politicians, who’s who of Hindi and south Indian cinema world and almost all the top cricketers in the country. The ceremony was held at Mumbai’s Jio World Drive — a convention centre built and owned by the Ambani family.
Reality TV star Kim Kardashian and her sister Khloe, Nigerian rapper Rema, former UK Prime Minister Tony Blair, and global business tycoons ranging from oil giant Saudi Aramco CEO Amin Nasser to Samsung Electronics chairman Jay Lee and drug major GSK plc chief executive Emma Walmsley were in attendance at the event that has been dubbed as the ‘wedding of the year’.
Almost the entire top rung bollywood actors — from Amitabh Bachchan, Shah Rukh Khan and Salman Khan to Ajay Devgn, Ranbir Kapoor, Alia Bhatt, Tiger Shroff and Varun Dhawan — were present, most with their families, while superstars Rajinikanth, Ram Charan and Mahesh Babu led the entourage from down south.
