A total of 3,600 couples got married en masse in western India on Wednesday, organisers said, in a ceremony designed to raise awareness about poor farmers hit by debt and crop failures. Some 2,433 Hindu couples, 150 Muslims, 749 Buddhists, 15 Christians and 253 tribal people tied the knot in an open-air ceremony in the town of Amravati, about 150 kilometres (95 miles) from the city of Nagpur in Maharashtra state.
Mass wedding ceremonies are relatively common in India - although not on such a scale - with couples in poor, rural areas taking their vows with others to cut down on costs. Local lawmaker Ravi Rana, who was one of the grooms and the chief organiser, told the Indian Express newspaper on Tuesday: "I come from a region that is known for farmers' suicide. I myself come from a very poor background. The Press Trust of India news agency said that about 1,000 couples were from farming backgrounds, with about half having parents who had committed suicide.