Delhi wedding bands overbooked as celebrations planned for Jan 22 ceremony

Traditional wedding bands in Delhi are gearing up for a busy day on January 22 with hundreds of celebratory events planned at temples across the city to celebrate the Ram temple consecration ceremony in Ayodhya.

According to industry experts, more than 1,500 such events will take place in markets and temples, and the wedding bands have been booked to perform devotional songs and bhajans during these programmes to enhance the devotional and festive fervour.

The celebrations have coincided with the beginning of the wedding season in Delhi, which means the bands receiving multiple booking requests, much more than they handle in a regular season. Yet they are trying their best to accommodate them all.

"This year has witnessed a substantial increase in the demand for dhol, and band, baaja due to 'Ram Barats' being taken out. We will start our day at 4 am. Both small and large bands are preparing," said Satya Anil Thadani, who owns Jea Band.

He said they have divided band members into smaller teams to handle the requests for January 21 and 22.

"This year has seen a 50-60 per cent rise in the demand for wedding bands," he said.

The Ram temple 'Pran Pratishtha' ceremony will be performed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday.

Band members who usually perform wedding songs are now preparing to play devotional songs in praise of Lord Ram.

"We are fully booked due to the significant event. We are practising special songs for the day. Performers are preparing to play the popular bhajan 'Ram Aayenge to Angana Sajaungi', and special dhol beats during the aarti," Thandani said.

The members of the band will wear special saffron-coloured uniforms on that day.

A dhol wallah, who will perform at a temple, said they will be playing instruments at the time of aarti and are also preparing a special bhajan-kirtan playlist.

Similarly, the Madan Band Baaja group is preparing to play religious songs in praise of Lord Ram and Lord Hanuman.

Brijesh Goyal, the chairman of the Chamber of Trade and Industry (CTI), said over 1,500 events will take place across Delhi, including temples, societies, markets, and communities, in run-up to and on the day of the consecration ceremony.

"There has been a surge in demand for music groups and people who perform 'Sundar Kand' and Dharmik Paath due to the wedding season and 'Pran Pratishtha'," he added.

Ajay Prakash Sharma, the owner of a wedding band, said musical groups are facing a shortage of shortage of players due to the clash of dates.

"We are adding more people to the group as the location of events are also far from each other. We have made teams of six, 10, and 15 people," he added.

Naushad, a member of the Chauhan Band, said they are booked for weddings and multiple events on January 21 and 22. "During the same time last year, we got bookings for just one or two weddings. But this year's Ayodhya ceremony has brought a lot of work to us," he added.

The Sadar Bazaar Traders' Association is one of those that has booked a wedding band to play for them on January 22.

Rakesh Kumar Yadav, the president of the Federation of Sadar Bazar Traders Association, said they are eagerly waiting for the day.

"We aim to create the best atmosphere in the market, where the streets will be filled with sounds of devotional songs and bhajans. We have booked a band for the day. We aim to celebrate the joy, ensuring we don't miss out on anything," he added.