Saptapadi, the spectacular wedding carnival, was inaugurated here today The carnival happening for the second time in Kolkata is the biggest of its kind in eastern India. This four-day long carnival at the Netaji Indoor Stadium will end on March 2, 2009.
There has been a major growth in the Indian wedding industry in recent years spurred mainly by the desire of a growing number of people to make a style statement. The Indian wedding industry is Rs 1,250 billion big and is growing at 25-30% annually. Kolkata is the second biggest market for the wedding industry next only to North India.
Kolkata attracts a large number of shoppers planning to host weddings in their families from North Bengal, neighbouring states of Bihar, Jharkhand and Orissa, the seven north-eastern states and neighbouring countries like Bangladesh. For such shoppers, Kolkata is the closest market that offers the widest range of options in wedding merchandise. The wedding centric Saptapadi carnival coincides with the forthcoming wedding season. For the shoppers the attraction will be the rich variety of offerings under one roof.
At Saptapadi, wedding centric goods and services are converged on a single platform. The carnival attracted more than 30, 000 visitors last year and this time with over 70 participants from India and abroad, it is expected to attract more visitors. The result will be more business for the participants.
The carnival will showcase offerings in terms of outfits, trousseaus for brides and grooms, jewellery, cosmetics, bridal make-up, cosmetic surgery, slimming techniques and packages, variety of food menus, furniture, home appliances, honeymoon packages, etc. Along with local favorites like Senco Gold, B. Sircar Johuree, Binod Behari Dutta, Guinea Emporium, etc there are some big industry players participating in the various categories. Some important participants are Bangladesh’s famous Pyara Jamdaani sarees, Golecha Jewellers from Jaipur, famous for designing jewellery for the leading actresses in Bollywood, Mangal Gems from Jaipur with their largest collection of gems in the country and Gitanjali.
Besides, there will be Hindustan Unilever Ltd with their leading brands Lakme and Ponds, bridal make-up workshops by well known beauty therapist Keya Seth, counseling on cosmetic surgery by renowned practitioners from Calcutta Medical and Research Institute, analysis about sliming therapies by experts from VLCC and recommendation about choosing the best food menus for weddings by Kolkata’s famous confectioners Nalin Chandra Das.
To make the event exciting and motivate purchases, attractive prizes like gift vouchers from Ananda sarees, Tanishq and Titan will be on offer in lucky draws on all the four days.
