Marriage ceremonies help Indian poor

8,000 couples, including 878 tribal couples from the Koya and Konda Reddy tribes, were wed under a Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanam (TTD) sponsored program. Churches and temples were the venues for the mass marriages. Many of the weddings were performed at four halls in the temple town of Bhadrachalam, India, a Hindu site for pilgrimages. The State government sponsored `mangala sutras’ for the Hindu couples and rings for their Christian counterparts. A feast was arranged with government funds for the couples and their relatives after the marriage ceremonies were concluded.