FEASTS OFF THE MENU: Hit by drought and crop failures, Haragi residents have collectively decided to put an end to lavish post-wedding feasts
All 350-plus households in the village gathered at the Anjaneya temple and passed the resolution. To curb competitive spending and ensure compliance, the community decided to impose a Rs 1 lakh fine on anyone hosting a lavish post-wedding feast and a Rs 50,000 fine on guests attending such unauthorised events. Realising the damage this was causing, all 350 to 360 households in our village — representing every community, including the few OBC and Dalit families — gathered near the Anjaneya temple on Monday and unanimously decided to put a complete stop to this unnecessary waste of money,” he stated. Under our new understanding, immediate family members and close relatives — around 10 to 20 people — can still gather for simple, traditional meals,” he said.
People from neighbouring villages have been reaching out to praise our initiative, and we actively urge them to adopt the same financial discipline in their own communities so that no family is driven into poverty for the sake of a single feast,” he explained.
“They host it as a status symbol, and it serves as an effective way to maintain community cohesion and make inspiring collective decisions,” community leader Nagaraj told TOI. Shivamogga: Residents of Haragi village in Shikaripura taluk have unanimously resolved to ban expensive post-wedding non-vegetarian feasts, locally called ‘Beegara Oota’, amid severe drought , crop distress and growing financial burden. Under the new guidelines, families have been encouraged to keep wedding rituals simple and limit celebrations to immediate family members and close relatives. Customary religious rituals can continue, but inviting the entire village for expensive feasts, which had forced families into severe debt, has been prohibited. “We are not trying to abandon our cultural traditions or religious rituals; rather, we are cutting down the massive, unsustainable expenditure attached to big celebrations. “However, extending invitations to the entire village for lavish, high-cost non-vegetarian banquets is now strictly prohibited. The response to our decision has been overwhelmingly positive.