The kalyana mantapa
Sri Vijayalakshmi Kalyana Mantapa, Melukote
A hall within the kshetra for weddings, upanayanas and the ceremonies a family holds once in a lifetime — a short walk from the sanctum, with the temple's own priests conducting and the temple's own kitchen cooking.
The hall is not only for weddings
The mantapa is let for the other functions a family holds, and the temple's own priests conduct the sacred rituals for those too.
- Seemantha — the baby shower
- Namakarana — the naming ceremony
- Chowla — the first tonsure
- Upanayana — the thread ceremony
- Shashtipoorthi — the sixtieth birthday
- Birthdays and other family occasions
Whatever is not named here can still be asked for — telephone and say what the function is.
The hall
What the trust provides
The hall is let a whole day at a time, and everything the day needs comes from the temple. There is never a second function waiting for yours to finish, and never a vendor to chase.
100+
Seated in the hall
80
Separate dining hall, in one sitting
6 months
How far ahead you can book
The hall for the whole day
Yours from dawn until the evening meal is cleared. Weddings are booked a day at a time — there is never a second function waiting for you to finish.
A dining hall of its own
A separate dining hall, away from the ceremony, seating 80 at a sitting. The mandapa is never cleared and re-laid to feed people.
Catering, decoration, sound and photography
All of it the temple's own — the kitchen, the flowers, the mandapa dressing, the lighting, the public-address system and the photography of the day. Outside caterers, decorators and photographers are not admitted; there is nothing for you to arrange or co-ordinate.
The temple's priests conduct it
The kshetra's own priests perform the sacred rituals for the ceremony, in the tradition kept here — the samskaras are among the sthanacharya house's own duties, and it has performed a great many of them. This is how weddings are conducted at the mantapa, and an outside purohita cannot be brought in.
Destination weddings
Families who live away from Melukote are welcome, and the trust arranges the wedding end to end for them. Tell the office where you are travelling from and how many are coming, and they will take it from there.
Pre-wedding photography
The temple arranges pre-wedding shoots in the kshetra's own grounds. Telephone +91 94480 42853 for what is possible, and what a shoot involves.
The mantapa
See it for yourself
The hall, and weddings held in it. Select any photograph to see it full size.
Tell us about the wedding
Fields marked * are required. We telephone back within two working days, and we will tell you then whether the day you have in mind is free.
Or simply telephone
Wedding bookings
+91 94480 428538:00 AM – 6:30 PM, all days
The same number for pre-wedding shoots and for families travelling in from outside the state.
Come and see it
#3, Raja Street, Opposite Sri Cheluvanarayana Swamy Temple, Sri Kshetra Melukote, Mandya District, Karnataka 571431Get directions →
How a booking happens
Tell us about the wedding
Send the form on this page, or telephone the office. Give us the date you have in mind — or say that the muhurta is not fixed — and roughly how many people are coming.
We call you back
Someone from the office rings within two working days to say whether the day is free, and to talk through the arrangements and what the trust asks by way of an offering.
Come and see it
You are very welcome to visit the mantapa and the dining hall before deciding anything. Telephone first and someone will show you round.
The date is yours
Once you confirm and the office enters it in the register, the day is held for you. Nothing before that point reserves a date.
What the trust asks
- Everything for the wedding — the food, the decoration, the sound, the photography and the priests — is provided by the temple. Outside caterers, decorators and purohitas are not permitted on the premises.
- The hall is inside a temple precinct. Non-vegetarian food and alcohol are not permitted anywhere on it.
- There are no rooms at the mantapa. The office can help you find somewhere nearby to stay — please ask when you telephone, and ask early.
- Amplified music stops at 10:00 PM, out of consideration for the households around the kshetra.
- Vehicles park at the lower lot. The lane up to the hall stays clear for the elderly and for anyone who needs help walking.
Questions families ask
If yours is not here, telephone the office and ask — nothing about a wedding is settled from a website, and no question is too small to put to someone. +91 94480 42853
- How many people does the hall take?
- The mantapa seats 100+ for the ceremony, and the dining hall seats 80 at a sitting — so a larger party eats in two. Tell the office your number when you call and they will say plainly whether the hall suits you.
- Can we bring our own caterers or decorators?
- No. The catering, the decoration, the sound and the photography are all provided by the temple, and no outside vendor is admitted. The office will go through the menu and the decoration with you when they call — there is nothing for you to arrange yourself.
- Can our family purohita conduct the wedding?
- The ceremony's sacred rituals are conducted by the kshetra itself. Conducting the samskaras is one of the sthanacharya house's hereditary duties: Sthanikam Nagaraja Ayyangar saw some twenty thousand marriages performed in his lifetime, and Guruji has conducted more than a thousand. Your purohita and your elders are of course welcome to be present and to take part, but the wedding itself is performed by the temple's priests.
- Are there rooms for us to stay in?
- Not at the mantapa — the trust has no rooms to let. Somewhere to stay can usually be arranged nearby, so please speak to the office about it, and do it early rather than in the last week.
- We live outside Karnataka. Can we still hold the wedding here?
- Yes, and it is a good part of what the mantapa is for. The trust makes the arrangements for families travelling in, so you are not trying to organise a wedding from another state. Telephone the office and tell them where you are coming from.
- Can we do a pre-wedding photo shoot?
- Yes — the temple arranges shoots in the kshetra's grounds. Telephone +91 94480 42853 and ask; what is possible depends on the day and on what else the temple has on.
- Can we hold an upanayana or a naming ceremony here?
- Yes. The hall is let for any samskara, not only weddings. Smaller ceremonies use the same hall and the same booking.
- How far ahead can we book?
- Up to six months. Families fixing a muhurta further out are welcome to telephone the office — we will note it down all the same.
- What does it cost?
- The trust asks for an offering rather than a fixed tariff, and it varies with the day and the arrangements. The office will tell you plainly when you call. Everything received goes to the gurukulam and the annadana.
- What if we have to cancel?
- Tell the office as early as you can and the day goes back to another family. Please do not simply not arrive — a held date helps nobody.