Amidst the ongoing armed confrontation between Russia and Ukraine that has been going on for more than five months, a young couple from Russia and Ukraine got married as per the Hindu rituals in Himachal Pradesh. Sergei Novikov, a Russian expatriate who used to live in Ukraine married his girlfriend Elona Bramoka in Dharamshala, Himachal Pradesh at Divya Ashram Kharota. The wedding took place according to the rituals of the Sanatana Dharma.
The wedding was attended by locals who conducted all the customs and danced to Himachali folk music to make the newlyweds feel “at home”. The visitors were provided with a Kangri Dham arrangement. Despite the ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine, Novikov and Bramoka chose to get married this year after dating for two years, choosing Dharamshala as their wedding location.
According to a report by News18, Pandit Sandeep Sharma of Divya Ashram Kharota said, “The two had been living in Dharamkot, close to Dharamshala for the past year. Our pandit Raman Sharma solemnized their marriage and told them about the importance of marriage as per the traditions of the Sanatan Dharma.”
A local resident Vinod Sharma and his family performed the wedding rituals including Bramoka’s ‘kanyadan’. Additionally, foreign visitors who reside in Dharamkot participated in the wedding, taking part in the various rituals. The couple was dressed in traditional Indian wedding attire, and while they listened attentively to the hymns being chanted, Pandit Raman Sharma translated the meaning of each mantra for both.
This is not the first instance in which a love story has surfaced out of the war-hit neighboring countries Russia and Ukraine. In fact, this couple has joined the wave of marriage proposals and weddings that have recently occurred in Ukraine. Even an Indian youth from Kerala, who fled war-torn Ukraine, fell in love with a Romanian girl while waiting in Romania before he was evacuated.
