Couple marries underwater in Neelankarai to spread awareness on ocean pollution

The marriage took place at around 60 feet underwater in Neelankarai on Monday.

"I am a certified scuba diver. But, we noticed a lot of plastic waste, particularly masks, on the seabed.

I decided to get married underwater so that people would understand that we should not pollute any natural resource," said the software engineer based out of Chennai. However, it was his wife's first time in the ocean. "I didn't know how to dive, and I was initially very scared at the idea. But we took lessons for three days, and I overcame my fear. I'm happy at how things turned out," said Shwetha, who also works as a software engineer.

After finishing the initial rituals on the shore, the couple hopped aboard a boat, to a spot 4.5 km off the coast along Neelankarai, to dive and complete the thaali ceremony and exchanged garlands.

A woman in Thanjavur surprised her sister during her wedding reception by presenting a silicon statue of their late father. Moved by this, the bride broke out in tears after looking at her dad's statue on the stage.

The father, Selvam, a businessman from Thangavel Nagar near Pattukkottai in Thanjavur district, died in 2012. As Prabha has been upset about her father's demise, her sister, Bhuvaneswari (37), planned to make his statue.