Actor Kajal Aggarwal married her partner, businessman Gautam Kitchlu, in an intimate ceremony on Friday. While Kajal’s family is Punjabi and Gautam’s is Kashmiri, the couple had a Telugu element in their wedding, as a “tribute” to their relationship with south India. The couple put jeelakarra bellam (cumin and jaggery) on each other’s heads, a wedding ritual followed by many Telugu Hindu communities.
“In our Punjabi meets Kashmiri wedding, we just had to include #Jeelakarrabellam జీలకర్రాబెల్లం - a tribute to both Gautam and my individual relationships with South India!” Kajal wrote, while sharing a few beautiful photos from the wedding ceremony.
Explaining the significance of the ritual, the actor wrote, “In a Telugu wedding, Jeelakarra Bellam signifies the union/marriage of the bride and the groom. Jeelakarra (cumin) and bellam (jaggery) are made into a thick paste and put on a tamalapaku (betel leaf). The bride and the groom put it on each other’s head while the purohit chants mantras from the Vedas. The bride and the groom look at each other only after this ceremony is completed and this auspicious ceremony signifies that the couple will stay together in bitter and sweet times.”
Kajal has acted in Telugu, Tamil as well as Hindi films. However, she has a huge fan base among Telugu audiences who have been excited about her wedding since she announced the news last month.
Kajal wore a red and pink lehenga filled with embroidery of different colours, designed by Anamika Khanna, for her wedding. Gautam was dressed in a light pink sherwani designed by Anita Dongre.
Sharing another image where she is seen kissing Gautam’s hand as he smiles, Kajal called him her “confidante, companion, best friend and soulmate”.
“So glad I found all of this and my home in you,” she wrote.
In another image, the couple is seen posing in front of a palatial staircase, displaying the opulence of their wedding outfits. Speaking about the challenges of planning the wedding amid the pandemic, Kajal wrote that COVID-19 protocols were strictly followed, and that all the guests were tested and isolated.