It was the marriage of Tanka Lamsal, resident of Chinedanda, Pokhara-18. After riding the elephant for almost two hours, Lamsal stopped outside the gate of Kedareshwar temple at Lakeside and said, “I always wished to ride an elephant during my marriage. The wish has been fulfilled.”
The elephant was brought from Chitwan on Friday after Lamsal´s parents agreed to fulfill his strange wish. “It took the elephant nearly two hours to travel a distance of 10 kilometers,” said Lamsal. Lamsal added that he rode the elephant to start his marital life auspiciously, “as Hindus worship Lord Ganesh (the elephant god) to ensure success in every venture.”
Lamsal, who has been running a restaurant in Germany for the past ten years, had invited a dozen German friends to his marriage. Lamsal returned home from Germany for his marriage a month ago. He said he would take his bride, Anu Kafle of Syangja, home on the elephant. Lamsal paid Rs 100,000 to hire the elephant, Champakali, for a day.
“This was his wish since his childhood days,” said Ram Prasad Lamsal, the groom´s elder brother. He added that the family hired the elephant just to fulfill the groom´s wish. He further said the family will be spending Rs 1.2 million during the marriage.
There were over 400 people in the marriage procession. Upon being told that his son-in-law arrived on an elephant, Rishiram Kafle, the bride´s father said, “My daughter is lucky. Not everyone is as lucky!”
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