Rs 150 crore jewellery, Rs 17 crore saree, choppers for guests and…, India’s most expensive wedding was hosted by…, not Mukesh Ambani and Nita Ambani
On November 6, 2016, India witnessed a wedding so extravagant that it felt like a scene straight out of a grand movie. But this wasn’t the wedding of a Bollywood superstar or one of India’s richest tycoons. It was the wedding of Brahmani Reddy, daughter of former Karnataka minister Janardhan Reddy, to Rajeev Reddy, son of Hyderabad businessman Vikram Dev Reddy. What made this wedding unforgettable was the sheer scale and opulence. Over 50,000 guests attended the five-day celebration, making it one of the biggest wedding gatherings the country has ever seen. From political heavyweights to industrialists and celebrities, almost everyone showed up.
To accommodate everyone, 1,500 rooms were booked across five-star and three-star hotels in Hyderabad and Bengaluru. 2,000 cabs were on standby to shuttle guests, and for the VVIPs, 15 helicopters were arranged.
And then came the most talked-about part: the bride’s outfit. Brahmani wore a Kanjeevaram saree woven with real gold threads, specially crafted by famous designer Neeta Lulla. The saree alone was worth Rs. 17 crore. She paired it with diamond and gold jewellery valued at around Rs. 150 crore — including necklaces, maangtikka, waistbands, bangles, and elaborate hair accessories. Just the diamonds she wore were worth Rs. 25 crore.
Altogether, the wedding reportedly cost over Rs. 500 crore — a number so huge that, as one report put it, it could feed the entire population of Delhi for a full meal.
On the wedding day, 50 makeup artists were specially flown in from Mumbai to work on the bride and other guests. The makeup bill alone reportedly crossed Rs. 30 lakh.
Even the wedding invitation had a wow factor — it wasn’t just a card; it came with an LCD screen that played a video. The ceremony took place at Bengaluru’s Palace Grounds, and the entire wedding set, from the stage to the mandap, was designed by top Bollywood art directors.
This wasn’t just a wedding, it was a spectacle. One that made headlines not just in India but around the world, and still remains a benchmark for lavish Indian weddings. While Anant Ambani, son of Mukesh Ambani, and Radhika Merchant’s wedding is often regarded as the most expensive in India, with estimated costs reaching around USD 600 million, there are no official records to confirm this figure.
Janardhan Reddy’s glittering yet controversial legacy
Janardhan Reddy, once a minister in the Karnataka government and a prominent mining baron, isn’t new to the spotlight — though not always for the right reasons. After being elected from the Gangavathi Assembly constituency, he rose to a ministerial post. But along with political power came controversy. His name was dragged into the infamous Bellary mining scam, where he was accused of illegal iron ore mining.
In June 2023, a Bengaluru court took serious action against him ordering the seizure of 82 immovable properties linked to him as part of the probe into the scandal.
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