Anant Ambani, Radhika Merchant pre-wedding: Why Jamnagar was chosen as venue

The pre-wedding bash of Anant Ambani and Radhika Merchant is set to begin in grand style at Gujarat’s Jamnagar.

A slew of high-profile celebrities including Bollywood celebrities, cricketers, sports stars, heads of states and business tycoons from India and across the world have descended on the township and many more are expected.

Anant, the youngest son of Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) CEO Mukesh Ambani, serves as a director on the boards of RIL and Jio Platforms Ltd.

Radhika is the youngest daughter of Encore Healthcare CEO Viren Merchant.

Anant and Radhika, who got engaged in January 2023, will tie the knot in July.

But why was Jamnagar in Saurashtra chosen as the venue for the pre-wedding festivities?

Let’s take a closer look:

The Ambani family has a deep and meaningful connection to Jamnagar.

According to Times Now, not only is Jamnagar the place where Anant’s grandmother Kokilaben Ambani was born, but it is also where Dhirubhai Ambani founded Reliance Industries.

“I have grown up here, and it’s my good fortune that we could plan the celebration here,” Anant was quoted as saying by The Times of India.

“My father often says that this (Jamnagar) is my grandfather, the late Dhirubhai Ambani’s in-laws place. And that is why we chose to host our pre-wedding celebrations here. I believe I belong to Jamnagar.”

But that isn’t the only reason.

Anant also revealed he was inspired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s call for couples to ‘Wed in India.’

“Our PM, Shri Narendra Modi, had said that people should get married in India; it should be a matter of great pride and happiness for us,” Anant said.

Modi in a Mann Ki Baat address in November urged Indians to look closer to home when it comes to destination weddings.

“…Since the topic of marriage has come up, one thing has been troubling me for a long time. These days, a new milieu is being created by some families to go abroad and conduct weddings. Is this necessary at all?” Modi wondered.

India Today quoted Modi as saying that his heart was pained to witness “some families going abroad and conducting weddings."

“If we celebrate the festivities of marriages on Indian soil, amid the people of India, the country’s money will remain in the country,” Modi added.

It seems the prime minister’s call has resonated with Anant and the Ambani family.

Nita Ambani too in a video explained the decision to choose Jamnagar.

“When it came to my youngest son’s Anant’s wedding with Radhika I had two important wishes. First, I wanted to celebrate our roots. Jamnagar holds a very special place in our hearts and has a profound significance. Gujarat is where we come from. It’s where Mukesh and his father built the refinery. And I started my career by converting this arid and desert-like area into a lush green township and a vibrant community.”

Anant also recently announced an ambitious wildlife preservation project within Reliance’s Jamnagar Refinery Complex.

Known as Vantara, meaning ‘star of the forest’, the project will be the world’s largest zoo and rehabilitation center.

“I have been taking care of animals ever since my childhood days because my parents told me that those who help the voiceless animals get immensely blessed in return… Even in our Hindu religion, it is said that Shri Ram helped and took care of Jatayu. Shri Ram also took care of a small squirrel and it too blessed him in return,” Anant was quoted as saying by The Times of India.

While several top celebrities and business leaders have already arrived at Jamnagar, some are expected to be here in the coming days, sources aware of the matter said.

Those who have already arrived for the high-profile event included Zuckerberg, former US president Donald Trump’s daughter Ivanka, badminton champion Saina Nehwal, cricketers Rashid Khan and Suryakumar Yadav, former cricketer Zaheer Khan and Bollywood superstars Shah Rukh Khan, Salman Khan and Ranbir Kapoor, among others.

Popstar Rihanna has also landed at Jamnagar and she is expected to perform at the event, said the sources.

Microsoft founder Bill Gates, who is already in Gujarat, is expected to reach Jamnagar by Friday evening.

It was also learnt that world renowned illusionist David Blaine and top Indian artists such as Arijit Singh, Ajay-Atul and Diljit Dosanjh would enthral the audience during the three-day-long festivities.

Prime Minister of Qatar Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani, King and Queen of Bhutan, former President of Bolivia Jorge Quiroga, ex-PM of Australia Kevin Rudd, former Prime Minister of Canada Stephen Harper and ex-Prime Minister of Sweden Carl Bildt are also expected to attend the grand function.

Some of the top business leaders who are in the ‘guest list’ include chairperson of Saudi Aramco Yasir Al Rumayyan, Chairman & CEO of BlackRock Larry Fink, CEO of Adobe Shantanu Narayen, Meta COO Javier Olivan, Chairperson of World Economic Forum Klaus Schwab and Group Chairman of HSBC Holdings Mark Tucker.

Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai, CEO of The Walt Disney Bob Iger and Chairman of Bank of America Brian Thomas Moynihan are also part of the long list of guests.

The ‘who’s who’ from India who have been invited for the event include corporate leaders Gautam Adani, Nandan Nilekani, Sanjiv Goenka, Rishad Premji, Uday Kotak and Adar Poonawala, well-known film personalities Amitabh Bachchan, Rajinikanth, Aamir Khan, Karan Johar, Anil Kapoor, Madhuri Dikshit, cricketers Sachin Tendulkar, MS Dhoni, Rohit Sharma and spiritual leader Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev, among others.

With inputs from agencies

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