Bad omens take the shine off Indian demand for gold

New Delhi - A celestial bar on Hindu weddings this year had dulled the traditional hunger for gold jewellery as couples fearing divine wrath have suspended their nuptials, shop owners and temple priests said yesterday.

Priests, who pronounce Hindu matrimonial dates, have warned couples that the planet Jupiter will wreck marriages solemnised this year.

The Hindu wedding season runs from May to mid-December, with the bulk of nuptials taking place once the monsoons are over in September, but peaking in November.

Lakshmi Narain Shastri, head priest of the Birla temple in Delhi, said: "The alignment between ... the sun, moon and Jupiter are not right. The sun signifies social relationships, the moon health and Jupiter is the star of prosperity."

The strong warnings have affected the incomes of jewellers.

Mukul Sonawala, owner of Vaman Pethi & Sons Jewellery in Bombay, the hub of India's bullion market, said: "At the moment there is a lull. We are hoping that the overall demand for gold jewellery will pick up because of a good monsoon, which will spur rural incomes."

Gold is regarded as security by many Indians, who are either too conservative or inexperienced to use the stock market or other forms of savings.

In rural India practically all farmers' savings are translated into gold or land holdings.

India's demand for gold is strongly linked to marriage. Giving and receiving gold is a marriage ritual in most families.

The demand for the gold usually rises during the wedding season, with more than half the estimated $6.25 billion spent on weddings each year being used to buy it, usually as ornaments for brides.

India is the world's largest consumer of gold, with about 855 tons bought in 2001.

According to bullion market estimates Indians own nearly 35 000 tons of gold - about a third of the total gold circulating in the world.

For centuries gold has been equated with money, savings, riches and status in India, and family heirlooms alone may account for more than half of the country's holdings.