पुणे · वैदिक विवाह संस्कार

फेरे पढ़े नहीं जाते।
गाए जाते हैं। The pheras are not recited. They are sung.

Hemant Acharya is a priest and a singer. He sings each mantra, stops to explain what the vow you are about to take actually means — and when the rituals are done, he picks up a guitar.

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2015In Pune since

संस्कृत · हिन्दीSung, then explained

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What makes this ceremony different

Every mantra is sung

Not hurried through under the breath. The pheras are sung as devotional compositions, so the mandap actually falls quiet to listen.

Every vow is explained

Between the verses he stops and says, in plain words, what you are promising — companionship, shared duty, mutual respect.

And it ends with a guitar

When the rituals are complete, the guitar comes out. Families rarely see it coming, and it is the part they talk about afterwards.

The ceremony

A wedding your grandmother approves of and your friends stay awake for.

Hemant Acharya singing a mantra into a microphone while a bride and groom stand hand in hand at a garden mandap

The vow, sung — a garden mandap ceremony

The mantras carry a tune

Most families have sat through a wedding where the Sanskrit went past too fast to catch. That is the thing Hemant Acharya set out to fix.

He trained as a singer before he trained as a priest, and he brings that to the mandap. Each shloka is given a melody and sung properly — held, phrased, and pitched so it carries to the last row of chairs. The ritual stays exactly as the scriptures set it down. What changes is that people can hear it.

A bride and groom seated at the sacred fire during the pheras, offering into the agni

Saptapadi at the agni

And then he tells you what it meant

Between verses he pauses and translates — not word for word, but plainly. What companionship is being promised here. What duty the two of you are agreeing to share. What respect is being asked of both, not one.

Couples describe it as the first time they understood their own wedding. Elders tend to notice something else: nothing has been shortened, skipped or modernised away to make room for it.

Read all seven vows

Hemant Acharya at golden hour with a guitar on his lap and a harmonium beside him, one hand raised mid-phrase as he sings

Guitar in his lap, harmonium at his side

The last thing anyone expects

The rituals finish. The priest reaches behind him, picks up a guitar, and sings — often an Arijit Singh number, in a deep voice that has been warming up all evening without anyone realising.

A tabla joins. Then keys. The mandap turns, for a few minutes, into a concert. It is the moment guests film, and the reason a Hemant Acharya wedding gets described afterwards rather than merely attended.

सप्तपदी · The seven steps

Seven vows. Seven promises. Most couples have never been told what they are.

These are the words that actually marry you. Here are the first three, as he sings and explains them at the fire.

01 प्रथम

ॐ इषे एकपदी भव

Take the first step with me, for nourishment. We will keep a home where no one — child, parent or guest — goes without. The vow is about provision, and it is asked of both of you.
02 द्वितीय

ॐ ऊर्जे द्विपदी भव

The second, for strength. Not only the body's — the strength to hold each other steady through the years that will test the two of you.
03 तृतीय

ॐ रायस्पोषाय त्रिपदी भव

The third, for prosperity. That what we build, we build together and by honest means — and that neither of us keeps a separate account of it.

All seven vows, with meanings

The ensemble

He does not arrive alone.

A trained group of young pandits comes with him — seated on microphones, chanting in unison from the same books, in white kurtas and rose-and-gold angavastram. A mandap with a choir in it sounds nothing like a mandap with one man muttering in it.

A row of young pandits in white kurtas and rose-gold angavastram chanting into microphones at a garden mandap

Pandits chanting from ritual books into microphones at an evening ceremony lit by strings of lights

Hemant Acharya with his full group of young pandits, all in white kurtas and rose-gold stoles

Hemant Acharya with his arms around a bride and groom under a white floral mandap, microphone still in hand

The road here

He auditioned for Indian Idol. He ended up at the mandap instead.

The man conducting your wedding did not come to this work in a straight line. He grew up in Uttar Pradesh, trained his voice, and auditioned for Indian Idol long before he ever led a ceremony. He arrived in Pune in 2015 carrying that voice and not much else.

What he did with it was unusual: rather than choosing between the temple and the stage, he refused to. The training that would have made him a singer is the same training that now makes the Saptapadi audible to a hundred and fifty people sitting on a lawn.

Uttar Pradesh

Where he grew up.

Before Pune

Auditions for Indian Idol as a singer.

2015

Moves to Pune.

Today

Conducts ceremonies across Pune and beyond, with a trained ensemble of pandits.

The Indian Express · Pune

“My father told me I would grow in life only if I controlled my anger.”

Hemant Acharya, profiled by Neha Rathod · 15 March 2026 · Read the full piece →

The full story

Ceremonies

Every sanskar, conducted properly — and sung.

Weddings

The full vivah sanskar with sung pheras, explained vows, the pandit ensemble and the guitar finale.

Saptapadi
Varmala
Kanyadaan
Vidaai

Destination weddings

He travels with his ensemble — resort lawns, palace courtyards, beach mandaps. Sound needs are planned in advance so the singing carries.

Pan-India
Ensemble travels
Sound planned

Griha Pravesh & Vastu Shanti

Moving into a new home. The puja is done in full, with the significance of each step explained to the family as it happens.

Vastu Shanti
Navagraha
Havan

Satyanarayan Katha

The katha narrated rather than raced through, with the bhajans actually sung — the form the ritual was meant to take.

Katha
Bhajan
Prasad vidhi

Naamkaran, Mundan & Annaprashan

The ceremonies that mark a child's first years, conducted warmly and at a pace grandparents and toddlers can both keep up with.

Naamkaran
Mundan
Annaprashan

Bhoomi Pujan & corporate

Ground-breaking, office openings and Vastu ceremonies for businesses — run to time, and explained in language a mixed audience follows.

Bhoomi Pujan
Office opening
Vastu

Bhajan sandhya & kirtan

Book him purely as a singer. An evening of bhajans and kirtan with live tabla and keys — for a sangeet, a jagran, or a home gathering.

Bhajan
Kirtan
Sangeet night

Sangeetmay Vivah

The complete musical wedding: ceremony, ensemble and live band as one booking, from the varmala through to the last song of the night.

Live band
Tabla & keys
Full evening

What each ceremony includes

From the mandap

Watch a few minutes of it.

Varmala, and the band

The garlands are exchanged on the mandap while he plays behind it, tabla and keys alongside.

Pradakshina

The circling of the fire — sung through, with the meaning given as it happens.

Your name

Phone

Which ceremony

Date

City or venue

Anything he should know

This opens WhatsApp with your details filled in. Nothing is sent until you press send there.

Common questions

Will the ceremony still be traditional?

Yes. Nothing is cut, shortened or replaced. The vidhi follows the shastras as written — the difference is only that the mantras are sung rather than muttered, and their meanings are said aloud. Elders are usually the ones who appreciate it most.

Does he travel outside Pune?

Yes, across India for destination weddings, with his ensemble. Travel and stay for the group are worked out when you book. Tell him the venue early so the sound setup can be planned — the singing only works if it carries.

How far ahead should we book?

As early as you have a date. Peak muhurat dates in the wedding season fill up months in advance, and the ensemble can only be at one mandap at a time.

Can he conduct the ceremony in our family's tradition?

Tell him your family's customs when you enquire — regional variations, kul devta rituals, the order your family follows. He plans the ceremony around your traditions, not a standard script.

Can we book him only to sing?

Yes. Bhajan sandhya, kirtan and sangeet-night performances are available as a separate booking, with live tabla and keys.