Marriages, it is said, are made in heaven but for two inmatesof the 225-year-old Institute of Mental Health (IMH), Chennai, the divine power willed that their wedding take place on the premises of Asia's oldest and largest mental hospital here.

The couple -- Mahendran and Deepa -- who underwent treatment at IMH about two years ago, fell in love, and decided to tie the knot on the institute premises in the presence of doctors, nurses and other staff and family members on Friday. Their wedding was solemnised by Tamil Nadu Health Minister Ma Subramanian.

"This is one marriage that is on a different level, and the first such one in my life. The IMH director and staff conducted the ceremony with the presence of a priest, as if its their own family wedding," Subramanian said lauding the medical professionals.

Apart from the eye-catching array of gifts that are known in Tamil as 'seer varisai', what took the couple by pleasant surprise on the occasion was separate letters handed over to them by the minister appointing them as ward managers at IMH on a monthly salary of Rs 15,000 each.

Chennai groom Mahendran, 42, was treated for bipolar disorder while the bride from Vellore underwent treatment for stress following her father's death. It was love at first sight for Mahendran and when he proposed to Deepa, 36, she sought time to respond.

"I could not reply immediately and so sought time. And when I said 'yes' he was excited," Deepa said.

"He always wanted to work for the betterment of the inmates here and I would join him in the yeoman service," she added.

Initially, there were whispers around the corridors of IMH that a pair of inmates turned up late to their wards. "But it was later found that Mahendran and Deepa were in love with each other and when they expressed their intent, we decided to get them married," says Dr Poorna Chandrika P, Director & Head of Department of Psychiatry, IMH. The entire team at the hospital worked together in arranging the wedding at the temple on the hospital's premises, she added.

After rehabilitation, Mahendran was working at the hospital's daycare centre while Deepa worked at Cafe R'vive, a cafe run by the IMH inmates as part of an initiative to ensure livelihood for the recovering mental health patients. Both were shifted to a ward in the "Half Way Home" on the hospital's campus, a few months ago. This home accommodates people who have recovered.

The hospital authorities agreed to the marriage after much consideration. "Though the man and the woman are already living a near normal life, we should make sure the illness does not recur," a doctor said.

The IMH at Kilpauk has a capacity to accommodate 1,800 in-patients, in 21 wards including those for de-addiction, mentally ill, intensive psychiatric care and geriatric ward.

Those admitted here mostly suffer from severe mental illness like schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, alcohol and drug dependence and traumatic brain injury.

On an average, about 500 people visit the out-patient block. The IMH had played a crucial role since the pandemic broke out, especially in providing counselling to the people and coordinated with the counsellors across Tamil Nadu in helping the people overcome their apprehensions over coronavirus.