The Phenomenon of Arranged Weddings in India - By: Sudha2 Chandran2

The concept of an arranged wedding in India is quite popular among all the religions in the country. This is especially so in the case of the Hindu community that forms a religious majority in this populous country. This religion espouses the involvement of the family in all the major decisions that affect the life of the individual members in a family unit. The Hindu religion also gives much importance to the collective wisdom of a community to deal with significant events in a person’s life. Arranged marriage is quite popular because it fits in with the philosophy of involving the family in all the major decisions that one has to take in life.

The system of an arranged wedding is very effective in resolving the discord that may crop up in the married life of young couples. The Hindu family system has a custom of letting the elders sit together with the couples and resolve minor issues through dialogue and a bit of advice and experience sharing by the senior members of the family.

Many people in India still go in for the concept of an arranged wedding because they believe that the marriage is not only the union of a man and a woman, but that it represents the bonds that the family of the man and woman forge with the sanctity and rituals that are mandatory in a wedding. This belief system is reflected in the rituals that are associated with the Hindu weddings. The uncles of the boy and the girl have a prominent role to play in the wedding customs along with the parents of the bride and groom. The grandparents form the bedrock of the pre nuptial ceremonies and their blessings are secured before the couple proceeds with the actual marriage rituals.

There are some people in India who are against the arranged marriage system. They believe that this form of wedding does not give much scope for interaction between the couples before the wedding and that this may lead to incompatibility issues after the wedding is over. They believe that the best form of marriage is when the boy and girl meet in an informal setting and get to know each other better for a couple of months before going in for a wedding.

Companies running the matrimony websites in India have managed to successfully address the concerns of people who are interested in an arranged wedding and those who want to get to know their partner better before agreeing to the marriage proposal. These websites let the friends or parents of the boy or girl upload the profile and interact first before the couple meet up for a final round of discussions before agreeing to the proposal. On the other hand, couples who are interested in getting to know each other better can interact using the website as the medium and agree to the proposal for matrimony once they are satisfied with the interactions that they have had with their future partner.

The concept of an arranged wedding in India is quite popular among all the religions in the country. This is especially so in the case of the Hindu community that forms a religious majority in this populous country. This religion espouses the involvement of the family in all the major decisions that affect the life of the individual members in a family unit. The Hindu religion also gives much importance to the collective wisdom of a community to deal with significant events in a person’s life. Arranged marriage is quite popular because it fits in with the philosophy of involving the family in all the major decisions that one has to take in life.

Sudha Chandran is author of this article on hindu.
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