Increasing Trust of Parents over Matrimonial Sites India

There are dozens of matrimonial sites created every year in India. There are a number of matrimonial sites that claim to select the best life partner for you. These sites have been able to fully integrate into the countryside where 90% of Indian marriages are arranged by the family, which usually leaves little room for the individual to find their life partner on their own. Most of the times the requirements for suitable life partner on matrimonial websites are posted by the parents. This mindset however needs to be changed, as the choice of the individual matters nowadays.

It is a very common trend that a lot of couples meet through the internet, and after finding suitable compatibility, they decide to get married, and make sure that their parents approve. This then becomes an 'arranged marriage', and thus a way to cope up with the family and social pressure is found. These days, families also prefer searching the bride or groom for their child over Internet due to hassle-free services offered by these matrimonial sites India

With these sites, a person can make his choice according to his/her specific criteria, which often include religion, skin color, caste or even horoscopes. In Indian context, a person needs to marry within his/her social environment, which is a way of reinterpreting the tradition. Normally, a vast majority of Indians consider marriage as an alliance between two families.

Although, while searching the life partner on the matrimonial websites, one needs to be very cautious as there are a number of fake profiles. However, if you are enrolled with a paid service of any of the matrimonial sites India, the chances of fraudulence are very much reduced. It is up to the individual to check the background of the individual while finalizing any relationship.

Author: Rashmi Karan

Wedding Traditions in the Progressing Jatav Community

Marriages in India are still fixed by the parents who find a suitable life partner for their child. The considerable points to fix a wedding are caste, sub-caste, job, education, property, geographical origin, skin color, and family background. To find a suitable match, the matrimonial ads keep a big importance. The ads help to find the best matches as per the requirements and the keyword used to search the bridegroom

Generally, the date and time of the ceremony are set after consultation with the pundits and horoscopes. But all the young people do not accept this situation. The youngsters in all the communities, even in Jatav matrimony, have become progressive and are approaching for inter-caste or love marriage. Education and the influence of the west have led to creation of a contemporary society, which is good in itself.

However, if the parents approve the alliance, the wedding is performed with all enthusiasm, and all the rituals are followed as followed by the ancestors. Celebrations in the Jatav Matrimonial are generally based on the Hindu rituals, some changes may be observed based on the state where the bride and groom belong to. Many of the Jatavs have adopted the Buddhism, learnt their ideologies, and are following the preaching of Lord Buddha.

No matter which preaching one follows, the spirit with which the marriages in India are celebrated is the most important. The wedding ceremonies in Jatav matrimony are performed with all the precision and sacredness. Time has changed and now the most important task is to change the mindset of the people. Many people still consider Jatav as untouchables, as they are the sub-tribes of Chamars, who are involved in the leatherwork since ages. However, the awareness has increased and the youngsters are employed, which has thus led to decreasing poverty.

Author: Rashmi Karan

Inter Caste Wedding in India

The Hindu religion in India has various castes and sub-castes. There is social stratification and the communities are divided into higher castes and lower castes. To a person from another country, especially from the Europe or American continent, this demarcation will be a very strange one. The entire concept of high and low creates a superiority complex in certain communities. The Brahmin matrimony occupies the highest position in the social ladder. This is what I learnt being a non-Indian.

There are also low castes communities in India belonging to the Shudras. This community is further divided in various sub-groups and one such group commonly found in India is the Chamar caste. The Chamar caste is engaged in the profession of leather manufacturing and exports. When I attended the Jatav Matrimonial function to document the different forms of marriage taking place in India, I came to know some more of the Chamar community and the Jatav population in particular.

The Jatav people are one of the largest tribal populations in India. They are known by various names like Jatia or Jatba in the state of Jammu. The community members are settled in various parts of India, and have large concentration of Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Delhi, Punjab, Eastern Rajasthan and North-West Madhya Pradesh. The community members also reside in the neighboring country of Nepal. Since they belong to the lowest strata in the Hindu social order, they are part of the Scheduled Castes in India. They are also known as Dalits.

Jatav Matrimonial functions and rituals vary from state to state. They mostly follow the Hindu matrimonial customs. The members of this community speak mostly Hindi and the dialect of the place. The wedding alliances earlier were within the community as there was social stigmatization and restriction. This trend is slowly changing as I found after attending this wedding. The groom is from the Jatav community whereas the bride belongs to higher caste Hindu. This is a heartening trend, which I hope catches with other Indians as well

Author: Shipra Sinha

Hindu Wedding Card

Wedding or Marriage invitation is an important part of matrimony preparations. Writing the wedding invitation is a difficult thing to do. In India, the wedding invitation depends on the religion and community. The Hindu wedding card differs from a Christian wedding card. In addition, the Hindu wedding card from northern India has different style of writing than that of Hindu wedding for the southern community.

The Hindu wedding invitation for the North India has the wordings written in English and Hindi. The typical marriage invitation card also have picture of Hindu gods and goddesses. The wedding cards also has Hindu ‘shlokas’ printed on them. The shlokas are usually in Sanskrit, the ancient language of India. In the Indian marriage cards, these are printed in Devnagri script. 

Wedding cards are usually uses red or yellow shades of paper. Red and yellow are considered auspicious in Indian communities. The cards also use a combination of single or mixed shades. Popular wedding cards also uses other decorative items like small photos of gods and goddess, symbols of Marriage affixed or extra leaflet giving the map of the wedding venue.

The cards also include the name of the name of parents and other members of the family. The wordings of the car begin with blessings from the almighty. Given below is a typical sample of Indian Hindu wedding card. 

Shri Ganeshaaya Namah

Mr. Prem  Kishen Verma and Mrs. Varsha Verma
request the honor of your esteemed presence on the auspicious occasion of the wedding function of their only  daughter

Anushka

to

Dev

son of Dhayan Chand Sharma  and Ranu Sharma

on Friday 2^nd March, 2012
at 6:00 pm

Barat leaves at 6:00 pm

                                 Please come with your family.

Gujarati matrimony

My dear friend recently was engaged to a girl from Gujarat. There were many huddles to this relationship, as my friend did not belong to a business class. He is from Orissa and hails from a simple middle class family. Whereas the girl’s family belongs to rich mercantile class of Gujarat and has many factories. Gujarati community is mostly into trade and business activities. Most of the people from the state are business class. The Gujarati families prefer matrimonial alliances from mercantile background.

The girl’s family was objecting to this alliance, as they were concerned how the boy and his family will adjust to a Gujarati girl with a business background. The spending habits of the girl, being from a rich household is definitely more and concerns about his lifestyle post marriage made them against the relationship. 

Another important concern of the girl’s family was the difference in religious and cultural views. Though both of them are Hindus, there are many differences in wedding rituals of the two communities. Gujarati matrimony rituals are different from the wedding customs of Orissa. 

The boy, my friend, to get consent from girl’s family found a job in Ahmedabad. He is working as a manager in a reputed government bank. He was previously posted in Delhi and recently shifted to Ahmedabad. There are many types of Ahmedabad jobs apart from bank jobs. 

He started working in the city and imbibed the culture of the state. He learnt the language and impressed the girl’s parents with his respect for all things Gujarati. He convinced the girl’s parents that he is the best suitor for their daughter. However, at first, the parents were not ready for this matrimonial alliance, but after a lot of thinking, they changed their mind. 

The grand engagement party of my friend was organized in distinctive Gujarati style. The Gujarati Matrimony function is to be held after consulting the family astrologer.