A wedding that is planned by the bride and groom's parents, but it is becoming more usual for the potential pair to meet beforehand to see whether they are suitable.
Despite the fact that this practice seems odd by American standards, proponents of arranged weddings believe they are better and endure longer than love marriages.
- Arranged marriages are thought to allow parents to maintain a more objective and reasonable viewpoint.
- They will often select partners from comparable social and economic backgrounds, often from the same jati or caste (social grouping).
- Parents consult with Astrologers who may look for hints in their children's horoscopes and attempt to connect compatible individuals with similar characteristics.
- All of this should be done with great care and with the knowledge that their children's long-term wellbeing is their top concern.
Because marriage is the cornerstone of family life, and the family is the foundation of society, it is generally regarded as the most significant event in a person's life.
- Whether the bride will give or get a dowry, and if so, how much, is a part of the marriage discussions between the two parties.
- When it comes to arranged weddings, one of the expectations is that men and women would follow pretty conventional roles.
- This provides the pair a sense of what to anticipate and what is expected of them, but it may also be limiting for those who don't want to play such roles.
- The new bride, at least in northern India, bears the brunt of the changes, since she will become a member of her husband's family.
Arranged weddings are still quite common among contemporary Hindu households, and many young people would never consider arranging their own.
- One practical factor that contributes to the popularity of arranged weddings is that it may be difficult for young people to meet and form connections that could lead to love marriages.
- India's society is still highly divided on the basis of gender.
- In rural and small towns, social contact between unrelated unmarried men and women is relatively rare, but this trend is changing in bigger cities as more women work outside the house.
- The college or university is the most common location for women and men to mingle in both settings, although even there, women and men prefer to socialize in groups rather than as individuals.
You may also want to read more about Hinduism here.
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