The Roots of Arranged Marriages in India

Overview:
Arranged marriages are an integral part of the Indian society and culture. Irrespective of the
many notions that revolve around arranged marriages and the negative aspects of the same,
majority of the Indian culture continues to follow the patterns of arranged marriage and find bliss
in the same as arranged marriages have been deeply rooted in the rich and glorious heritage of
India from the Vedic times of learned philosophers and significant spiritual personalities.
Background:
Traditionally arranged marriages are a part and parcel of India since time immemorial and
continue in similar patterns to account for a gigantic majority of wed locks in the Indian
subcontinent even today. Although the types of arranged marriages may differ from region to
region and community to community across the country, the methodologies and processes
involved in an arranged marriage are collectively similar in all cases (Ingoldsby, 2002).
The ideology is usually initiated when it is acknowledged that an individual
has come of age and should be tied in matrimony. Usually in terms of
females it is during her graduation period or soon after, while for males, the
idea of marriage is put forth once he is stable with a decent job that provides
a consistent income for him to provide for another. It is most common in
India that the initiation is struck over a random question of marriage by
relatives or in some cases when the boy or girl himself/herself shows an
interest in the same. A member of the family, most likely the one who struck

conversation about the marriage is then the one who takes complete
responsibility in seeking a suitable alliance. If the boy/girl seeking alliance
has already someone in mind for the same, then the mediator responsibly
carries out the steps required for the match making between the two. If the
boy/girl does not have anyone in mind already but expresses an interest in a
matrimonial arrangement then the mediator starts the process of seeking
suitable candidates for the same. Apart from a relative or a family member
there is usually a proper matchmaker who has a social reputation of carrying
out such procedures and maintaining secrecy with regard to the same and
also known as the reason for many successful arranged marriages. In The
relative/sponsor usually gets hold of a matchmaker and hands over a
photograph along with the horoscope of the child. In many parts of India
such as the Northern ends and even in Pakistan specific professions are
connected to matchmaking of individuals such as the local barbers or teashop boys. If the family cannot however reach out to potential matchmakers
then newspapers or online assistance such as matrimonial websites are used
to seek suitable alliances and to do the required match making (Ingoldsby,
2002).
The usual criterias based on which the match making is done are, Religion
most arranged marriages take place keeping similar religions in account;
caste & culture so that both individuals maybe have grounds of similarity
as ancestry and the caste system still play a vital role in Indian culture;
horoscope as numerology and the position of stars are tools used since the

Vedic times to predict the success rate of a marriage, profession and status
mostly in connection to male prospects and physical appearances mostly in
links with female prospects. If each of these aspects is in synchronization
then a potential match is identified by the matchmaker and a date is
mutually agreed upon between the families so that the individuals to be wed
can exchange conversations (Myers, Madathil &Tingle, 2005). This event or
practice is also referred to as seeing the girl and has consistently been
condemned by many feminists as gender bias. Arranged marriages are
prominent in many other cultures as well and for different reasons. However,
there are widespread notions throughout that arranged marriages are
nothing but a form of suppression and gender biased means of marriage that
India follows due to its gender biased attitude towards men and women.
Although arranged marriages are often indicated as a deliberate suppressive gesture towards
women in todays modern India where this form of arrangement still exists, arranged marriages
actually take their root from the Vedic religion of Hinduism that the Indian Culture so gloriously
basks in. The rich Indian Heritage is nothing without its Vedic roots, folklores and traditions that
act as the building blocks of the country.
Literature Review:
According to Alasingaperumal (2008) the historical Vedic religion has been the grounds for a
variety of wedding system in India such as the Swayamvara method that was established by
Rama and Sita wherein the parents of the girl publish the intentions of marriage inviting all
interested men to demonstrate performances which are meant to attract the girl who then

garlands the one she has chosen as a life partner. Another form of marriage was that of the
Gandharva such as the marriage of Dushyanta and Shakuntala that was simply arranged due to
the mere consent of the two and based entirely on mutual attraction without any customs, rituals
or witnesses.
The literature of Penguin (1991) demonstrates that as the Vedic religion gradually evolved into
the orthodox Hinduism that we know of today, the ideologies that were put forth by one of the
most looked upon ancient legal texts entitled the Manusmriti, gained more recognition and urged
major parts of the Indian society to incline towards patriarchy and the caste system. The texts of
Manusmriti contradicted the teachings of Gandharva and Swayamvara and many wedding
systems that fell on these lines terming the same as unacceptable for the masses and advocating
the rights of women permanently under male custodianship (Doniger, 1991; Penguin, 1991).
Doniger (1991) indicated that the control and supervision of parents in terms of marriage was
also established during the period of Manusmriti in order to prevent the mixing of castes. The
practice of early marriage and child marriage was also a part of this period and culture. This
development was consistent and in line with the practices of the Muslim worlds at that time as
well. The relatively modern critics relate this development of early marriages to the fear of
raging hormones in connection to teenage sexuality in ancient times and the solutions found to
the same to avoid pre-marital sex that was looked down upon by the ancient cultures (Schalet,
2004).
According to Gagoomal (2009), just like in the present scenarios in India, marriages were an
affair that had severe and deep impacts on the entire family for both Hindus and Muslims as the
same formed the grounds of maintaining a family structure with alliances in Vedic times. Many a

times marriage arrangements were confirmed at the birth of individuals with future promises
exchanged between the related families with an informal right of first refusal in case the alliance
required specific social criteria. For example, in Muslim communities, the marriages between
cousins are a common practice and so in such a case, the girls mothers sister is given the first
right of claims on the girl in case she had a son and wanted to share alliance (Buckley, 2006).
Such alliances are prevalent till date.
The studies of Buckley (2006) indicate of systems of exchange marriages in the Northern regions
of India such as rural Punjab where families are united by the exchange of individuals in
marriage. Similar to many cultures, the Indian culture too followed a system where the brother of
a departed individual was obliged to marry his widowed wife giving further assurance to clan
alliances and to make sure that ownership of assets remained within the family even if the
husband has deceased a system that first began during the Vedic period(Buckley, 2006).

Conclusion:
Having reviewed a considerable amount of work in terms of the patterns of arranged marriage
followed in India, one can clearly see that the roots of this arrangement is most definitively taken
from those of the ancient Vedic past that gave birth to many forms of weddings that fall in the
line of being arranged by elders and family members rather than the individuals themselves.
Although there are quite a few negative aspects to the same, it would be nave to entirely blame
the culture to be gender-biased as India seems to be merely following a rich heritage and culture
that was graciously bestowed upon the country by its ancient and learned civilization. However,

it would be worth noting that there are rapid and increasing distinctions between the patterns of
arranged marriage and other forms in the urban culture of modern India today with the trending
developments of free choice and self-arranged marriages from the end of potential partners and
their perspectives.
References:
1. Alasingaperumal, M., C. (2008). The Brahmavadin. London: Harvard University Press.

2. Buckley, E. (2006). A Cross-Cultural Study of Weddings through Media and Ritual:

Analyzing Indian and North American Weddings. McNair Scholars Journal, 10(1), 1-17.
Retrieved from http://scholarworks.gvsu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?
article=1061&context=mcnair.

3. Doniger, W. (1991). The Laws of Manu. London: Penguin Books Ltd.

4. Gagoomal, P.J. (2009). A "Margin of appreciation" for "Marriages of appreciation":

Reconciling South Asian Adult Arranged Marriages with the Matrimonial Consent
Requirement in International Human Right Law. The Georgetown Law Journal, 97 (2).
Retrieved fromhttps://articleworks.cadmus.com/geolaw/zt100209.html.

5. Ingoldsby, B.B. (2000). Mate selection and marriage around the world. In Smith S. &
Ingoldsby B.B (Eds.), Families in Multicultural Perspective (pp.321-326). New York,
NY: Guilford Press.

6. Myers, J. E, Madathil, J., & Tingle, L. R. (2005). Journal of counseling & development.
Marriage Satisfaction and Wellness in India and the United States: A Preliminary
Comparison
from

of Arranged Marriages and Marriages of Choice, 83(1), 183-190. Retrieved

http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/j.1556-6678.2005.tb00595.x/abstract.

7. Penguin (1991). Introduction to Manu. Retrieved from

http://www.penguin.co.uk/nf/Book/BookDisplay/0,,0_0140445404,00.html.

8. Schalet, A. (2004). Must we fear adolescent sexuality? MedGenMed, 6(4), 44-44.

Retrieved from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1480590/.