Are arranged marriages in India common?
A Hindu bride during traditional wedding ceremony. CC BY 2.0/Wikimedia
In all cultures, parents seem to want to help their children find good mates. A referral or an introduction is not a forced marriage and those have become less common in Indian cities and in the United States, where young adults are more independent. Some reject suggestsions entirely. There is a thriving business of matrimonial ads for Indians.
Must Indians in America return to India to find or marry a spouse?
No. That is up to the person and the family, but it is not the norm. According to the Pew Research Center, 12 percent of Indian Americans who married in 2008-2010 married non-Asians and 2 percent married non-Indian Asians.
Do Indians pay dowries?
The payment of dowry to the husband’s family, often financial, has an old history in many parts of the world. India banned dowries in 1961.
Do Indians marry young?
The national age for marriage in India is 21 for men and 18 for women. The legal age in the United States in 18 for both. With waivers or permission from judges or guardians, some U.S. states allow marriages by females as young as 13 and males as young as 14. The average age of when people actually marry is rising in both countries.
Are Indian weddings really long?
Traditional Hindu weddings can last for days and involve many rituals in Sanskrit, which might be understood only by the priest ocnducting the service. Ceremonies performed by INdian Americans in the United States are considerably shorter and are designed to be understandable to non-Indian attendees, making it suitable for intercultural or interreligious marriages. Pre-wedding ceremonies include engagement involving oral and written declaration and the arrival of the groom’s party at the bride’s residence, often in the form of a formal procession. Post wedding ceremonies involve welcoming the bride to her new home.
