Matrimonial Blog
Archive for the ‘Indian Marriage’ Category
The Hindu scriptures lay a lot of importance to the Mangalsutra in the life of a married Indian woman. All regular as well as Manglik Marriage ceremonies involve a ritual in the wedding ceremony which signifies the religious and psychological importance of the Mangalsutra in an Indian wedding. This thread is considered to be a sacred thread of love and faith and is often worn by the woman as one of the 16 symbols of their marriage, which is commonly known as the 16 Sringaars.
In the traditional sense, this thread is considered to be the most honorable token of respect and love that is offered to the bride by her husband during the ceremony. The scriptures state that wearing a Mangalsutra is a way to ensure a healthy and long life for husband. It has thus found utmost significance in Manglik Marriages where one always fears the occurrence of negative events in the due course of one’s marital life.
Many cultures within Hinduism believe that breaking the string or losing mangalsutra is a sign of a bad omen. The necklace typically consists of a string of back beads adorned with a gold pendant and is compulsory to be worn by married women.
The Design of the Mangalsutra & its Significance
Typically, the mangalsutra is made out of two strings of small sized black beads as well as gold pendant. The gold pendant will also comprise of some larger bowl shaped gold beads. Though there are a number of designs and patterns that are available in the market, and vary among sub-casts, this is the basic specifications of the design of a mangalsutra. For example, in North India, the neck piece for a Manglik marriage is made with a plastic thread and in South India, you will find the piece is made won a cotton thread of yellow color specifically.
The thread is known to keep negative thoughts away and the black beads are a representative of purity.
In today’s day and age, the mangalsutra has also come to become a popular fashion statement among married women who take pride is adorning it on their necks as a sign of their love and devotion for their husbands.
While the western world struggles with drawing a balance between lifestyle, expectations and holding on to relationships, Indian marriages have been able to build themselves on a foundation which somehow tends to ensure sustainability and long-term endurance.
Today, it is believed that 50% of American marriages end up in divorce while only 1% of Indian marriages come to an end. This is a wide disparity in these figures; let us delve deeper into why it is so:
Arranged Marriage versus Love Marriage
1. As orthodox as it may sound, many people believe that arranged marriages last longer than love marriages. From a wider perspective, the Indian matrimonial system has been a lot more open to love marriages in the recent decade but yet stick to the belief that an arranged marriage has more chances of success simply because it is believed that love is one of many factors that make a successful factor. The Indian system focuses more on sacrifice, communication and minimal expectation out of your partner. In some cases it is easier to follow through with these qualities in an arranged set up.
The Union of Two Families
2. It is a popular saying, that in an Indian wedding, it is not only the bride and the groom that are getting married but also the families. The strong involvement of both families and the relationships that built herewith prove to be of great strength through the marriage of any couple. There is always the constant support of all the parents and siblings through your marital life which prevents you from making any kind of bad judgments and also thus making sure your marriage does not dwindle at any point.
Marrying into the Same Cast
3. Another major influencing factor in the success of an Indian Manglik marriage is the fact that most matrimonial unions do not allow inter-cast marriages. This may again sound very orthodox, but in the long run your upbringing, familiar background, and even ethnicity play a significant role in building your ideas, attitudes and belief systems. Marrying someone from a similar background ensures that you and your partner have similar ideologies which make your marriage and decision making in life extremely easy and harmonious. One will notice that several marriages tend to break because of this very same reason.
In addition to this, Indian Manglik Marriage also encourage brides and grooms to marry into the same financial strata or profession further minimizing the gap of any differences that may occur. Marrying into the same financial strata ensures that expectations out the lifestyle stay consistent and no couple is under any kind of pressure to make the other person materialistically happy.
When you think about it, our ancestors have been able to design an extremely practical system for marriage thus ensuring a lifetime of happiness and bliss. Our ancestors have been able to take into consideration all the facets of a successful marriage and present to the world, a mantra of eternal joy!