Different Gods, Different Bonds
Marriage has long been considered one of the most important steps in a person's life. In America, little girls dream of the day they will get married. People spend a great deal of time looking for the perfect mate to marry. However, in other places of the world marriage is not the same. In many cultures marriages are arranged by matchmakers, parents or aunts. All over the world the idea of marriage can be defined as a union of a man and woman as husband and wife. However, as religion, culture and traditions vary throughout the world so do the traditions of marriage. In India marriage traditions seem almost barbaric to the western world. Marriages are arranged. This means that the two to be joined together in the holy bond do not have the option to choose who they are to marry; instead, a third party, such as parents or a matchmaker, set up the union. In traditional arranged marriages the matchmaker is called a nayan (Prakasa 21). The matchmaker is normally a family friend or distant relative who serves as a neutral go-between when families are trying to arrange a marriage. In that culture this is considered the normal and expected method of marriage. However, this method has more flaws then just the lack of choice by t
These "cyber-space matchmakers" do not stray too far from the personal matchmaker hired in the Hindu and Muslim traditions. The marriage ceremony, called the nikah, is where the male and female are asked if they agree to marry on another. Marriage is something that is shared by two people and in these cultures the main difference is the means by which the people are introduced. The bride is led by the groom around a sacred fire seven times then taken back to the husband's house. It is expected that the male initiates the process by asking the female to marry him. In the Muslim faith, it is the responsibility of the parents to provide a mate for their children to marry. Many girls are married before the age of sixteen and most boys are married off before the age of twenty-two. If the two meet because of a parent, a matchmaker, the idea of two people coming together to start a different life doesn't change. The main difference between these cultures is fairly obvious; choice. In the Hindu faith marriage is nothing short of mandatory. The males of both families usually are the ones who discuss these matters. This period lasts long enough to make sure that the person is a suitable match. This is more or less a promise that the couple makes to marry one another. Relationships are based on love in this culture.
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