THRS 312: Hindu Faith & Practice
Special Interest Topics
Hindu Marriage

Hindu marriage customs and rituals involve such practices as arranged marriage and checking horoscopes for compatibility.  Often, Westerners can gain a better perspective on what marriage means to them by studying marriage practices in other cultures.  In ancient India, princesses got to choose their husbands from a group of suitors in a ritual known as a svayamvara, or "self-choice."   Often the suitors had to demonstrate their prowess by feats of valor. Nowadays Hindu feminists and others are trying to reconfigure this ancient practice for modern application!

Web Resources: Popular

Matrimonial Ads in The Hindu (major Indian newspaper)
BharatMatrimony.com
Shaadi.com
JeevanSathi
Dowry: the Laws, the Stats, and Reform (IndiaTogether)
Westerners Take to Hindu Weddings (BBC)

Web Resources: News Media

Amir, Insiya 2008. "Arranged Love: India's Newest Export to West." Times of India (October 19).

Dugger, Celia W. 1998. "In India, an Arranged Marriage of 2 Worlds." New York Times (July 20).

Jana, Reena. 2000. "Arranged Marriages, Minus the Parents." New York Times (August 17).

Knight, Kathryn. 2007. "Arrange Me a Marriage: Could Asian-Style Match-Making be the Way to Find a Perfect Partner?" Mail Online (November 8).

Rosenbloom, Stephanie. 2006. "Spouse Courtesy of Mom the Matchmaker." New York Times (July 26).

Thernstrom, Melanie. 2005. "The New Arranged Marriage." New York Times (February 13).

Web Resources: Scholarly

Arranged Marriages, Matchmakers, and Dowries in India (Emory Univ.)
Divorce in India (Emory Univ.)
The Hindu Marriage Act (1955)

See also: Women in Hinduism.

Books and Articles

Archer, William G. 1985. Songs for the Bride: Wedding Rites of Rural India.   Edited by Barbara Stoler Miller, and Mildred Archer.  New York: Columbia University Press

Babb, Lawrence A. 1975. The Divine Hierarchy: Popular Hinduism in Central India. New York: Columbia University Press.

Basu, Monmayee.  2000.  Hindu Women and Marriage Law: From Sacrament to Contract. New York: Oxford University Press.

Bénéď, Véronique.  1995.  To Give or Not to Give: From Brideprice to Dowry in Maharashtra.  Pondichery : Institut français de Pondichery.

Couture, Andre. 1992. "Marriage and a Rite of Passage in World Religions." Trans. by Shaun Grovenlock. Ecumenism 108 (Dec.): 15-21.

Divakaruni, Chitra Banerjee. 1995. Arranged Marriage: Stories by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni. New York : Anchor Books.

Gupta, Giri Raj, ed. 1971. Family and Social Change in Modern India.   Durham, N.C.: Carolina Academic Press.

Harlan, Lindsey and Paul Courtright, eds. 1994.  From the Margins of Hindu Marriage: Essays on Gender, Religion, and Culture.  New York: Oxford University Press.

Fruzzetti, Lina M. 1982.  The Gift of a Virgin: Women, Marriage, and Ritual in a Bengali Society.  New Brunswick, N.J. : Rutgers University Press.

Mehta, Dina. 1994. "Marriages are Made in Heaven."  In Miss Menon Did Not Believe in Magic. New Delhi: Rupa & Co. [short story]

Meister, Michael W., ed. 1995. Cooking for the Gods: The Art of Home Ritual in Bengal. Newark, N.J.: The Newark Museum.

Moreno, Manuel.  1988.  "A Bride for Raman: Are Marriages Made in Heaven?"  Natural History (3): 7-10.

Östör, Ákos, Lina Fruzzetti, and Steve Barnett, eds.  1992.  Concepts of Person: Kinship, Caste, and Marriage in India.  Delhi; New York: Oxford University Press.

Pandey, Rajbali.  1969.  Hindu Samskaras: Socio-Religious Study of the Hindu Sacraments.  Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass.

Palriwala, Rajni, and Patricia Uberoi, eds.  2008. Marriage, Migration and Gender.  Sage Publications Pvt. Ltd.

Parpola, Asko and Sirpa Tenhunen, eds.  1998. Changing Patters of Family and Kinship in South Asia.  Studia Orientalia, Vol. 84. Helsinki: The Finnish Oriental Society.

Pashupathi, Monisha. "Arranged Marriages: What's Love Got to Do With It?" In Inside the American Couple: New Thinking/New Challenges, ed. by Marilyn Yalom and Laura L. Carstensen, 211-235. [Copley: HQ801 .I67 2002 (ebrary)]

Reddy, Narayan. 1978. Marriages in India.  Gurgaon: The Academic Press.

Roy, Manisha. 1992. Bengali Women. Chicago : University of Chicago Press. [Has a very good chapter on marriage.]

Sarma, Bhaiyaram.  1993.  The Vivaha: The Hindu Marriage Samskaras.   Translated by R.C. Prasad. 1st ed. Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass Publishers.

Sharma, Arvind. 1985. "Marriage in the Hindu Religious Tradition." Journal of Ecumenical Studies 22 (Winter): 48ff.

Smart, Ninian. 1995. "Marriage in the World's Religions." Dialogue and Alliance 9 (Spr-Sum): 75-84.

Sinha, S. N.. 1992.  The History of Marriage and Prostitution, Vedas to Vatsyayana.  New Delhi : Khama Publishers.

Veen, Klaas W. van der. 1972.  I Give Thee My Daughter: A Study of Marriage and Hierarchy Among the Anavil Brahmans of South Gujarat.  Translated from the Dutch Nanette Jockin. Assen: Van Gorcum.

Videos

Arranged Marriages. 2001. Coproduced by Dominant 7 and La Cinquiéme ; a film by Carol Equer-Hamy. New York: Filmakers Library. Videocassette. [Copley: HQ669 .A77 2001]

Love Chronicles: Arranged Marriages. 1999. Directed by Tyler Maddox-Simms. A&E Home Video.

Marriages in Heaven. 2000. Producer, Annada Rathi. Berkeley, Calif.: University of California Extension, Center for Media and Independent Learning. Videocassette. [Copley: GT2776 .M37 2000]

Monsoon Wedding. 2002. Directed by Mira Nair. Universal Studios.  DVD. [Copley: PN1997.I5 M67 2002]

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Updated November 13, 2008