Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Marriage, Birth & Death
Marriage is an auspicious event for Indians and although 'love marriages' have spiralled
upwards in recent times (mainly in urban hubs), most Hindu marriages are still arranged.
Discreet enquiries are made within the community. If a suitable match is not found, the
help of professional matchmakers may be sought and/or advertisements may be placed in
the media. The horoscopes of both potential partners are checked and, if propitious, there's
a meeting between the two families.
Dowry, although illegal, is still a key issue in more than a few arranged marriages, with
some families plunging into debt to raise the required cash and merchandise. Health work-
ers claim that India's high rate of abortion of female foetuses (despite sex identification
medical tests being banned in India, they still clandestinely occur in some clinics) is pre-
dominantly due to the financial burden of providing a daughter's dowry.
The Hindu wedding ceremony is officiated over by a priest and the marriage is formal-
ised when the couple walk around a sacred fire seven times. Despite the existence of nucle-
ar families, it's still the norm for a wife to live with her husband's family once married and
assume the household duties outlined by her mother-in-law.
Divorce and remarriage is becoming more common (primarily in bigger cities), but di-
vorce is still not granted by courts as a matter of routine and is generally not looked upon
very favourably by society. Among the higher castes, widows are traditionally expected not
to remarry and are admonished to wear white and live pious, celibate lives.
The birth of a child, in Hindu-majority India, is another momentous occasion, with its
own set of special ceremonies, which take place at various auspicious times during the
early years of childhood. These include the casting of the child's first horoscope, name-giv-
ing, feeding the first solid food, and the first hair cutting.
Hindus cremate their dead, and funeral ceremonies are designed to purify and console
both the living and the deceased. An important aspect of the proceedings is the
sharadda,
paying respect to ancestors by offering water and rice cakes. It's an observance that's re-
peated at each anniversary of the death. After the cremation the ashes are collected and, 13
days after the death (when blood relatives are deemed ritually pure), a member of the fam-
ily usually scatters them in a holy river such as the Ganges or in the ocean.
