Is arranged marriage still common today is a generic question and it depends on the society we are talking about. For example in India – in certain parts of the country arranged marriages are still a norm and parents expect their children to follow it religiously.

Marriages in India are celebrated with great pomp and show with all the relatives from both mother’s and father’s side it becomes fairly important for the parents to present it as an arranged marriage. Actually arranged marriage is sort of a tradition in Indian society and even today there are some families who fix their children’s marriage.

Since Indian society is very particular about astrological compatibility of the couples’ horoscopes, birth charts, planetary actions, caste, sub caste, religion, family background, arranged marriages are still a preferred way to get a bride or groom as that leaves no room for doubt in the parent’s mind of marriage not being a success.

In addition to the fact that marriages in India are considered as an important institution, which are not meant to be broken or which can’t be broken by signing few papers however legal they maybe and hence parents and other family members feel that it is their duty to choose a suitable partner for their son or daughter. 

Although the trends are changing and some couples are taking the decision to marry the person of their choice, such couples are still rare in India as compared to those who go the parent’s way. And though there has been a steady rise in love marriages in India owing to the changing work culture and lifestyle trends in urban youth even then it has been witnessed that the parental approval is sought before venturing onto the new journey of their lives.

Arranged marriages are also still common in India because of some of the factors which the couples themselves either tend to ignore or are not too keen on knowing about it or else do not attach much importance to those facts. For instance while arranging the match for the children parents tend to compare the education of both prospective groom and bride, looks is another criterion – while Indian moms of prospective grooms want their daughter in laws to be fair and beautiful, those of prospective brides want that the family and son in law is loving, caring and accept their daughter as she is.

Of course parents discuss the expectations of the prospective groom/bride with the children but the major task of finding the match is left to the parents. Even today this is the practice in India.

In this article I have talked about arranged marriages in India. I would love to hear such tales from elsewhere as well.