Indian Culture though now looks predominantly favoring arranged marriages restricted to the parents of the groom and the bride to choose and decide the right match, it is also seen that love marriages and arranged love marriages prevail in India since ancient times. Nearly all Indian epics talk of love at first sight and love marriages where a bride herself chooses a match for herself. Also there prevail arranged love marriages in those stories where the man and the woman fall in love with each other by listening to mere references or stories of each other. However, these unions have been called separate names in Indian history like `swayamwara`, it is believed that love marriages have started taking place in India only after British rule which is predominantly featured in Indian movie cultures.

However, in Arranged marriages had been predominant in India due to child marriage practices and caste system. Also in later days due to education and industrialization more and more men and women started getting exposed to new world and newer thoughts, acquired financial, emotional freedom and love marriages rooted in Indian Culture as an acceptable part of the new society. However, these cases are still looked upon as less common and are restricted mainly in the urban India rather than villages. Let us now look at each different facet of marriages prevailing in India with its roots from ancient times till today.

The elaborate rituals and customs give a special touch to the celebration of Indian marriages. Today wedding receptions have gained significance in celebrating marriages and have become more impressive. The reception parties are celebrated in different fashion in different regions of the country. In fact, reception parties are highly influenced by the television soaps and Hindi movies. In recent times people are organizing theme reception parties with beautiful theme dιcor and menu. The reception party is mainly celebrated one day after the wedding ceremony and it is on the groom`s family. On this occasion the bride is mostly dressed in traditional Indian dress like sari or lehenga with heavy ethnic jewelry and the groom is dressed in either ethnic Indian wear or western suit. The ceremony ends with a lavish feast. In fact, Indians have the most flamboyant and colorful weddings, they are never boring. The whle wedding streches to many days and goes like one big party full of songs, colors and dance.

According to the scriptures, a Hindu marriage is indissolvable in life. Still polygamy was rampantly practised in ancient Hindu society. An address by Bhishma to King Yudhishthira in the Mahabharata, succinctly endorses this fact: "A Brahmana can take three wives. A Kshatriya can take two wives. As regards the Vaishya, he should take a wife from only his own order. The children born of these wives should be regarded as equal." But now that polygamy has been completely gutted out by law, monogamy is the only option for Hindus.

Arranged -Love Marriages
Since the ancient period, we have seen that though Indian culture has its own restrictive nature towards man and woman coming together, love marriages have been taking place. However, it was looked upon a taboo to express such feelings from unmarried men and women towards each other.
Love Marriages
With increasing interaction between boys and girls and of course a changed outlook in family values, it is not easier for the intending parties to look for their own match after getting to each other rather than just going for a matched alliance by someone else. Though love marriages do not wipe out the significance of arranged marriages in Indian culture, it`s now getting more and more common among Indian young generations. Love marriages, unlike any other form of marriages expects to have complete freedom of choice for the intending bride and the groom, no third party or parents are involved in taking a decision about who one should get married to. With social changes taking place in India, caste system is getting dissolved at least in the urban areas and hence it is not considered very unusual or a taboo to have married in another caste. However, love marriages are not very openly embraced by Indian culture so far, and the responsibility of `getting along` or `getting adjusted` in a marriage is looked upon the couple itself and if anything goes wrong they are the ones who are completely responsible. Though even if we see that the couple is disowned by their respective families, love marriages are surely getting more common among cities rather than villages.

Arranged Vs Love Marriage
Besides popular love lore like Soni Mahiwal, India always had a long tradition of arranged marriages. With the advent of the British and the subsequent introduction of British education system more Indians got educated. These educated Indians in turn started to send their children to school and tried to educate their wives at home. The cause of women`s education and rights were also very much espoused by our social reformers. In spite of this the institution of arranged marriage persisted. Education and exposure to the media, started to make people to think and realize they need not be bound by tradition and they can choose their own marital partners without having to rely on parents, matchmakers, relatives or having to consult astrologers. This gave rise to love marriages.

It is argued that love marriages offer more independence and freedom as compared to arranged marriages where the girl/boy is chosen by the parents so there is pressure to conform to parental expectations like producing a male heir, taking part in family rituals and traditions, putting up with sisters-in-laws, contributing to family expenses etc. One of the usual questions against an arranged marriage is that how can you marry somebody you don`t know. Knowing somebody before marriage allows partners to have better respect and understanding for each other`s needs and desires. This way they are better adjusted in the marriage when they finally take their wedding vows. However, not all love marriages have happy endings. Sometimes discord arises even in love marriages.

Arranged marriages, they offer more protection, security to the women. Parents` maturity and wise judgment comes in handy when choosing suitable spouses for their children. Sometimes it helps to rely on another person`s opinion and experience when selecting one`s partner especially when the people marrying are young and need guidance and advice in marrying a suitable person. Again, this does not mean arranged marriages are the ideal sort of marriages. Having an arranged does not mean that the married couple remains happily ever after or that there is harmony in the relationship. Women have been known to stay on in abusive relationships for the sake of family pride, respect in society etc. Even in an arranged marriage there is a different sort of pressure to be fair-skinned and beautiful. In India the evil of dowry, caste and community issues and the concept of matching horoscopes, sometimes taken to its extreme levels have contributed much to the argument against arranged marriages.

Intercaste Marriages
Arranged marriages prevailed in India as a result of a very rigid caste system. Upper caste people would not have any marriage alliance with lower caste people. Even if there are eligible bachelors available it was seen as a sin to think of mixing alliances from one caste to another. In fact, though now in cities we do not a very rigid caste system prevailing, it is still seen as a taboo to have married among different castes. Practically looking at it, the bride and the groom end of facing some adjustment problems once they start living together, basic things like language, daily routine habits might create a rift among the couple and ultimately the families. Most of these marriages remain as love marriages even today, where the bride and the groom would decide to get married and get into a adjustment for life. Hence, these marriages are more common in cities rather than villages in India.