Sikh marriages are no different, just like any other religion the marriages are meant to be the union of two souls. For Sikhs, Anand Karaj is what marriage is all about i.e. it is the blissful union of two souls. The event is full of fun and frolic for guests but for the husband and wife, it means a new life which assures them of equal rights and life (life as herein refers to the couple’s life).

The first stage of the marriage starts with the planning and introduction of the families. Like before majority of the marriages are no longer ‘arranged’ in nature, i.e. the marriage fixed by the parents. These days the number of love-marriages is on a rise in which the groom decides his bride and vice-versa then the families interact and look for a suitable day for the marriage to take place. In general, Sikh marriages are arranged in nature, only if both the bride and groom are ready.

The marriage ceremony isn’t a long one; it involves revolving around Guru Granth Sahib, four times while Lavan is recited. When they complete the process they can be declared as a married couple. Many people do not understand the reason for revolving and believe it is a tradition that needs to be followed and has no real meaning. When a man and a woman revolve around it means they commit to each other with the Guru being witness. Each of the 4 revolves have their own meaning.

The marriage ceremony begins with the groom being asked to sit first and then the bride is asked to sit to the left of her to-be husband. While the prayer and the rituals starts the couple and their parents are asked to stand while the rest of the guests watch being seated. After the couple and their parents agree, starts a short hymn. The prayers are followed by the bow of the married couple in front of Guru.

In Sikh marriages, Guru Granth Saheb is the core and Sadh Sangat refers to the support. Sikh marriages generally take place in the bride’s home or the Gurdwara or any place where Guru Granth sahib is installed. There are guests present when the marriage takes place both from the bride’s family as well as the groom’s family.

Just as the ceremony wraps up and the couple is married, the speech of the parents and well-wishers make up an excellent affair. The speeches are mainly targeted towards the newly-married couple. With wishes from the parent and well-wishers, the auspicious day ends with some celebrations. Sikh marriages have some traditions to be followed before and after ceremony such as singing by professionals, ancestor worship etc. Any Sikh marriage isn’t complete without these traditions being followed.

For the newly married couple, the marriage results in a single soul in two different bodies. The commitment is believed to be for life and according to the Sikh traditions divorce is not possible, as it is sacred bond between two people.

As high street stores, the auto industry and many other sectors of the British economy are experiencing a downturn in business due to the economic climate, the dating industry has never had it so good. Perhaps singles are thinking that there is safety in number or that that two can weather the economic downturn better than one no one know but quite a significant number of singles are joining dating site and using other dating organisations to search for a partner.

Most dating website are recording significant number of new signups. Match .com, one of the largest dating sites in UK was a 35% increase in new singles joining in February 2009 when compared with the numbers of new members recorded in February 2008. Guardian newspaper dating section; soulmate  enjoyed and even bigger signup than Match .com, with about 45% increase in signups.

Online dating has been growing steadily over the years but the current economic climate seem to be helping it grow even faster.

In London, South East of England and the rest of the United Kingdom, thousands of dating evens ranging from speed dating to swingers party takes places most weekends and some week days. We have just added a news and announcement section to UK Dating blogs. We invite you to submit your dating related news, press release and other information you want to put out there to us and we will publish it for you free of charge.
You press release or announcement must be a minimum of 400 words, it may be accompanied by up to two pictures which should be in .gif, jpg or png format.  Please use our contact page to send your press release or announcement.

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