Hi,

I am a Roman Catholic girl & my fiance is a Hindu (Maratha). We both want to abid by our religions. We would like to marry as per both the rituals. As per my info it is possible in church to marry without he changing the religion. IS IT POSSIBLE TO MARRY AS PER HINDU RITUALS WITHOUT ME CONVERTING TO HINDUISM????? If not then i will hv to opt ONLY for a court marraige which i would preferably want to avoid, as my would-be-inlaws wouldnt agree for church marraige, if not performed by their rituals. Please can someone help me ASAP.... I need to make a quick decisions. IS ANY ONE AWARE WHAT DOES "INDIAN MARRAIGE LAW" SAY ABT SUCH A MARRAIGE?

Thanks in advance........

Sheetal

-- Sheetal D'Mello (sheetaldmello@yahoo.com), July 02, 2003

Answers

Hi Sheetal:

My brother married a Hindu and they went through both ceremonies (also a civil marriage). So it shouldn't be a problem for you I hope.

There is no legal bar to your getting a Hindu wedding without converting. If you are both Indian citizens, the Special Marriage Act 1954 applies (not the Hindu Marriage Act) under which you can get married in either a Hindu or a Catholic ceremony (or both) and then register the marriage. You can find the Act online over here.

Talk to your parish priest, as there may be some issues about your participating in a non-Christian ritual. You also should introduce your fiance to him.

Good luck to both of you.

-- Stephen (StephenLynn999@msn.com), July 02, 2003.

Dear Stephen,

Thanks a millions for the information given by you. It has helped me a lot.

Please, if u dont mind, can u guide me about how to go about it. i mean which marraiage has to b performed first, Catholic / hindu / civil ????

Do i need to perform a civil marraige after performing hindu & Catholic marraige? Or just go and register my marraige with the civil authority?

Is registering the marraige same as a Register marraige or that is different?

Is their any paper work involved in the hindu marraige like we have in the church?

How did ur brother do it?

thanks a million.

Best regards, Sheetal

-- Sheetal D'Mello (sheetaldmello@yahoo.com), July 03, 2003.

Hi Sheetal:

Unfortunately, I can't guide you on the details. I'm not an expert. I don't think the order matters. My brother's wedding(s) were in this order: Catholic, Hindu and then civil. Their Hindu ceremony was just a token thing actually. No paperwork there. I'll ask my bro to email you if you want.

-- Stephen (StephenLynn999@msn.com), July 03, 2003.

Stephen,

Yes Please if u can ......... Will be very grateful to you.

Thanks n regards, Sheetal

-- Sheetal D'Mello (sheetaldmello@yahoo.com), July 03, 2003.