Marriages are made in heaven? Not anymore. In fact, not for a long time now! The Internet, viewed with glee on one side (by youngsters) and suspicion on the other (by parents, elders), is the ongoing trend in the search for a life partner. Gone are the days when middle-men or women brought along various prospective kundalis to match-make couples.

BharatMatrimony, that has been in the wedding business for the last decade, believes in springing delectable surprises for those aspiring for life partners. There is a basket full of special features that one can access on www.bharatmatrimony.com.

Heard of ‘Virtual Swayamvara’ — well, that’s how you now decide on who you might probably marry.

According to Mr Murugavel Janakiraman, founder and CEO, BharatMatrimony Group, it (Virtual Swayamwara) was launched a couple of months ago. It allows members of a particular caste or community meet online after a certain date and time is fixed in advance. It was conceptualised to help people from diverse backgrounds connect with their prospective life partners beyond geographical boundaries. Members across the globe can log in and meet up with potential partners.

Mr Janakiraman said, “A trial virtual swayamwara was carried out two months back for the Agarwal community wherein more than 500 people across the world participated. The plan is to conduct similar virtual meetings for around ten communities every week.”

On being asked about his focus on community marriages, he promptly said, “India is primarily a country that focusses on religion and community, hence that’s the best way to go about it.”

Voice matrimony

This is a month-old novel feature that lets members describe themselves in their own voice and listen to the expectations of prospective partners over the phone or on the computer. This service is available in six major cities viz, Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Bangalore, Hyderabad and Kolkata. Members from other cities can use this service by dialling the STD codes to any of the major cities or ISD code, if they are outside India.

BharatMatrimony can be viewed in 8 different languages apart from English. One can register, search and view results in Bengali, Gujarati, Hindi, Marathi, Kannada, Malayalam, Tamil and Telugu.

Mobile link

The matrimonial company plans to offer more features like support videos, images, voice intros and a click-to-call facility.

BharatMatrimony is responsible for more than nine lakh marriages in the last decade. If these figures are indicative of its total success, what are you bachelors and spinsters waiting for?