Marriage matching or match making is a solemn decision taken on behalf of the boy and a girl before they tie the knot to hold and to behold each other for the rest of their lives. The Hindus ensure that the compatibility of this solemn lifelong binding enables the couple to live 'happily ever after'.

For this vital decision of their lives, the parents of both the girl and the boy who are to get married and the elders of their families get together; they then follow an ancient method, laid down by the sages of old, to see the marriage compatibility between the girl and the boy. This method is called ‘Porutham’ or koota agreement.

Poruthams are chalked out after the study of the birth stars of both the boy and the girl who are contemplating marriage. The sages had initially devised 20 poruthams but now only 10 are in use. According to them, there are 27 birth stars (nakshatras) for each person in an oval configuration which constitutes a zodiac. The zodiac influences the person through the nine planets (navgrahas).

The 10 poruthams (kootas) thus chalked out are: dinam, ganam, yoni, rasi, rasiyathipaty, rajju, vedha, vasya, mahendram and stree deergham.

While considering a marriage alliance, the Hindu custom does not allow the tying of the knot until the ten poruthams are studied by matching the horoscopes of the couple who desires to be joined in matrimony. Only in cases of a love affair or marriage contemplation between a boy and a girl of an older age group, the application of the porutham can be omitted.

Porutham (or koota) is computed using the jathakam or kundali which are drawn based on the birth stars and the janam rashi of the boy and the girl in question. Originally, 20 poruthams were charted by the sages but today only ten poruthams suffice to come to a decision whether the boy and the girl who wish to marry should go ahead with it or not.

Each porutham is significant according to different aspects of a person's mind, body and personality, and the effects of each are considered one by one.

Jathaka Porutham : Check your jathaka porutham for marriage

The ten poruthams considered today are:

1. Dina Porutham - good health and prosperity
2. Gana Porutham - matching of temperaments
3. Rajju Porutham - husband’s long life
4. Rasi Porutham - continuation of progeny
5. Yoni Porutham - sexual compatibility
6. Vedha Porutham - ward of evil and pitfalls
7. Vasya Porutham - compatibility between the zodiac signs
8. Mahendra Porutham - progeny in a larger measure
9. Stree deerga Porutham - accumulation of wealth and prosperity
10. Rasiyathipaty Porutham - compatibility between birth stars

The elders and the parents of both the girl's and the boy's family come together to study and match the kundli or jathakam for porutham.

Porutham considers the natural tendencies of the boy and the girl based on the horoscopes, and accordingly the marriage of the two can be matched. The following five matches out of ten are considered important: Gana, Rajju, Dina, Rasi and Yoni and out these five, Rajju and Dina are given the greatest importance.