The Tamil Gounder community has a series of pre and post-wedding ceremonial rituals in their three day wedding ceremony. Porutham parthal is one of the first steps before moving an alliance forward in a Tamil Gounder wedding. 

Horoscope Match
Porutham parthal in Tamil means checking the compatibility of both the groom-to-be and bride-to-be by looking into their respective horoscopes. The boy and girl’s horoscopes are matched to see if there is compatibility in ten to twelve critical aspects - birth, strength, family, personality, age, attachment, compassion, humility, wealth and knowledge. 

Reading the Stars
Horoscope matching is done (mostly by a reverent astrologer or elder who has experience in horoscope reading) in order to ensure that the stars of both individuals entering into marriage are a suitable match for each other and do not overlap bad phases in their lifetime. This is particularly important as it is believed that the birth star of the husband has an impact on his wife’s life and vice versa. Most divorces happen when both the man and woman have bad phases at the same time which forces them to take a decision against the marriage. 

What’s Needed for Porutham Parthal
The date and time of the birth of the groom-to-be and bride-to-be are sufficient to start the Porutham process. Other factors that play a critical role in matching and fixing an alliance are economic and social status of the family, financial stability, earning and education.

If the horoscopes are a clear match and both families are satisfied with each other, porutham parthal is complete and Sagunam Parthal is the next step.