Elite Matrimony

“Members of the elite category are searching for a life partner like themselves in terms of status and wealth” ~ Murugavel Janankiraman

The number of Indian matrimonial sites that pop up over the internet on a daily basis is uncountable. Most of them promise for you to meet the ideal person or soul mate. And more recently the makers of BharatMatrimony have come out with a new matrimonial site catered to the glitterati in the form of one EliteMatrimony.com. The site is dedicated to finding potential spouses for “celebrities, aristocrats and the upper crust of society.” According to the mission statement on the site, they aim to find “Meaningful and loving relationships that will last a lifetime.” However, it works both ways. If you’re looking to take the plunge into holy matrimony with a famous personality, you can sign up with the site and if you make the cut, open up a door to meeting and even spending the rest of your life with an elite member. Roshni Magazine chatted with Founder and CEO Murugavel Janankiraman about EliteMatrimony and how it works!

What is the brainchild behind Elite Matrimony? And what bought about this elite idea?
BharatMatrimony launched EliteMatrimony.com to offer personalized and exclusive services to members belonging to the upper crust of the society. We realized that the elite have had to generally mask their identity when searching for partners on regular matrimony services and therefore we created a matrimony portal that provides personalized services with a high level of privacy.

How does it work?
Membership to the website starts at Rs 50,000 for a three month period. Members will be selected from a database of the crème de la crème of society ranking high on social status, education, accomplishments and influence.  We have a relationship manager who on behalf of the member will search, identify, shortlist and call on prospective partners based on member preferences. It is an end-to-end solution where privacy is highly maintained.

How does one receive an invitation to become a part of the Elite Matrimony?
Primarily, we send out invitations through references received from our existing network of EliteMatrimony members. One can also go on to EliteMatrimony.com and place a request to be part our elite network. On receiving a request, we conduct a background check to see if the profile is worthy of inclusion into the network.

Thus far, what has the success rate been?
EliteMatrimony.com was launched in December 2008 and the response has been tremendous. We have close to 80,000 people registered with us.

How is it different from any other matrimony site?
Members of the elite category are searching for a life partner like themselves in terms of status and wealth. The special site addresses the needs of a niche clientele and provides a high level of privacy to members who prefer not to reveal their identity.  Moreover the services score high on trust, credibility, access to the choicest profiles and discretion in handling client information.

What is the membership fee for being a part of Elite Matrimony?
There are two packages, which includes: Rs 50,000 for three months or Rs 1 Lakh for six months.

And are some “elite” personalities willing to pay this fee?
Yes. This site is specially catered to them. Members of the elite category are searching for a life partner like themselves in terms of status and wealth. We have lawyers, pop singers, celebrities, sports personalities, businessmen registered with us.

Would this be considered an arrange marriage or is this still a more conventional contemporary way of meeting a potential spouse?
It will be combination of both. Members have the opportunity to chat and understand each other better before making the final decision. More over family members are also engaged throughout the process in finalizing the prospects life partner.

So basically, you need to be rich and/or famous to be a part of the site. How does a normal average person who wants to marry someone rich qualify?
Yes, this special site caters to the super rich and who’s who of society. But we also have an option for an average individual keen on marrying an elite member. This is addressed through a section on the website “I want to marry an elite member”.

How have you protected the privacy of your clients?
We do not reveal any identifiable details of our members to each other. Our relationship managers try and find best fits and inform our members about a match and once we have their consent, we go ahead and share and exchange information with another member. The main difference here is that the search process isn't happening directly through an online platform. Our network is accessible only to our relationship managers who conduct the search on behalf of the elite members while maintaining high levels of confidentiality.

How many clients does Elite Matrimony current have?
Currently we have close to 80,000 members registered with us.

And lastly, what do you think this means for the future of online matrimony sites?
EliteMatrimony.com is an effort to reach out to a niche segment. Being the pioneer of this special service, we believe EliteMatrimony to be the perfect destination and to reach out to our consumers in ways they are most comfortable.

~ Roshni M.
(September 2009)