Marriage biodata format: what to put in each section

A biodata is the one-page document families exchange before anyone meets. It has a conventional shape, and following it makes yours easy to read next to the others in the pile.

The sections, in the usual order

Personal details. Full name, date of birth, time and place of birth if your family uses kundli matching, height, blood group if you wish, marital status, and a one-line note on diet and habits. Time and place of birth belong here or nowhere: an astrologer cannot work without them.

Education. Highest qualification, the institution, and the year. Name the college. "MBA" tells a family nothing; "MBA, Symbiosis Pune, 2019" answers three questions at once.

Profession. Job title, employer or type of organisation, city, and years of experience. An income range is standard on Indian biodata and families expect it. A range is enough; a precise figure invites negotiation.

Religion and community. Religion, community and sub-community, mother tongue, and gotra where your family observes it. This is the first filter for most families, so leaving it blank slows everything down.

About me. Four to six lines, first person. What your days look like, what you do outside work, what kind of home you want. This is the only section where you can sound like a person, and it is the one most people waste on adjectives.

Family details. Father's name and occupation, mother's name and occupation, siblings with their occupations and marital status, where the family is based, and whether the family is joint or nuclear. Families read this section before yours.

Partner preferences. Two or three lines. Age range, education, community if it matters, city. Keep it short; a long list of requirements reads badly and filters out people who would have suited you.

Contact. Whose number it is, and when it is convenient to call. Usually a parent's number for traditional families and your own for professionals.

What to leave out

Complexion. Salary to the rupee. A long list of what you do not want. Anything untrue, including a rounded-up height, because it is checked at the first meeting. Photographs that are ten years old.

The photograph

One clear, recent, front-facing photograph where you are the only person, plus one full-length if you have it. Not a wedding photo from someone else's wedding where families cannot tell which person you are. Not sunglasses.

Biodata versus an online profile

A biodata is a static document your family forwards on WhatsApp. An online profile does two things it cannot: it can be verified, and it can be searched. Most families now use both, and the sensible approach is to keep the same facts in each so nothing contradicts.

If you are building both, write the biodata first. Filling in every biodata field forces you to gather the facts, and the profile then takes twenty minutes.

Format and file type

Send a PDF, not a Word document, so the layout survives WhatsApp. Name the file with your name and the year. Keep it under two megabytes so it actually sends on a weak connection.

A verified TrueSaath profile carries the same fields as a biodata plus government ID and liveness verification, which is the one thing a forwarded PDF can never prove.