Essay on the Factors Affecting Hindu Marriage

Essay on the Factors Affecting Hindu Marriage – Industrialisation, Urbanisation, Education and Legislation

The Hindu marriage has undergone vast changes during the recent years. Traditional values of marriage, the form of marriage, type of marriage ceremony, the way of selection of life-partners in marriage, age at marriage – and in such other areas significant changes have occurred.

These changes have been caused by a number of factors among which the following may be noted: Industrialisation, urbanisation, education and legislation.

1. Influence of Industrialisation:

Industrialisation refers to the phenomenal growth of modern sophisticated industries and its consequent dominance over agriculture. “Industrialisation is a term covering, in general terms, the growth in a society hitherto mainly agrarian, of modern industry with all its attendant circumstances and problems, economic and social.” Industrialisation directly affected the institutions of family and marriage and brought about changes in both.

Modern industries have minimised economic functions of the family and reduced its size. Nuclear families have replaced joint families. People have started “going out of family” for work, for eking out their livelihood. Women also have joined men in the process of finding out jobs and earning money.

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This has boosted the self-respect and self-confidence of women. Men could no longer boss over women and suppress their attempt to become self-reliant. These developments have affected the institution of marriage.

Employed women today take an active role in the selection of their life-partners. They do not just leave it to the decision of their parents. In addition to a girl’s beauty, family to which she be­longs, education and character and such other considerations, due importance is given today to her job and the salary she gets before she is selected as a life-partner.

Daughters”, earnings in many instances have reduced the financial burdens of their parents in marriage. Daughter’s job itself may function as a substitute for dowry. Parents who were searching a suitable match for their daughters within the narrow circle of relatives and friends are now ready to go beyond the borders of even the state, because they want to fix a suitable and a good life-partner for their daughters. Instances of young men and women working in the same industry or office falling in love with each other and getting married are also not uncommon today.

2. Impact of Urbanisation:

Industrialisation and urbanisation normally go together. Industrialisation accelerates the pro­cess of urbanisation. “Urbanisation’ refers to the phenomenal growth of towns and cities or urban centres. It “denotes a diffusion of the influence of urban centres to a rural hinterland.” It is “a process of becoming urban, moving to cities, changing from agriculture to other pursuits, common to cities and corresponding change of behaviour patterns.”‘

Growth of cities and city environment has its impact on the institutions of family and marriage. Selection of life-partners, age at marriage, nature and type of marriage ceremony, expenses of mar­riage etc., are affected by the modern urban environment.

Normally young men and women of cities want to select their life-partners on their own. Arranged marriages have become rarer in cities. In comparison with villagers, urban people delay their marriages. Child marriages normally do not take place in cities.

Marriage is often held in cities more as a social or a civil ceremony than a religious ceremony. Non-availability of seasoned priests, scarcity of and too expensive countries or ‘kalyana manap’ difficulties involved in collecting number of items necessary for the conduct of a traditional type of marriage – all must have added to this new trend in marriage. Hence marriage ceremony in cities is tending more towards modernity than to traditionalist.

Huge amount is spent [sometimes running to a couple of thousands, and even a few lakhs] on the ceremony to make it a ‘grand gala’. Money is spent lavishly, for decorating marriage manap, putting up pandals, arranging grand dinner, take- home sweets, music orchestra, video shooting, photography, marriage procession, etc.

The duration of marriage ceremony is also cut short in city. Elaborate customs are either avoided or shortened. Then, the whole ceremony is over within a couple of hours. It is rarely stretched over for several days.

It is generally observed that in a city a bigger number of instances of divorce, desertion, sepa­ration etc. are found than in a village. There is greater scope for developing pre-martial and extra- martial sex relations in cities.

3. Role of Education:

Modern education has played its role in initiating some changes in marriage. It is through modern education that some of the modern values and western ideologies such as rationalism, indi­vidualism, equality of sex, democracy, individual freedom, secularism, etc., have influenced the outlook of our educated young men and women.

Hence, they want to take their independent deci­sions on the main events of their life such as line of education, job and marriage. Thus our educated youths have their own views and stand on matters like to marry or not to marry, when to marry, whom to marry, how to marry etc. They do not want their families to decide these matters.

Educated youths do not hesitate to go beyond the boundaries of family ties to select for them suitable life-partners. For this purpose they sometimes contact “marriage bureaus” and give adver­tisements in the matrimonial columns of the newspapers.

In the circle of the college educated young men and women marriage is becoming a simple ceremony losing many of its rigid traditional customs. They give more importance to personal pref­erences and choices in marriage rather than to the gotra rules, family traditions and rules of horo­scope. Some of them are even ready for intercaste marriages and if necessary, even for registered marriages.

Modern education has influenced marriage in different ways. Parents cannot impose any un­wanted marriage on their educated daughters in the name of “family decision or prestige”. Well educated people are expected not to insist on dowry in marriage. In India paradoxically, higher educated modern men demand a higher dowry than the uneducated or less educated.

Educated and employed women are also not able to resist such a demand. They normally yield to its pressure and some of them even become victims of dowry disasters. Instances of divorce, desertion and separa­tion are found in a larger number in the circle of educated persons than in the midst of the unedu­cated.

4. Influences of Legislations on Marriage:

Many of the beliefs, values, ideals and rules of marriage laid down by the Hindu shastrakaras have lost their original meaning and purpose now. As a result, the Hindu marriage has developed some defects.

Attempts were also made by some of the social reformers to remove these defects and correct the system. During the British rule and also after independence legislations were passed in order to bring about desirable modifications in the Hindu marriage system.

The laws enacted in India relate to: (i) age at marriage; (ii) field of mate selection; (iii) number of spouses in marriage; (iv) breaking of marriage; (v) dowry to be given and taken and (v) remar­riage. The most important legislations relating to these six aspects of marriage passed from time to time could be briefly explained here.

1. The Prevention of Sati Act 1829:

The glorification of the ideal of “Pativratya” had led to the inhuman practice of “Sati”. Widows were often forced to make a vow or “sankalpa” to die after their husbands. Some were forcibly pushed to their husbands’ funeral pyres. Famous Brahmo Samajist, Sri Raja Ram Mohan Roy took up the cause of women and impressed upon Lord Bentick who was the then British Governor General of India to bring out a legislation prohibiting the practice of “Sati”.

The Prevention of Sati Act, 1829 made the burning or burying alive of widows cupable homi­cide punishable with fine and / or imprisonment. This legilsation could save the lives of a number of widows though it could not immediately stop the practice in total.

2. The Hindu Widow Remarriage Act – 1856:

This legislation was complementary to the previous legislation, that is, ‘Prevention of Sati Act of 1829. Though widows were saved from the jaws of death they were subject to exploitation and humiliation. To remove the deplorable condition of the Hindu widows, a leading social reformer of the day, Pandit Ishwara Chandra Vidya Sagar brought pressure on the British Government to make legal provision for widow marriages. The Hindu Widow Remarriage Act of 1856 was hence passed.

3. The Civil [or Special] Marriage Act, 1872:

This legislation treated Hindu marriage as a “civil marriage” and provided legal permission for intercaste, inter-religious and even “registered” marriages. [This Act was repealed by the Special Marriage Act of 1954. According to this Act, the parties interested in registered marriage must notify the marriage officer at least one month before the date of the marriage. It insists on the presence of two witnesses for marriage],

4. The Child Marriage Restraint Act -1929:

This Act came into force on April 1, 1930. The Act restrains the marriage of a child. According to this Act, marriage of boys under 18 and girls under 14 years of age was an offence.

Latest Amendment:

The Act was amended in 1978 which further raised the age for boys to 21 years and for girls to 18 years. The violation of this Act prescribes penalty. It provides punish­ment [three months of simple imprisonment and a fine of upto Rs. 1000/-] for bridegroom, parent, guardian and the priest who are party to the marriage. No woman is, however, punishable with imprisonment under this Act.

5. The Hindu Marriage Act – 1955:

This Act which came into force from May 18, 1955 brought revolutionary changes not only in the martial relations but also in various other social as­pects. This Act applies to the whole of India, except Jammu and Kashmir. The word “Hindu” in the Act includes Jains, Sikhs, Budhists and the Scheduled Castes.

i. Conditions for valid marriage as provided in this Act. (1) neither party has a spouse living; (2) neither party [bridegroom or bride] is an idiot or a lunatic; (3) the groom must have completed 21 years and the bride 18 years of age as per the 1978 Amendment brought to this Act; (4) the parties should not be ‘sapindas’ of each other unless the custom permits such a marriage.

ii. Conditions under which divorce is permitted as per this Act. (i) The spouse must have been impotent at the time of marriage and continues to be so even afterwards; (ii) party to the mar­riage was an idiot or lunatic at the time of marriage (iii) consent of the petitioner or of the guardian was obtained by force or fraud; (v) the wife was pregnant by some person other than the petititoner at the time of marriage.

iii. Other conditions providing for divorce. The dissolution of marriage may be obtained on. the grounds of adultery, conversion of religion, unsound mind, leprosy, venereal disease, renuncia­tion, desertion for seven years and cohabitation not resumed after two years after judicial separation.

iv. Other important aspects of marriage, (i) This Act gives permission for intercaste and inter- religions marriages; (ii) It provides for equality of sex; (iii) It provides equal rights for men and women in marriage, divorce or separation; (iv) Its 1986 amendment permits divorce on the ground of incompatibility and mutual consent; (v) During judicial separation and after divorce, both hus­band and wife have the right to claim maintenance allowance.

6. The Dowry Prohibition Act – 1961:

This Act which prohibits the practice of dowry was passed on May 20th 1961. The Act does not apply to Muslims. It permits exchange of gifts for not more than Rs. 2000. It prescribes the penalty of 6 months imprisonment or a fine upto Rs. 5,000/- or both for its violation. This Act got amended in 1986 and thereafter its rules have become still more stringent.

The above mentioned legislations in addition to many other social legislations, have affected the Hindu marriage in several ways. These legislations, however, have not transformed it into a mere legal contract. The Hindu beliefs and values relating to marriage are still alive and legislations have only strengthened it by removing some of the anomalies associated with it.