8 Types Of Marriages In Hinduism

Wednesday, September 25, 2013, 15:38 [IST]

Though the concept of marriage changed with time, marriage remains a crucial part of our life. Marriage holds a very special place in almost every culture. In the Hindu culture, it is one of the most crucial rites de passage in a person's life. After marriage, a man as well as a woman enter a new sphere of life.

According to the Hindu scriptures, a man and a woman should get married only when they have completed their education. This basically means that a marriage should take place only when both the individuals are able to take up the responsibilities. They should love and respect each other. By complimenting each other in various spheres of life, husband and wife should work towards making their marriage successful.

Talking of Hindu marriages, it is interesting to know that ancient Hindu texts tell us about various forms of marriages. Many of you will be surprised to know that there are 8 different types of marriages in Hinduism. Let us take a look at these 8 types of marriages in Hinduism:

Brahma Vivah

It has the most supreme type of matrimony among all the eight types of marriages. In this type of marriage, the groom's family search for a suitable girl for their boy. Then the father of the bride invites the potential groom to his house. After making sure that the groom is a learned man and is of good conduct, the father gets his daughter married to him.

Daiva Vivah

It is an inferior type of marriage. The bride's family wait for a specific time to get her married. In that time if she is not able to find a suitable groom for herself, then she is married off to a priest during a sacrifice.

Arsha Vivah

In this type of marriage, the girl is married to the sages. The bride is given in the exchange of two cows. Since this type of marriage involves business transactions, it is not considered a noble matrimony.

Prajapatya Vivah

In this kind of marriage, the girl's father goes in search of a suitable groom. Since here the girl's father goes in search of a suitable guy, it is also considered as an inferior type of marriage.

Asur Vivah

In this type of marriage, the girl's family receives gifts and money from the groom. Due to this most of the times the groom is no match for the bride. But since the family receives money, the girl is forced to marry the mismatched groom.

Gandharv Vivah

The modern form of this type of marriage is love marriage. A boy and girl get married in secret irrespective of whether the families agree to it or not.