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MARRIAGE
Marriage is
conceived as a sanskar wherein an individual is made to perform an important
task of perpetualising his patriline. By attaining marital status he fulfils the
essential which Manu has recommended.
Marriage within
an endogamous group is performed with a view to keep racial party. Violation of
this rule often results into excommunication in many castes living in villages.
Exogamy is permitted but it is always a complicated matter to find out a match
outside one's own kin group. A village is usually treated as an exogamous unit
from where girls may be selected. Among the same gotra, marriage is not strictly
prohibited in the agricultural communities of central Madhya Pradesh. The
gotra is understood to be a wider link that a clan maintains. Within the same
link there is always another close link of gotra in which marriage relation is
not permissible. Two brothers
could marry two sisters or giving and taking could be done by mutual arrangement, by a brother and sister marrying a pair of sibling.
The orthodox
section of the Hindu communities follows the Vedic system. Among the enlightened
section the marriage is arranged either by willing couples or by their elders.
Marriage by elopement is still prevalent in the Bhils of the Vindhyas, but it
is confirmed only after the bride-price is ceremonially paid off. Members of the
same sect and totem are not allowed to marry.
The Raj Gonds
have adopted the Hindu ceremonial. In Bastar and Chanda the primitive form of
marriage is still in vogue, though the procedure is now merely symbolical. The
most distinctive feature of a Gond wedding is that the procession usually starts
from the bride's house and the ceremony is performed at that of the bridegroom.
When a Gond wishes to marry his children he first looks to his sisters children,
when he considers himself entitled to demand for his own, such a marriage being
called 'bringing back the milk'.
Marriage and
cohabitation together are rare except among some animistic tribes. Premarital
relations are possible within certain tribal groups like the Muria and that too
in their Ghotul premises. But when the relations reach to assume marital
position, the wedding ceremony becomes absolutely necessary through their
elders. In the Abujhmar the boy's parent visit the parents of the girl and
present a pot of mahua liquor. If the pot is accepted and all other things are
agreeably settled the boy and girl are declared betrothed. Paithu or Paisa Mundi
is a type of marriage in which a girl goes of her own to her lover's house to
live with him. Kytiyari form is an extension of cross-cousin marriage. This Muria
form may be compared with the dudh lotana (bringing back the milk) form of the
Gonds.
The actual
marriage ceremony ranges from the most lengthy and elaborate practices to very
simple ones, but the essential rites are the same. Use of turmeric and oil and
the perambulation of the sacred fire or the pole and all such rituals emphasize
the unity of the couple. The feast depends primarily on the availability of
funds and secondarily on the customs and traditions of the respective
groups.
Among
the Korkens tribe of Madhya Pradesh, the father of the girl catches hold of a
capable boy and brings him home. He is called Lamsena. If the Lamsena likes the
girl, he has to fulfill two conditions. Firstly, he has to serve as a household
servant for 6-12 months, then he has to prove that he has the capacity of a
grown man (manhood). To prove his manhood, he has full liberty to have
intercourse with the girl, but if the girl does not become pregnant within one
year, then Lamsena is made to flee and a new one is caught instead.
There
is another tradition among the Korkens, where the girl gets into the house of
her fiancé. If the boy agrees to marry, the marriage is settled. Otherwise the
boy has to leave his house and the village/tribe and whole of his property
becomes that of the girl. A similar tradition is that the father of the girl
sends the daughter away to search for a life companion . Among some Korkens, the
father of the girl selects a boy himself. After getting a suitable boy, the
terms of payment are settled and the father of the boy takes away the
bride.
DIVORCE AND REMARRIAGE
Divorce is
permitted on acceptable grounds in every community. It is more convenient in the
Adivasis of the state. Remarriage of a widow or a divorced women is no more a
problem.
In central
Malwa, there is a large number of castes popularly known as natra castes. Natra
is the local form of secondary marriage for women and there is a good deal of
difference in the social and ceremonial aspect of biyah or lagan (first
marriage) and natra. Biyah is the approved ceremonial form of marriage and natra
is a conventional device for the remarriage of divorced women and widows. Natra
has its ritual idiom.
Among the
Murias, a similar marriage is called pani-bihao. A widow may marry the younger
brother of her dead husband, which is not a taboo in many tribes and
agricultural communities. The dissolution of marriage is done by the mutual
settlement and in consultation with caste elders by both the parties. A paper
required to be signed by the surrender of the claims is a customary practice.
The paper is called faragati, meaning disengagement.
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