Of the sixteen Samskaras in the life of a Rajasthani, marriage is the most sacred and the most important. It is considered a religious and social obligation on every able bodied person to get married. The normal type of marriage is one arranged by parents, usually within the same caste. Marriages are arranged through the good offices of a Bhat, Charan or Purohit. The family priest compares the horoscopes of the boy and the girl and if they tally, the marriage is settled. There is no fixed age for marriage, but normally girls are married at the age of eighteen and boys at twenty-one in cites and towns. In rural areas, child marriages although banned by law are still very common, specially in tribal areas. GAUNA If a girl is married before she attains puberty, she stays with her family. After she attains puberty, the bridegroom is invited to take her away. The bridegroom comes with a party of friends and relatives. Presents are given to him, and the women of the family and locality assemble at the bride's residence to greet him and his party and sing songs. INTER-CASTE MARRIAGEInter-caste marriages are not very common in Rajasthan, but they are becoming increasingly popular and acceptable. Among the educated and enlightened who want to break caste barriers, such marriages are no longer very rare. On the other hand, they are welcome. MARRIAGE CEREMONIESIn Rajasthan from the engagement to the marriage there are a long chain of ceremonies. The most important of them are, the Sagai, Tika, Toran-bandana, Saptapadi and Gauna. There are numerous minor ceremonies which have been traditionally observed in rural areas. SAGAI (ENGAGEMENT)The engagement ceremony is brief and simple. When the family priest informs the parents of the boy and the girl that the horoscopes tally the marriage is settled. The father of the girl then sends the boy's father a coconut , a coloured turban, clothes, ornaments, dry fruits, sweets, paan etc. In some families, the engagement ceremony is performed by presenting only a coconut and some money, the coconut being the main symbol of engagement. TIKAThe next most important ceremony is the Tika or Tilak. On an auspicious day, representatives of the bride's family come to the bridegroom's house and perform the Tika ceremony. They put a vermilion mark on the bridegroom's forehead and offer caps, clothes and sweets, as presents from the father of the bride. The relatives and friends of the bridegroom assemble to watch this ceremony. Later they are given a grand feast to mark the occasion. TORAN BANDANA( RECEPTION)This colourful ceremony is performed at the bride's house, when the bridegroom arrives with his marriage procession. He comes riding a horse with a sword in hand. Seated on the horse he touches the Toran (a wooden crown which hangs at the main entrance to the house ) with his sword seven times. The mother of the bride receives the bridegroom and anoints his forehead with curd and mustard. SAPTAPADI (MARRIAGE) Under a beautifully decorated canopy, havan is performed and the bridegroom takes the hand of the bride and the oath of marriage in the name of God. Then the bride and bridegroom go round the fire seven times (Saptapadi). During the first three rounds, the bride leads the bridegroom and in the last four rounds, the bridegroom leads the bride. During these marriage rounds the priest recites mantras from the Vedas. During the first three rounds, the bride belongs to her own family but with the fourth round, she becomes the wife of the groom. DOWRY SYSTEM Marriage is a very expensive affair in Rajasthan because of the dowry system. The dowry is often unbearable burden on the parents of the girl who have to pay a large sum to get their daughter married. The parents of the girl are virtually ruined because they have to take loans on exorbitant interest from money-lenders and to repay the loans and the interest, they have to sell their property. DIVORCE Rajasthan can easily claim to be the most advanced state in the country in the matter of divorce. In this state, divorce was permitted when there was mal-adjustment, mutual antipathy, mental and physical disparity, willful desertion, conviction for infamous crime, habitual drunkenness, impotency and insanity. It was not permitted in the Brahmin and Vaishya communities.
In Kota, divorce was common among the lower castes as revealed from the records of the eighteenth century. Divorce was permitted by law when the property which the wives had brought with them when they got married was restored, and tax paid to the state. NATA (RE-MARRIAGE) After divorce, one could marry again. In some castes the Nata system is in vogue, especially among the Rajputs, Jats, Gujjars, Meenas and Bhils. According to this system, a wife can divorce her husband and live with another man of her choice as his wife, without going through the formalities of a marriage. This system is very popular in the rural areas because it does not entail any expenditure. This is marriage by mutual consent without the pomp and show of marriage. A widow can also live with a man as his wife without a formal wedding ceremony. This is known as Nata in Rajasthan. |
