ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses some aspects of marriage, namely, mate selection, age of marriage, propinquity, interkin marriage, wedding customs and rituals. It examines the attitudes toward dowry, intercaste marriage, and divorce and widow remarriage. The age of marriage is closely related to the patterns of arranged marriages. The age of first marriage of girls and boys has been varying in time and space and it differs with caste, class, customs and language. A striking feature is the high frequency of uncle-niece marriages followed by matrilateral cross-cousin marriages. Relatively speaking, patrilateral cross-cousin marriages and other types of kin marriages are less in number. Dowry is a well-established institution among the Brahmans. The Brahman middle class and working class families with many daughters are hard hit by the dowry system. The social, economic and psychological stresses and strains experienced by parents and daughters on account of dowry have increased.
