Indian wedding culture: What are the unique indigenous wedding methods in India?

India’s indigenous weddings are so unique and eye-opening. Marriage can also be done through military service, so that’s fine. India also recognizes elopement marriages. In ancient China, elopement was never easily recognized by society. Although marriage by exchange of relatives occurs in some rural areas in China, it is rare. The following introduces the other three types of Indian indigenous marriage customs: service marriage, exchange marriage and elopement marriage.

Service marriage: After marriage, the groom first works and serves in his father-in-law's house. After a certain period of time, which is equivalent to paying the girl's price, he can take his wife home. This is a marriage custom developed on the basis of buying and selling marriages. Some young men with financial difficulties have to resort to this method because they cannot afford the girl's price. Of course, some served before marriage. That is, after a young man goes to his wife's house, he has to do all the work he can do. The length of service varies. Finally, the income from labor is paid as the girl's worth. Once the worth is paid in full, the marriage can be completed. Today, poor people among the Gond, Baiga, Lingkaur, Guj and Ayemar minorities in India still use this method to get married. There is a popular method among the Bierhaur tribe in which the future father-in-law lends the girl's net worth to the future son-in-law, which actually falls into this category. That is, after the man borrows a debt, he has to work at the woman's house to pay off the debt. The period of work is indefinite until the debt is paid off. Today this custom is still popular among the Gujjars of Himachal Pradesh and the Kos of Uttar Pradesh.

Exchange marriage: This is a method in which girls from two families are exchanged for marriage, that is, a girl from family A is married to family B, and a girl from family B is betrothed to family A. In this way, the two families exchange each other and avoid paying the girl's price. Poor families often use this method. In India, except for the Ghassi people who are prohibited from using this method, most other ethnic minorities use it.

Elopement marriage: A man and a woman fall in love. Due to opposition from their parents or because they cannot afford the girl's price, the lovers flee to another place and get married. After a while, when you return home, society will recognize you. At this time, the parents naturally had no choice but to agree. This method of marriage does not involve any ceremony. Today it is still quite popular among the Munda, Huo, Santal and other ethnic minorities. In the past, child marriage was not popular among ethnic minorities, so the above-mentioned marriage methods were quite common. Today, due to the prevalence of child marriage, this method of marriage is declining day by day.