According to R.N. Sharma a Hindu marriage is a religious sacrament in which a man and a woman are bound in permanent relationship for the physical, social and spiritual purposes of dharma, procreation and sexual pleasure.

Old Vedic Age:

According to Apasthamba, Marriage was meant for doing a good deed and for the attainment of Moksha.

1. It was required for each Hindu Through which his all around led life .Advances to its selected end. In Hinduism .The spouse is considered ardhangini, half of her pouse and offers with him similarly, the Products of every one of his demonstrations, fortunate or unfortunate.
   
   The Method of reasoning behind such a hallowed Character was to make the companion Truly, mystically and profoundly joined together. Along these lines marriage is a relationship for life here What’s more, from now on, gainful of full association With worldly and divine rights and obligations. It Was held that the marriage was the remainder of Ten ceremonies ordered by the Hindu Religion sanitizing the body from acquired corrupt.
    
2. A Hindu marriage is viewed as a strict holy observance .A Hindu marriage is considered legitimate and complete just when certain strict rituals like home,  Panigrahana, Saptapadi and so forth are appropriately performed by a Brahmin with Agni Devata taking cognizance of the rituals. 
    
3. a reference to Manu shows that there is really an endowment of the lady of the hour. In this way, a fundamental piece of the wedding service is what is called kanyadan. Such kanyadan satisfies all the prerequisites of a blessing under the Hindu Law.
   
   
   • There are three attributes of the hallowed idea of marriage:
     
     1. It is a suffering obligation of the couple which is perpetual and tied significantly after death and they will stay together after the passing.
     2. Once it is tied can’t be loosened.
     3. It is a strict and heavenly association of the lady and lucky man which is important to be performed by strict functions and ceremonies.
         
   • Ceremonies to be acted in a Hindu Marriage
      
   • Marriage in the Hindu religion is a holy tie performed by specific functions and rituals which are important for a legitimate marriage.
      
   • There are three significant stages wherein certain services are to be performed.
      
   • Sagai – Hindu commitment is a significant pre-wedding custom in Indian culture, it is a kind of culture where the lady of the hour and man of the hour meet and are locked in with a strict bond by one another’s families. The Hindu convention of Vagdanam goes back to Vedic period where the husband to be’s dad gives their words to the lady of the hour’s dad that they will acknowledge their girl and will be liable for their future prosperity. There are different terms which are utilized rather than commitment in better places like Mangi, Sagai, Ashirbad, Nishchayam and so forth.
      

   • Kanyadan:

     The word kanyadan comprises of two words-Kanya which is lady or young lady and daan which implies gift. It is the gift of a young lady. It is a deep rooted convention where the lady of the hour’s dad presents his girl to the husband to be, giving him duty regarding her future prosperity. It is an enthusiastic and nostalgic loaded custom which perceives the penance a dad makes so as to guarantee her little girl’s bliss. It is followed till now from the Vedic occasions. It is a necessary piece of customary Hindu marriage.
      

   • Saptapadi:

     Saptapadi is a significant and indispensable part of a normal Hindu marriage. It is a movement which is embraced by the lady of the hour and lucky man before the fire god, where couples circumvent the consecrated fire multiple times while recounting certain promises. This development is otherwise called phera. Fire or Agni is considered profoundly consecrated in the Hindu religion, promises taken before the Agni are unbreakable. The lord of fire, Agni deva is viewed as an observer to be solemnization of the marriage just as a delegate of the preeminent being to give his approval to the love bird couple.
      

   • Sacramental character applies  in a Hindu marriage:

     1. The ceremonies of the Hindu marriage additionally mirror its hallowed character.
        
        There are sure ceremonies which must be performed for union with be finished. The fundamental customs are homa, offering of the hand of the lady of the hour and saptapadi, the lady of the hour and spouse going seven stages together.
        
        Every one of these customs are performed by a Brahmin within the sight of the consecrated fire and are joined by the Vedic Mantras The Hindus lay such a great amount of accentuation on these ceremonies that when any of these rituals are not appropriately played out, the marriage might be legitimately addressed.
         
     2. The Hindu marriage is additionally viewed as a ceremony in another sense. A Hindu male experiences the exhibition of a few holy observances over a mind-blowing span. These start with the laying of hatchling and end with the incineration of his body. In the middle of the laying of embryo (Garbhadhana) and incineration (Antyesthi) lie a few sanskaras (ceremonies) and marriage happens to be the most huge and fundamental among them. Additionally, marriage is supposed to be basic for ladies since that is the main ceremony performed by them.
         
     3. The holy idea of the Hindu marriage suggests that as marriage is supposed to be hallowed it is unalterable, the gatherings to the marriage can’t break up it freely. They are bound to one another until the passing of both of them; and the spouse should be bound to her better half much in the afterlife. After the solemnization of marriage, the couple is respected to be one character and as a result of that reason the ‘gotra’ of the wife is converged into the status and character of the husband.
        
        In the past the association was considered so holy that the disintegration of marriage brought about by reasons other than death was viewed as in opposition to the law of God and nature:
        
        • Legal aspects of sacramental character of marriage :In Tikait v. Basant, ILR 28 Cal. 758,Court held that marriage under Hindu law.
          
          Was a sacrament, an indissoluble union of Flesh with flesh, bone with a bone to be Continued even in the next world.
          
          In Shivonandh v. Bhagawanthumma, AIR (1962) Mad. 400 case, the Court observed That marriage was binding for life because a Marriage performed by saptapadi before the Consecrated fire was a religious tie which Could never be united. The sacramental marriage among Hindu
           
        • Has three main characteristics:
          
          1. It is a permanent union. That means, it Cannot be dissolved on any ground Whatsoever;
          2. It is an eternal union (Janmajanmantar Bondhari), extending to a series of Births. On this basis widows’ Remarriages, were not recognized.
          3. It was a holy or sacrosanct union.
             
             Modern era: The idea of current marriage is legally binding. Hence, it acknowledges the possibility of balance and freedom. It has been embraced because of western Thoughts. There must be an understanding of deliberately going into it by the two gatherings.
             
             In this way, the Hindu marriage isn’t an agreement nor is it a holy observance. Yet, it tends to be said it is a similarity to both.
              
        • Section 5 and 12 of the Hindu Marriage Act, are the appropriate arrangements to decide if Hindu marriage is holy observance or agreement. Clause 2 section 5 of the Hindu Marriage Act manages the psychological limit of the gatherings. It says that neither gathering to the marriage must be unequipped for giving a legitimate assent in outcome of unsoundness of brain. Further provision 3 of area 5 counts that the groom has finished the age of twenty-one years and the lady of the hour, the age of eighteen years at the hour of the marriage.
           
        • On the other hand, according to section 10 and 11 of the Indian Contract Act, 1872 an agreement by a minor or an awkward individual is void. In any case, as indicated by section 12 of the Hindu Marriage Act a marriage of a minor or unsound individual is voidable and not void. Along these lines, in spite of the fact that assent is fundamental however without assent, marriage turns out to be just voidable and gathering to the marriage can regard their marriage as a substantial marriage. Hindu marriage isn’t simply an agreement
           

        • Legal aspect of hindu marriage act 1955:

          1. In Dhanjit Vadra v. Beena Vadra, AIR 1990 Del. 146 at 151 the Court cited observations Of a division bench of the Andhra Pradesh High Court: Section 13-B radically altered The legal basis of a Hindu marriage by Treating it as an ordinary form of contract Which competent parties can enter into and Put an end to like any other contract by Mutual consent.
              
          2. In Purushottamdas v. Purushottamdas, 21 Bom 23 case, the Court observed that the Marriage of Hindu children is a contract Made by their parents.
          3. In Bhagwati saran Singh v. Parmeshwari Nandar Singh 1942 ILR All 518 case, the Court held that a Hindu marriage is not only A sacrament but also a contract.
              
          4. In Muthusami v. Masilamani 33 Mad 342 Case observed that marriage, whatever else It is, i.e. sacrament, and institution, is Undoubtedly a contract entered into for Consideration, with co-relative rights and Duties.

In most of the Hindu marriages a religious ceremony is still the sine quo non.
So, it can be concluded that though Hindu marriage has some of the elements of a contract but it is not purely a contract. It is more of a sacrament as Hindu marriage is a holy and eternal union of two bodies.

Authentication No: AG022270143363-1-820