World Wonders Web

Marriage Customs

The strength of human society can be rightly pointed out as the earnest and innate desire to live together as a community and a family forms the basic unit of the same. From time immortal humans cherished relationships and were serious about parenting. Unlike animals, humans were looking more from a male-female relationship than just procreation. And thus emerged the concept of marriage where a male and a female come together in love and harmony taking care of children and bettering life.

It is interesting to note that though the objective of any marriage around the glob is the same, the customs related to the same is so much varied and different from place to place. From the time we could imagine, humans always related each and every walk of life with some form of rituals. And especially as marriage is considered as the most auspicious of them all, it is natural that lots of rites and rituals are connected with the same. Most of these rituals are religious in nature but are largely and in some cases solemnly influenced by regional customs. The most striking example of this could be the vast difference in Christian marriage across the world.

Marriage could be defined as committed relationship between or among individuals, recognized by civil authority and/or bound by the religious beliefs of the participants. This dual nature, a binding legal contract plus a moral promise, makes marriage difficult to characterize. Philosophically a marriage is more a commitment than a contract and should be considered so for the success of the same.

In western societies, marriage has traditionally been understood as a monogamous union between a man (husband) and a woman (wife), while in other parts of the world polygamy has been a common form of marriage. Usually this has taken the form of polygyny (a man having several wives) but a very few societies have permitted polyandry (a woman having several husbands).

But in the modern society people opt to be monogamous and are increasingly serious and conscious about the purity of marriage. Modern understanding emphasizes the legitimacy of sexual relations in marriage, though during the ancient days  it was not so in most parts of the world. Now globally, most existing societies no longer legally allow polygamy as a form of marriage, though Muslim communities are an exception. Yet the universal attribute of marriage is the creation of ‘affinal ties’ (in-laws). In modern times, the term marriage is generally reserved for a union that is formally recognized by the state (although some people disagree). The phrase legally married can be used to emphasize this point.

The ceremony in which a marriage is enacted and announced to the community is called a wedding. A wedding in which a couple marries in the “eyes of the law” is called a civil marriage. Religions also facilitate weddings, in the “eyes of God.” In many European and some Latin American countries, where someone chooses a religious ceremony, they must also hold that ceremony separate from the civil ceremony. Certain countries, like Belgium, Bulgaria and the Netherlands even legally demand that the civil marriage has to take place before any religious marriage. In some countries, notably the United States, the United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland, India and Spain both ceremonies can be held together; the official at the religious and community ceremony also serves as an agent of the state to enact the civil marriage. That does not mean that the state is “recognizing” religious marriages; the “civil” ceremony just takes place at the same time as the religious ceremony. Often this involves simply signing a register during the religious ceremony. If that civil element of the full ceremony is left out for any reason, in the eyes of the law no marriage took place, irrespective of the holding of the religious ceremony.

Whilst some countries, such as Australia, permit marriages to be held in private and at any location, others, including England, require that the civil ceremony be conducted in a place specially sanctioned by law (ie. a church or registry office), and be open to the public. An exception can be made in the case of marriage by special emergency license, which is normally granted only when one of the parties is terminally ill. Rules about where and when persons can marry vary from place to place. Some regulations require that one of the parties reside in the locality of the registry office. Because of Australia’s very relaxed rules on marriage, many famous people, including Michael Jackson, have opted to marry in Australia, so as to have a private ceremony.

In the west the way in which a marriage is enacted has changed over time, as has the institution of marriage itself. In Europe during the Middle Ages, marriage was enacted by the couple promising verbally to each other that they would be married to each other; the presence of a priest or other witnesses was not required if circumstances prevented it. This promise was known as the “verbum”. If made in the present tense (“I marry you”, it was unquestionably binding; if made in the future tense (“I will marry you”), it would, by itself constitute a betrothal, but if the couple proceeded to have sexual relations, the union was a marriage. As part of the Reformation, the role of recording marriages and setting the rules for marriage passed to the state; by the 1600s many of the Protestant European countries had heavy state involvement in marriage. As part of the Counter-Reformation, the Catholic Church added a requirement of witnesses to the promise, which under normal circumstances had to include the priest.

In a sociological point of view, marriage is considered as the institution through which people join together their lives in emotional and economic ways through forming a household. It often confers rights and obligations with respect to raising children, holding property, sexual behavior, kinship ties, tribal membership, relationship to society, inheritance, emotional intimacy, and love.

Many societies provide for the termination of marriage through divorce. Marriages can also be annulled or cancelled, which is a legal proceeding that establishes that a marriage was invalid from its beginning.

In all modern societies marriage is considered and cherished as a dignified male-female relation forming the basic unit of the society – family. More and more importance is being given in spreading the need and values of a healthy marriage life and government organization as well as social groups are doing a lot in this regard.

Now we shall discuss about interesting marriage customs prevailing in various places across the glob.