2016, Vol. 2, Issue 6, Part A

author(s)
Milan Barman

abstract
The Saṃskāras are necessary for the purification of both the body and mind. Vivāha Saṃskāra is an important Saṃskāra in our life. Vivāha or Marriage is accepted as a religious obligation by the ancient compilers of Hindu Law. In the period of the Dharmasūtras, It makes a man eligible to become a worthy member of the society in the householder’s status of life, it helps him in the performance of those religious rites which are only to be discharged by a man with his wife. The Hindu marriage has undergone change from earlier period to present day legislation. The Hindu marriage Act, 1955 received the assent of the president on the 18th May, 1955 and from that date it became a law. When this act has brought the ground of divorce, the sacramental nature of Hindu marriage has gone as it one of the characteristics of the Hindu marriage that it is a permanent and indivisible union. Thus the Hindu marriage in the present scenario cannot be said a sacramental marriage, but also a contractual one.