MONOGAMY

The word ‘monogamy’ generally means a relationship with one partner at a time. monogamy
refers to the practice of having only one husband or wife at a time. It is a form
of marriage that is well known to everyone in the modern world. Leaving a few
exceptions, most societies these days follow this form of marriage. For example,
in India, Hindus and Christians follow the monogamous form of marriage. In
fact, Christians all over the world follow this practice. Among the other forms,
monogamous marriages are the norm in the modern world. As a form of marriage,
monogamy is found in almost all countries across the world and is also the most accepted form
of marriage. Many sociologists consider it the most enduring (long lasting) form of marriage,
which ensures that children get maximum attention and care by the parents. Even aged parents
are better looked after under this system of marriage. In the early days, marriages
normally involved multiple partners. From the Christian perspective, monogamy
became the norm somewhere between the 6th and the 9th centuries. It was the
outcome of a tussle between the Catholic Church and the nobility, who
preferred having multiple wives. Marriages in those days were arranged for
various economic or political reasons. This practice of arranging marriages is
continued to this date in various cultures all over the world.

As per the history of Hinduism, the concept of monogamy has prevailed since
the Vedic period (1500-500 BCE). Even though other forms of marriage like
polygyny and bigamy have been permitted under certain conditions, monogamy
has been the dominant form of marriage.

Ancient Greece and Rome are the places from where socially imposed
monogamy originated. It was done based on the belief that monogamous
groups were at an advantage because fewer men would leave the group to
search for wives. This also meant that they would be available for battle and
pay taxes, which wouldn’t be the case if men left the group too often in order to
find more wives. With the emergence of Christianity in the Roman Empire, the
practice of monogamy was promoted even more widely than before.

India is the birthplace of Hinduism, which preaches that monogamy is the best
form of marriage. India is the birthplace of Hinduism, which preaches that
monogamy is the best form of marriage.

The Hindu Marriage Act, 1955, was brought into existence to regulate marriages
of Hindu people. This provision entails that neither party is allowed to marry
someone else if they already have a spouse. To be eligible for another marriage,
a married person will have to obtain a divorce first to be eligible for another
marriage. So, this provision of the Act prohibits bigamy, polygamy, and
polyandry, whereas it provides for only monogamous marriages. any bigamous
marriage of Hindus IS void and is a punishable offence
In Islam, monogamy is the general rule, and according to the Quran, polygamy
may be permitted if a man is capable of taking good care of multiple wives.
According to Muslim laws, a Muslim man can have a maximum of four wives,
whereas a Muslim woman can have only one husband at a time. So we can say
that only polygyny is permitted and polyandry is not. Hence, monogamy is to be
followed compulsorily by women.

Monogamy, being the most common form of marriage, is becoming the norm in
most societies. The other forms are losing their popularity as time passes. One
of the reasons could be that having more partners would complicate a lot of
things, like maintenance, transfer of property, nomination, etc. The laws are
being simplified to deal with things effectively, and this is an outcome of that.
For the most part in the modern era, monogamy has been the dominant form of
marriage, leaving the middle east countries as exceptions.

There are two variations of monogamy: serial monogamy and non-serial

monogamy.
(i) Serial Monogamy:

Serial monogamous marriage allows for the option of remarrying in the event
of divorce or the death of a spouse. Despite remarrying, the individual
continues to practice monogamy.

(ii) Non-serial Monogamy:

In non-serial monogamy, the concept of remarriage is not relevant for either

partner involved. In this type of relationship, a person remains married to the
same spouse throughout their lifetime.

POLYGAMY
In recent times, several judgments clearly stated that there should be no
concept of multiple marriages by the same male. While it was fine for almost all
people belonging to all religions other than Islam, the people practicing Islam
were protesting against it because it was previously permissible under their
personal laws. Polygamy refers to a form of marriage, where there are more than one spouse, i.e.,
either more than one husband or more than one wife. The practice of polygamy has been
prevalent all over the world for many years, but now it has been criminalized in
most countries as well under the various religions. This is so because, over the
years, people realized that polygamy was highly unfair to the multiple spouses
who were married to a single individual.

Polygamy could primarily be practiced in three forms namely polygyny,

polyandry, and group marriages. Under the Indian Laws, all these three forms of
polygamy are illegal except for the Muslims and the Hindus in Goa

POLYGYNY

It refers to a form of polygamy under which one male is married to multiple

wives. During the Medieval period, this was also very prominent among the
Hindu rulers and stood as a symbol of their richness because it was only the
affluent who could sustain multiple wives.
Polygyny is of two types:

(i) Sororal Polygyny

Sororal polygyny is commonly referred to as a surrogate. The term “surrogate”

originates from the Latin word “sorer,” which means sister. Consequently, it
denotes a marital custom where a man marries his wife’s sisters either
simultaneously or following the death of his wife.

(ii) Non-Sororal Polygyny:

Non-sororal polygyny is the opposite of sororal polygyny. In non-sororal

polygyny, a man marries multiple women simultaneously who may or may not
be sisters to each other

Polyandry:

Polyandry is a type of marriage in which one woman marries more than one man. It is a system
where there is one wife but many husbands: This type of marriage exists among some primitive
tribes (Todas of Malabar Hills) and in countries such as Tibet. In the Kinnaur region of
Himachal Pradesh, fraternal polyandry was followed, under which the brothers
in a family married one woman and had one wife among them. This was
primarily to ensure that there was no division of land among the brothers. Even
in the Mahabharata, all the five Pandava brothers married Draupadi, which is
one of the oldest examples of polyandry in India. However, this is very small in
number as compared to polygyny, which reflects the discrimination on the basis
of sex in polygamy.

It is the exact opposite of polygyny and is not a very common practice around
the world

Polyandry is further divided into two categories:

1. Non-Fraternal Polyandry: Non-fraternal polyandry takes place when one woman marries more
than one man, who are in no way related to each other. It is observed among the Nairs of
Kerala, where the wife spends specific periods of time with each of her
husbands. As long as a woman resides with one of her husbands, the others do
not possess any rights or claims over her. This practice primarily emerges as a
result of limited availability of women.

2. Fraternal Polyandry: Fraternal polyandry takes place when one woman marries more than one
man, related by blood, like brothers. A number of causes have been attributed to the existence of
polyandry. One of the main reasons is the negative female sex ratio and lesser number of females
in comparison to males. The prevalence of the custom of bride price, which is present in a
number of primitive tribal communities, also leads to polyandry, especially when the bride price
is high and men are unable to afford it. This system is also seen where joint families exist and
several brothers marry the same woman.

Cenogamy or Group Marriage

Group marriage refers to the union of two or more women with

two or more men, where each woman is married to every man
within the specific group. Sociologists, such as Dr. Rivers, describe it as a
form of sexual communism. This form of marriage is observed among certain
tribal communities in Australia, India, Tibet, and Ceylon, who are believed to
have practiced group marriage.Its other name is Polygynandry. Children born into
such marriages belong to the group and are looked after by the group
Like the other social phenomenon, the institution of marriage has also been experiencing
profound changes Taking consent of the children for their marriage, declining stability of the
marriage coupled with enhanced greed of the bridegroom’s family are some of the perceptible
changes occurring in the institution of marriage . An economic development, arrival of
technology, increased materialism in the life, legislative efforts are some of the important factors
responsible for generating changes in the institution of marriage. New social phenomenon such
as gay/lesbian relations, cohabitation, DINK Syndrome are emerging in this modern age which
were not part of traditional Indian society. Even if, the new trends are emerging yet importance
of marriage has not diminished

Changes Occurring in the Marriage patterns

Changes in the forms of marriage: Though in the traditional Hindu society, monogamy was the
prime form of marriage yet, polyandry, polygamy, bigamy and marriage by exchange were quite
popular. Now, over the time polygamy, polyandry and exchange marriages have severely
declined and monogamy is being followed by most people of Indian society.

Change in the aim and purpose of marriage: The traditional Hindu marriage consider “dharma”
as for performance of religious duties. Earlier, the marriages were to perform the sacre duties and
functions. The prime function was to become kins and protectors of the family. With the advent
of variety of factors like mass media, consumerism, globalization the sacred types of relations
are turning fade. The aims and purposes have changed their meaning from respect, faithfulness,
sincerity to less respect, greed and unfaithfulness.

Change in process of mate selection: In olden times, parents usually selected the spouse and
there was hardly any say of the girl. There are numerous stories and stocks which support that
parents used to marry their daughters according to their own will. Now, due to various factors
like increasing education among girls, urbanization, economic independence, etc. Children are
consulted in marriage matters and even girl and boy talk and try to know the views of each other
before executing marriage ceremonies. The Indian system, therefore, crumbled when forced by
changing reality in the form of extended education of girls, the effect of this on raising ages at
marriages and making the choice of spouse themselves (Caldwell, 1992). The marriages which
were earlier held by middlemen are now replaced with matchmaking agencies and the
advertisement by newspaper and various social networking sites (Jones, 2010).

Change in the age at marriage: When one goes to age at marriage in India, it comes out that
children used to get married at early age and it was more in the case of girls. In some specific
cases like Rajasthan girls were married at very early age that is age of 3-4 years even when they
did not know the meaning of marriage. The marriage system was heavily dependent on arranged
marriage at an early age in the traditional societies of India. The sexuality of women needs to be
carefully controlled to uphold the honour of the family husbands and wives should not to be too
emotionally attached, as this could threaten the unity of the patriarchal family (Jones, 2010).
Early marriage helps to protect young women’s chastity, marks a clear break from their natal
families, makes them more likely to accept the structure of authority in their new family and
weakens the husband-wife bond (Reddy, 1982). Now due to arrival of various factors like
technology and awareness among girls there is a big change. Legally, the age for girl’s marriage
is 18 years and boys 21 years. Further, due to arrival of professional education, children are busy
in studies for a longer time and hence, marriages get delayed in 25-30 years. The trend towards
late marriage is associated with the socio-economic changes that enhance the status of women by
increasing educational and employment opportunities (Puri, 1999). It has played a major role in
determining the growth rate of population through its linkage to marital fertility. The delayed
marriage makes considerable difference in lowering fertility rates. The fertility rate in India in
1970 was 5.6 which have reduced to 2.8 in 2008 (World Bank Report, 2008).

Change in stability of marriage: In the olden times institution of marriage was quite stable and
hardly any divorce was noted. Fear of kinship system, strong social codes, never allowed married
couples to break up marriages even if they want to live together or not. In the past divorce
carried a considerable stigma and the pressure for the sake of the children and also for the sake of
appearances and family honour, was very strong (Goody, 1973). Now due to legislatives,
education, technology advancement and more awareness has changed stability in the institution
of marriage. Divorce is increasing in society across the globe. In the agro based states like
Punjab and Haryana there is increase of 150 per cent since last decade and in Kerala known as
most literate state there in an increase of 350 per cent divorce rates since last decade. Love,
personal commitment and intrinsic satisfaction are now seen as the cornerstone of marriage
(Allen and Grow, 2001)

Change in field of selection (Increasing number of inter caste marriage): Until sometime back,
marrying a person belonging to some other caste or religion was not permitted by the families.
Kapadia (1982) conducted a study on intercaste marriages in India and the data revealed that
more than fifty percent parents expressed their willingness to allow their children marrying
outside their own caste. Only one third were against this departure from custom. Afzal (2009)
found that the religion plays important role in inter-caste marriage. Women belonging to Muslim
and other religious group were less likely to have intercaste marriages than Hindus. Also
working women were more likely to have intercaste marriage than nonworking women in
Punjab.
Change in economic aspects of marriages: Marriage is often held in cities as a social or a civil
ceremony than religious ceremony. The concept of Indian wedding has seen drastic changes,
over the last few years. In the past, the ceremony was a family affair, confined to an economical
budget, even though, the guest list was long. On the contrary, in the present time, the occasion is
generally celebrated in an elaborated way, with number of rituals that are conducted before,
during and after it. A long guest list, colorful and extravagant venue, lavish feast and a series of
rituals are the key ingredients of the ‘big fat Indian wedding’ that we see today. In many cases,
the wife’s family is expected and obliged to provide a substantial dowry at the time of marriage
and thereafter, to continue to make presentations to the husband’s family (Miher, 1988). Huge
amount is spend on ceremony to make it a grand gala. Money is spent lavishly for decorating
marriage mantaps, arranging grand dinner, take-home sweets, music orchestra, video-shooting,
photography, marriage processions, etc.

Factors Responsible for Changing Marriage Patterns

Economic factors: Changes in marriage institution are clearly related to the remarkable
development in education, increasing urbanization and involvement of women in economic
activities outside household. People have started going out of the family for work and women
also have joined men in process of finding out jobs and earning money. This has boosted self-
respect and self-confidence of women. These developments have affected the institution of
marriage (Kapadia, 1982). The another factor is affluence materialism. Through, the
technological improvements the living standards and real purchasing power of individuals have
been enhanced. The primary effect of this increased affluence of marriage breakdown is that
people can better afford the expenses of divorce which include not only legal fees but also the
cost of maintaining a second home and added cost of recreation for the children (Afzal,
2009).This all is an indication towards changes occurring in institution of marriage.

Social factors: In the past, there were joint families in which there was interdependence of family
members and there was closely interacting community. In the transition, today’s highly urban
and affluent society, work patterns have become more differentiated reducing the necessity to
interact with the community. This pattern has given rise to individualism (Sonawat, 2008). There
is a sense of ‘Systemness’ this is concept of functional theory which describes how society
becomes increasingly complex through structural differentiation and specialization. Now, the
society is characterized by high degree of specialization in terms of employment, education,
health care, transportation. Prior to this specialization the family served the economic,
educational, recreational, health care, procreative, protection and affection roles for its members.
Gradually, through industrialization these responsibilities have been taken from family and
institutionalized outside the home (Sinha,1984). The institution of marriage has gone a
tremendous change as there is a great change in living condition, values, norms and traditions in
the patriarchal society girls had no say in the family matters especially in marriage affairs.
Earlier they could not interfere or raise any question even if their own marriages were fixed. In
the past, the divorce was seen as ‘Stigma’ but now the time has changed. Girls are openly
coming forward with the views starting from selection of mate and have full rights for divorce if
the marriage is not successful. Other things such as changes in the public perception are often
referred to in the vernacular as ‘changing times’. People have now become more self centered
and sense of individualization is pulling them away from traditional norms of marriage and
forming household without legal marriage (Herzberger,1993).

Psychological factors: In the past, for women the greatest personal achievement and source of
reward was to be married, raising children and ensuring an optimal home and family life. No
other life content could provide the same sense of personal worth. For men self fulfillment lay in
maintaining good employment, marrying the woman of their dreams and providing financial
support to their family. Men and women have clear cut idea of their respective roles. However,
an increasing urbanization, institutionalization of family roles, technological improvements in
home care products and increased affluence reduced the potential of home life to provide
stimulation and feelings of worth from satisfactory personal achievements (Hines, 1997). In
addition, the ethos of individualism encouraged both men and women to realize their own
potentials. The growing economic independence of women led to demands for more egalitarian
family norms in the areas of child rearing, decision making, finances and household tasks. These
changes in family norms and role expectation brought increased friction into homes due to
departure of established patterns. Women grapple with the desire to have both career and
children so there is conflict in marital relations and disturbed domestic life

Technological factors: The arrival of new technology has also been emerging as a new factor for
generating changes in the institution of marriage. Earlier, there used to be the joint families in
which grandparents and other senior members had control over the juniors but now there are
nuclear families in which both the parents are working and children are ignored to a great extent.
They do not have any surveillance on them and they become isolated and take support of mass
media and others technologies such as computers, mobiles, television, etc. They make use of
networking sites which make them away from family members but closer to outer world
(Kolenda, 1987).

Legislative factors: The legislative measures taken by the government in the last 50 years or
more has helped to changed the nature of institution of marriage as now legal safeguards are
provided in marriage which were not part of traditional Hindu society. Many of the beliefs,
values, ideals and rules of marriage laid down by the Hindu Shastrakaras have lost their original
meaning and importance and purpose now. During the British rule and also after independence
legislations were passed in order to bring about desirable changes in the Hindu Marriage System.
The laws were related to: (i) Age at marriage (ii) Field of mate selection (iii) Number of spouses
in marriage (iv) Breakage of marriage (v) Dowry to be taken and given (vi) Remarriage. Various
inhuman practices associated with the marriage such as the practice of sati has been
prohibted/banned by law. Legislations have not only abolished child marriages but also fixed the
minimum marriageable age for boys and girls as for girls are 18 years and boys 21 years. The
legislations have also made clear the selection in marriage that is, who should marry whom.
They have also legalized intercaste and inter-religious marriages and have made provision for
registered marriages Legislations have made provisions for divorce. Equal rights are conferred
on men and women in this regard (Rao, 2004). Legislations have also specified the conditions of
divorce. Legislations have also been undertaken to give special protection to women preventing
the exploitation of their helplessness and weaknesses by others. In order to loosen the tight grip
of the patriarchal values over the joint families legislations have also been undertaken providing
equal opportunities, privileges, rights and facilities even to women
 EMERGING TREND

Besides shift in age, education, caste, dowry and divorces there are some structural changes in
the marriage pattern which have a great impact on the society. Though, limited in number but in
metropolitan cities and urban areas there are occurring some other serious problems which are as
follows:

SOLOGAMY

Sologamy is the act of marrying oneself in the public ceremony, also referred to as self- marriage
or autogamy. This concept came into existence in 1993 when an American woman married to
herself. It was widely considered the first publicized act of self-marriage. Recently on 2nd June
2022, a 24-year-old Vadodara woman, Kshama Bindu announced her marriage, that she will
marry herself later that month. The question related to legality of sologamy is debatable.
According to ‘Hindu Marriage Act, 1955’ Sologamy cannot be considered as a legal marriage
because of the conditions of a legal marriage which is mentioned under ‘Hindu Marriage Act
1955’, that 2 persons are required to perform a marriage and if conditions are violated than it will
be considered as void marriage. According to senior advocates ‘Sologamy is not legal’ and, “The
Hindu Marriage Act uses the terminology ‘either of the spouse’, which simply means there must
be two persons to complete the marriage.” According to some of the people who accepts
sologamy believes that, it is a way to show self-love and one should not be dependent upon
others for their happiness. After the marriage of Kshama Bindu many people believe that the
younger generation in the Country is inclined towards individualism and rather than
communitarianism.

SAME SEX MARRIAGES

Same-sex marriage, also known as gay marriage, is the marriage of two people of the
same sex. As of 2024, marriage between same-sex couples is legally performed and
recognized in 36 countries. The Netherlands became the first country to legalize same-sex
marriage, granting full marriage rights to same-sex couples.The most recent country to
legalise same-sex marriage is Greece. The struggles surrounding same-sex marriages have
been deeply rooted in historical prejudice and societal norms. In India, same-sex marriages are
not legally recognized, as the country’s laws do not provide for such unions. Therefore, engaging
in a same-sex marriage ceremony would not have legal validity under Indian law. Though, it
seems as a shock to the Indian society but gay/ lesbians are emerging in India at a fast rate.
According to a report by NGO there are thousands of gay/lesbians in metropolitan cities of
Indian society. It is a kind of relationship where the same sex persons marry to each other. In
2004, the Civil Partnership Act has given same sex couples similar legal rights to married
couples in respect of pensions, inheritance, tenancies and property. Though, this kind of
emerging institution is not conducive for the smooth working of the society and thus, the
marriages follow a different pattern than in traditional societies
Cohabitation The young people may find marriage less important because premarital sex is
becoming increasingly acceptable. Cohabitation is when the couple moves from dating to living
together which may or may not lead to marriage (Manning, 2007). Today, it is more socially
acceptable for couples to begin a sexual relationship, set up a home and have children outside
formal marriage. Since 2002, cohabiting couples have had the same right to adopt as married
couples

One-person households When one person establishes his family is the one person household.
People are now more self centred. Men as well as women want to establish their own identities
by independently establishing households. There are almost three in ten households (6.8 million
people) who are one person holded houses (World Bank Report, 2008)

Living apart together’ It is commonly seen in the western countries where the people, though,
being married are living far from each other. As people are getting more isolated and have
greater egoistic attitudes they don’t want their privacy to be interfered, so, they adopt the path of
living apart together. In 2008, according to a survey by British Social Attitudes it was noted that
every one in 10 adults are ‘living apart together’ or ‘LATs’

DINK syndrome (Double income no kids) The term was coined in the 1980s at the height of
“yuppie” culture. The post-2000 economic crisis have solidified this social trend as more couples
wait longer to have kids, with one in five choosing not to have them at all. People don’t want to
take responsibility of the kids and want to enjoy their life without any tensions. They find the
kids as the additional responsibility.

CONCLUSIONS The changes are bound to occur and institution of marriage is also
experiencing many changes. The technological, economical, new educational patterns and
changes in life styles, are major factors playing profound role in this change. With the passage of
time, the age at marriage, process of mate selection, aims and the purposes of marriage, trends of
divorce rates and the economic aspects of marriage have undergone a tremendous change. There
are definitely serious consequences of the changing marriage patterns as the increasing age at
marriage makes a considerable difference in lowering the fertility rates. The various factors such
as the social, economic, psychological, technological and the legislative play a great role in the
change of marriage institution. As people are becoming more independent in the wake of
liberalization, consumerism and its generation of unreal aspirations have increased the gap
between desires and their fulfillment. Further, the new values made acceptable, or even desirable
by such consumerism are “getting rich quick in any way possible”. In such a setting the existing
unequal power relationships within the family become a channel for acquiring wealth quickly at
any cost. The conflicts in this institution are also emerging due to the interaction of tradition with
modernity. New patterns in the marriage like gay, cohabitation, etc. are also emerging in some
places which may have more effects in the coming time. Though, these new trends are observed
today the importance of marriage has not diminished. It is still universally practiced. Although,
its sanctity is affected a little, it is not reduced to the level of a mere civil contract. Hindu men
and women are still emotionally involved in their marriages.