- Introduction
We all know that before the dawn of civilization our society was a herd-instinct nomadic community. With the passage of time and development in nomadic culture, nomadic human beings keep evolving into an agricultural society which inspire them towards a family and they were very keen to ascertain the right paternity of children. Due to unregulated sex promiscuity, it was only maternity which was known. Paternity could not be established and was very difficult to found. Hence, it is very coherent to acknowledge that, at some phase of human development (HD) the need emerged for separating between the ‘proprietorship and the ownership’ of material effects as a characteristic outcome of human conduct in this manner, the human male was interested and seized with the idea of deciding his paternity and it would stay incomprehensible if sex wantonness kept on being the standard of the general public. On the off chance that the sex relationship could be made an elite ‘association of one man and one woman’ really at that time it was conceivable to decide the correct paternity of youngsters. This need appears to be in man’s journey to know the paternity of child set out the seeds of the organization of marriage.[1]
Finnish Philosopher and Sociologist Westermarck’s well-known aphorism is Marriage is engrained in family rather than the family in marriage”[2]. Institution of marriage has its deep roots in the ancient histories of almost all cultures and societies. It is the basic, fundamental and universal institution which organizes social life. Through the development of civilization marriage provides cultural legitimacy to biological reproduction process. Marriage, family, kinship and even the notion of re- marriage are the exponential outcomes of such cultural legitimacy.
Marriage is considered as most important institution than any other institution which is recognised in this life because it includes society/others which are affected by the conduct therefore it is not just individual freedom or happiness. It has many unending benefits which are basically ordained for the preservation of society from nasty and immoral acts at one end and also the ‘continuation of the chain’ of society itself on the opposite end. These natural attributes of marriage are: –
- Closeness, Intimacy
- Companionship,
- Procreation and
- Parenting
- It is certifiably not a common right rather it is an establishment or
- Which gives social and lawful
- Unique benefits to child, adults and
Marriage is world’s generally essential and all-inclusive establishment, the establishment on which families are made and society repeats itself. In this way, it isn’t just an articulation or festivity of adoration. Social orders endure and faces perilous impacts when reproduction and nurturing is isolated from the meaning of marriage. Marriage is the most assorted relationship known to mankind since it joins the two parts of humankind that is male and female.[3]
[1] P. Diwan and Peeyushi Diwan, Modern Hindu Law Codified and Uncodified 62 (Allahabad Law Agency, Faridabad, 16th Edn. 2005).
[2] Mitchell, G. Duncan, A New Dictionary of Sociology,119(Routledge Publishers, London,1979)
[3] Gunjan Jain, “Significance of Marriage as Social Institution in Indian English Writings”, The Proceedings of the International Conference on Recent Developments in Science, Technology, Humanities and Management,149 (Kuala Lumpur, 28-29 April 2017).