Each deity in Hindu religion has a married partner and this only cements the importance of marriages in Hindu community. There are eight types of Hindu marriages which are classified on the basis of existence of various social cultures in the society. These are discussed briefly below in their descending order of aristocratic status.
The first is the Rite of Brahmana which is considered as the most noble of the eight marriages. Here the father marries her daughter to a man who is wellborn and is a learned in Vedic literature. The man must have attained the age of 25. The bride is adorned with complete get-up of sixteen accessories called (Sohlah Shingar). Here the proposal comes for the girl.
The second type of marriage is considered inferior to the first as the parents of the bride have to look for the groom themselves. This is called the Rite of Gods or Daiva.
Rite of Rishi or more popularly called as the Arsha marriage stands third in the ranking. In this marriage the father of the girl marries her to a man who gives 2 cows or a cow and a bull to the parents of the bride in exchange of her. This was practiced for those poor people who did not have good financial status to invite good marriage proposals.
Then is the Rite of Prajapati in which the father marriages his daughter off to the man by saying, “May both of you perform together your duties”
Next is the position of Rite of Asuras or Demons. Here wars were fought in order to win over the girl and then convince her for the marriage.
Rite of Gandharva is the type of Hindu marriage in which each has the choice of choosing their partner and eloping with them. Once they come back they are married off. An ancient form of love-marriage. Lord Krishna eloped Rukmini when latter`s father was forcibly marrying her to Shishupal. Someone please shout this out to the rigid religious freaks who call love-marriage a sin.
The last two of the types of Hindu marriages are prohibited. These are the Rite of Rakshasa and the Rite Paishacha for these were not accepted as a decent manner of marriage.
The tracing of these types of Hindu marriages has been observed in 3/21 shlok of Manusmriti
