In Jaina tradition, as in all Indian communities, marriage is a community event as not only two individuals, but two families are united. Until, and sometimes after, marriage, children generally live with their parents, and it is the parents’ responsibility to introduce them [perhaps with the help of suitable intermediaries] to prospective marriage partners. It is quite misleading to refer to this as arranged marriage – in practice, the couple has every opportunity over a long period to get to know each other, and the decision to marry belongs to them alone.

The epic tradition of India upholds an ideal tradition of Indian culture, assimilating the folk culture in it. India is a country of different communities, languages and cultural groups. Inspite of all the diversities it has a basic cultural unity. This unity is cemented firmly by the great epics like the Rāmāyana and the Mahābhārata. The Rāmāya¸a remains a perennial source of social functions on the cultural life of India.

On the Singpho Community

1. Initiation of the process through a societal and communal approval

2. In the Tai-Phake community, legal marriages are conducted socially and with the community’s approval. It is, in fact a social custom—an ancient tradition, that has been in continuance untouched over time.

A society is a system of interlocking groups more or less of institutionalized pattern. Marriage, family, religion, economy and polity are the five basic institutions in the system of interlocking the groups. The institutionalized form of sex relationship is called marriage.

Birth, marriage and death are the three pillars of human life and existence. Of these, marriage is a social convention. In the Indian context, marriage has a religious and cultural background associated with it. The Hindus of Assam too have, since ancient times, regarded marriage as an essential responsibility. Therefore it has a distinct tradition of its own and a gamut of customs and rites are intertwined with the ceremony of  marriage.

The micro data of different communities of India –its castes and tribes – if put together and viewed in macro frame-work often leads us to the threads of unity. The apparent diversity, the cultural plurality gives way to commonality of cultural elements, our cultural continuum. Our approach brings a lot of difference – the approach whether we want to emphasize the diversity or intend to search the basic materials of culture, the permutation and combination of which make the difference.

Rabhas are one of the largest communities of northeast India and spread throughout Assam, Meghalaya and West Bengal and also some parts of Bangladesh. Claimed themselves as origin from Tibeto-Burman linguistics stocks, the Rabhas inherited one of the richest socio-cultural trends. They are sub-divided into Rongdani, Pati, Maitori, Bilotia, Hana, Chunga, Totla, Dahori etc.