India is a country of diverse culture, caste, languages, religions and communities which live together in peace and harmony. Religion holds a significant place in the Indian society. In the same way each religion has its own laws to follow. These laws are different from the other in some or the other way and are unique.

Every community has its own rights that have been safeguarded by Indian constitution. When you have rights you also have some rules and regulations to avoid the misuse of those rights. Marriages are also governed by certain rules for issues of marriage and divorce. In order to maintain the decorum, certain laws have been issued some of which include the Hindu Marriage Act, the Muslim Marriage Act and some Special Marriage Acts as well.

There are various marriage laws prevalent in India. We have laws for the Christian in the Christian Marriage Law in 1889. The Hindu Marriage Act came into existence in 1955. According to the Hindu Marriage Law, the eligibility for a boy to get married is 21 and for a girl it is 18. It also states that both must belong to the same religion and should not be in any false or prohibited relationship.

The Muslim wedding is more like a contract and maybe temporary or permanent. The Muslim Marriage Act supports “polygamy” i.e. a man is allowed to keep four wives if he treats them equally. As stated in the Parsee Marriage and Divorce Act in 1954 all the Parsee marriages need to follow this Act.

Nowadays many marriages are performed under the Special Marriage Act passed in the year 1954. Special marriages come under Civil Marriage Act. No separate legal procedures are required, only registration is sufficient. According to this Act, an individual is free to marry his/her partner belonging to any other religion. Legal procedures are needed to validate the wedding.