From the archive record
Is marriage a financial contract? The mother of the groom gives a financial contribution to the newly-wed bridge. Earlier in the clip, the groom makes a swastika / swastik sign on the ground, using vermillion, and then covers it with rice and kheel batasha, a sugar sweet-meat. The practice of child marriage in rural India is deeply rooted in cultural values and grounded in social structures. And despite laws that prohibit child marriage, the practice is still extremely prevalent in many regions. Though the statistics are contentious, it is estimated that in some parts of India, like the state of Rajasthan, nearly 80 percent of the marriages are among girls under the age of fifteen. This footage is part of the professionally-shot stock footage archive of Wilderness Films India Ltd., the lar