Dynamics of inter-religious and inter-caste marriages in India

Caste and religion are integral components of Indian society since the time immemorial. These two systems create water tight compartment between communities and bring division, hatred and tension among various social groups. Marriages within the same caste and same religion is the norm of the Indian society. To think of marriages between different castes and different religions is a difficult and socially unacceptable proposition. Recently the process of modernization, democratization and development has brought lots of positive changes in Indian society. The major objectives of the present paper is to understand the spatial patterns and determinants of inter-caste and inter-religious marriages in India. The study uses the data of third round of National Family Health Survey( 2005-06)) having sample size of 43102 ever married couples. It is found that about 10 percent of the total marriages in India takes place between different castes while only 2.1 percent marriages are inter-religious.