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Explore the 700-year-old “groom market” in India: Men show the ability to demand high dowry

The groom is a young civil servant, the more dowry, the more

In the scorching heat of a July afternoon in the eastern Indian state of Bihar, a man in his thirties anxiously stood in a corner of a field. Wearing a pink shirt and black trousers, he waited nervously. It was his big day.

Groom’s market in Madhubani district of Bihar state – Photo: AL JAZEERA

In this special “market”, men who want to get married must “advertise” themselves to the bride’s family. If successful, they can demand dowry from the bride’s family.

Nirbhay Chandra Jha, 35, traveled more than 100km from Begusarai district to Madhubani district hoping to find a suitable bride for him in Saurath, a village famous for its “sabha” or “groom’s market” yearly”.



Jha expects a girl’s family to come see him and negotiate a dowry. He stood on the podium with a card with a modest dowry of 630 USD. “If I was young, I could easily claim $2,500 to $3,700,” he told Al Jazeera Radio.

Jha works as a manager at a factory with a stable income, he believes he is a good choice for girls to marry.

Mr. Nirbhay Chandra Jha came to the event to find the bride – Photo: AL JAZEERA Đài

Dowry, although illegal in India, is widespread and socially acceptable, especially in Bihar and the neighboring state of Uttar Pradesh.

The more prestigious the groom’s profession, the higher the need for a dowry. Engineers, doctors and government employees are most sought after.



Experts estimate the total value of dowries in a year in India at $5 billion – about the same as India’s annual public health spending.

The bride is also not allowed to choose her husband

About 20 men sat under a tree discussing the arrival of the grooms at the Saurath groom’s market – one of the world’s oldest matrimonial sites.

Traditional scribe, reading the family records of the grooms

In this unique 700-year-old tradition, aspiring grooms stand in front of a crowd and the girls’ male guardians – usually a father or brother – select them.

In general, brides do not have a say in choosing a husband.

“It’s as if the bride’s family can just buy a groom they like for the bride and they can afford to pay the dowry as required,” a man living in an adjacent village told Al Jazeera Radio.



Some say that in the olden days there was a widely “tendered” status for the groom – with various dowry-required tags.

When the Internet came back, “the countryside and the wind have flown away more or less”

On the surface, at present, the men are mainly from the foothill villages, who have a special interest in preserving traditional culture. But this particular market is now less crowded than before.

A traditional wedding in India (Photo: Vogue India).

Parents are also less involved in their children’s marriage choices than in the past. With cheap Internet access, arranged matchmaking is increasingly taking place on an online platform. India has some of the biggest marriage matchmaking websites in the world.

However, the Saurath groom market – a remnant of an arranged marriage – has not been “erased” by technological advances even though the number of grooms coming to the market has decreased.



Swaraj Chaudhary, 50, told Al Jazeera: “In the previous days, buses would run all over the state to bring people to the market. Now there are hardly a few hundred grooms gathered for the event. this”.