Abstract: Marriage rituals in South Asia have historically reinforced caste and gender hierarchies. Within contemporary Ambedkarite Buddhist communities in Odisha, debates over “mixed marriages” frequently centre on visible Hindu practices such as Brahmin priests, sindur , and the mangalsutra . Drawing on Ambedkarite social media discussions, wedding practices, B. R. Ambedkar’s writings, and anthropological studies of marriage, this article argues that such critiques are often selective. While many Ambedkarites reject Brahmanical symbols, they continue practices such as the baraat , engagement rituals such as Nadia Dhara ( ring ceremonies), status matching in partner selection, and competitive wedding display. These practices reproduce caste, gender, and status hierarchies in new forms. This article argues that Ambedkarite Buddhist marriage remains an evolving social project. Its transformative potential depends on changing the social relations that organise marriage, not simply replacing Brahmanical symbols. It calls on Dalit Bahujan communities to reimagine Buddhist marriage as an ethical practice grounded in equality, solidarity, and collective uplift.
Introduction: Hindu marriage has often been understood as a religious and soteriological event embedded within broader moral and ritual frameworks (Harman, 1987). At the same time, marriage has historically operated as a key social institution through which caste, gender, and hierarchy are regulated and reproduced (Ambedkar, 1916/1979). As Ambedkar argued, the endurance of caste rests significantly on the regulation of marriage, particularly through endogamy and the control of women’s mobility and sexuality. Rituals surrounding marriage are therefore not incidental cultural practices but central mechanisms through which social order is maintained, reproduced, and publicly displayed.
However, marriage also carries the potential for transformation, especially within communities committed to equality and social justice. In the context of Ambedkarite marriage, it becomes a critical site for practising dignity, equality, and mutual respect. At the same time, inherited caste and patriarchal structures can continue to persist in new forms within intimate relationships. It is within this tension between reproduction and transformation that the significance of marriage must be understood. For Ambedkar, challenging caste required transforming both political institutions and everyday social practices that maintain caste boundaries.
The mass conversion to Buddhism in 1956 formed part of this broader social project. Conversion signified a rejection of Brahmanical religious authority, and an embrace of an ethical framework based on equality and rationality (Ambedkar, 1957). Yet the question of how marriage is practised within Ambedkarite communities remains open.
In recent years, debates within Ambedkarite circles in Odisha have increasingly focused on what many describe as “mixed marriages.” The term refers to weddings that identify themselves as Buddhist while simultaneously incorporating rituals and practices associated with Hindu traditions. These include the presence of Brahmin priests, Sanskrit mantras, fire rituals, dowry exchanges, and engagement or practices such as kanyadaan and the symbolic “gift of the daughter.” In many marriages, families also continue to rely on astrology through kundali matching and the selection of an auspicious muhurat, practices that shape ideas of compatibility, timing, and ritual legitimacy. Ambedkarite activists and commentators often criticise these practices because they reproduce Brahmanical structures of caste, thereby weakening the emancipatory potential of Buddhist marriage. Such critiques frequently draw upon Ambedkar’s analysis of caste, endogamy, and the social regulation of marriage, and emphasise that ritual reform is central to the broader project of annihilating caste.
However, contemporary discussions also reveal an important asymmetry. While explicitly Hindu ritual elements are strongly criticised, other practices common within Ambedkarite weddings receive little scrutiny. One such practice is the baraat, the celebratory procession in which the groom travels to the bride’s home accompanied by music, dancing, and relatives. This article examines why certain rituals become objects of critique while others remain normalised within Ambedkarite communities in Odisha. I argue that critiques of “mixed marriage” tend to focus on …