Changing marriage dynamics and the rise of mass marriages in Kashmir

Abstract This study explores changing marriage practices among the Muslim community in the Kashmir Valley of Jammu and Kashmir, focusing on the rise of mass marriages as a socio-cultural response to financial constraints and evolving familial expectations. Using a qualitative narrative inquiry design, data were collected through in-depth interviews and focus group discussions with 46 recently married and unmarried individuals from varied socio-economic backgrounds. Thematic narrative analysis revealed four key concerns: the financial burden of traditional weddings, delayed marriages due to economic insecurity, the emergence of mass marriages as a pragmatic yet contested alternative, and increasing advocacy for structural and cultural reform. Set against the backdrop of limited industrial development, high unemployment, and prolonged economic uncertainty, mass marriages emerge as adaptive strategies that reconcile moral expectations with material limitations. While they offer affordability and community legitimacy, they remain embedded in questions of status, gender, and social approval. The findings underscore the growing role of youth, particularly women, in negotiating tradition and change, highlighting marriage as a site of both continuity and transformation in a conservative yet evolving Kashmiri society. This research contributes to broader sociological debates on family, gender, and inequality in regions marked by economic precarity and social transition.