A recent Supreme Court judgment in Dolly Rani v Manish Kumar Chanchal clarifies that the absence of a saptapadi ceremony alone does not invalidate a Hindu marriage. The court emphasized that the Hindu Marriage Act recognizes other customary ceremonies for solemnizing marriages and that saptapadi is not universally practiced among all Hindu denominations. The court’s ruling upholds the 1967 amendment to the Hindu Marriage Act in Tamil Nadu, which introduced the suya mariyadhai (self-respect) form of marriage and requires only an exchange of garlands or a ring to complete a valid marriage.