Types of Marriages discribed in Ancient Vedic literature, for example the Asvalayana Grhyasutra and Atharvaveda or the Manu Smrti III.20-34, identifies eight forms of marriage. They are traditionally presented, as here, in order of religious appropriateness (prashasta). They also differ very widely in social acceptability. In all these types of marriage, an eligible groom is one who has completed his Brahmacharya Ashram (student hood) and an eligible bride is a never-married virgin who has recently attained puberty. Legal aspects are regulated mainly by the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955.