Harana (elopement)

Harana (Sanskrit: हरण, romanized: Haraṇa) is a Sanskrit term literally meaning seizure, commonly used to denote elopement. Elopement is a common theme featured in Hindu literature, with a number of characters choosing to perform elopement before their marriage, or being abducted by others against their will.

In historical Hindu marriage, the harana was present in the gandharva marriage, where a man and woman eloped without the performance of rituals or seeking consent from their parents, as well as in the rakshasa marriage, where a man forcibly abducted a maiden after killing her kin, after which she consented to marry him.

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