Formal divorce did not exist in traditional Hindu culture until the nineteenth century.
This omission was certainly due to the Hindu viewpoint on marriage.
Marriage was seen as a lifelong bond between husband and wife (or, more specifically, assimilation of her identity into his), preventing the marriage from dissolving while both members were still alive.
When a woman is unable to have children, the husband may marry a second wife, but the original marriage is preserved.
Husbands and wives might easily desert their marriages for other relationships among the lower social strata, who were frequently less concerned with maintaining group status via appropriate conduct, but this was severely banned among “respectable” individuals.
In contemporary India, divorce is legal, yet societal and cultural reasons continue to work against it.
Many women in unhappy marriages are hesitant to file for divorce due to a variety of factors, including a lack of support from their natal families, who are often more interested in attempting to save the marriage; inability to earn a living on their own; and the near certainty that their husband's family will be awarded custody of their children, if they have any.
Although attitudes are steadily improving, divorced women still find it difficult to remarry.
You may also want to read more about Hinduism here.
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