[softy54534]

sir - brahminism is the only culture in the world, where there are so many rituals & orthodox functions in the life of a person throughout, and conducting these functions even in a simple way, does consume quite a bit of money. so persons from both the side of husband & wife do contribute a lot to the family voluntarily in the form of dowry & other manners both before & after marriage. i forgot to mention about AKSHAR ABYAS , a function conducted before sending the child to school. AKSHAR means numerals or alphabets. ABYAS means practice.
once upon a time the expense of all these rituals and functions were borne by father of child and husband of the wife itself. since it became increasingly difficult for 1 single person to bear all these costs,the custom of in laws sharing the burden in the form of dowry before marriage and in many other ways even after marriage, originated.

in other religions, there are not so many rituals which need so much of money. so it is a laughable excuse if anybody says they are trying to 'emulate' bramins in asking for dowry!