The word svayamvara means "self selection' ( svayam=self, vara=selection ) of husband by a girl .
In olden days, there was a custom among the ruling kings ( kshathriyas) by which a grown up princess would select her husband herself . In some cases, she just selected the one she liked . In some other cases, the suitors would be required to perform a predecided task to be eligible to participate . The one who first accomplishes the task would be the winner of the princess .
For this, the father of the bride princess would call for a congregation of the interested princes . Then , the bride would be brought to the congregation hall, usually with a garland in her hands . She would be given an introduction of each of the young princes that came to marry her . She would place the garland on the neck of the prince whom she desired to marry . Her choice was final and that was respected by all the suitors . A marriage with all royal pomp would follow . However, there were cases where the princess was abducted by force before all defeating the contesting suitors. An example for this is Duryodhana's abducting of the Kalinga princess with Karna's help, when the princess bye-passed him in the Svayamvaram hall.
An example for this type of selection was that of Damayanthi , where she selected her lover king Nala , even disregarding the four gods that desired her hand .
In case of the second type of selection where a certain task was to be accomplished by the prospective suitors , the father of the bride would beforehand declare the task to be done . A congregation would be called for and all the interested suitors would try their hand . The first one to succeed would be the winner of the princess' hand. In some cases, the suitors would be required to participate in a combat and win to become winner . In some other cases, the suitors would be required to get qualified in a kind of selection process involving tests to their intellectual too . That depends on the requirements of the princess and her father's interest .
Examples for this type of selection were many .
Many more examples can be given for either case. We should understand that svayamvara was an accepted practice among princes only . That was not allowed for Brrahmanas or others . Also, the acceptance of the princess was also needded. Some express that bride's freedom was restricted in such a system but that was not true . The reason why such a heroic task was set as a goal may be the fact that kings and their daughters always wanted to associate with chivalrous and gallant people .
In mideval ages, we hear that Kanyaakubja king Jayachandra announced his daughter Samyuktha's svayamvara and purposely avoided invitation to Prithiraj whom the bride really had loved. The story says that Samyuktha could select Prithviraj somehow.