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NEW DELHI, April 24 (AFP) - Nearly 3,000 children were married off during the Hindu festival of Ramnavami in the central Indian state of Chhattisgarh, The Hindu newspaper reported Wednesday.

Most of the children were between four and 13 years old and did not even know the name of the partners to whom they were being married, it said.

The mass wedding Sunday was brought to light by a human rights organisation, Forum for Fact-finding, Documentation and Advocacy, which visited the area.

State authorities said they were investigating the report as they had heard of the mass marriages in the tribal dominated areas of the state.

"The girls are sent to their in-laws houses as soon as they attain puberty," said Subhash Chandra Nohapatra, project executive of the human rights group.

"The child mortality rate is high and women often die of various diesases," he added.

Although it is illegal for girls in India to get married before the age of 18 and boys before they turn 21, child marriages persist in many parts by the sheer force of tradition and social pressure. 

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