Rites of Passage, Turners Model of the Ritual Process - Essay Example

Rites of Passage Introduction Rites of passage are mainly celebrated to mark the natural transition in human beings. Many societies and communities all over the world use rites of passage ceremonies in celebrating and marking various transition cycles in human life. Changes in human life take a different form and ranges from birth to death, getting married and divorcing. Rites of passage can also be celebrated to signify the change in the life of a person from one stage of life to the next. In addition, the journey in human life is marked by various ceremonies, which can either be personal or designed in a group. Ceremonies are very important during rites of passage as they help in the preparing an individual on how to adjust to different changes in their life. Besides the rites of passage being marked by the four stages of human life, it also takes the form of professional progress in life. This is indicated by graduation ceremonies that mark the end of educational progress in order to get into the job market. During the rites of passage, marriage is one of human life stages that mark a remarkable change in human life. This is because it involves making a choice of getting into a family commitment. Many societies across the globe celebrate marriage ceremonies. One of the societies that adore marriage is the Hinduism. This is depicted by the harmonious ceremonies they perform. Hindu marriage is understood as a rite of passage in which separation from the previous stage is marked by transition. The ceremony is accompanied by rituals in which integration into new roles of the social world is marked symbolically by a ring. Hindu marriage Hindus believe that life is sacred thus every step of their life from childhood to adulthood is marked by traditional ceremonies. Their ceremonies performed during the rites of passage are called the samskara. This marks ending point of one stage of life to the other. The ceremonies are normally done at the temple so as to influence people’s souls and direct their life to the path of dharma. Samskara ceremonies provide a clear indication that the transition in question is important. In addition, the ceremony also offers special blessing to the entire people in the society. The blessings in Hindu society have a positive effect because it provides a feeling of love hence creating a deeper meaning of life in the minds of the people. Samskara ceremony is mostly performed in the church where the couples and the people attending the ceremony surround the Homa fire. In the occasion, the couples are allowed to make a lifetime vows. In addition, they also make seven steps before God in order to be consecrated as a holy union (Das 5). Turner's model of the ritual process Turner was an anthropologist who noted that virtually every society in the world uses ceremonies to mark the transition in social status of people. The rites of passage are meant to validate chances in the individual status. This helps in the transformation of events that ranges from birth, adolescence, parenthood and finally death. He discovered that rites of passage from different societies across the world share similar characteristics. He considers a rite of passage as an activity symbolizing the crossing from old threshold of life into a new social world. Van Gennep, on the other hand, observed the rite of passage as a change in the social position which increases with an individual’s age. He identifies that every rite of passage is marked by separation, transition and reintegration (Das 5). Separation is the phase that is identified by symbolic behaviors of people in the society. It indicates how people detach themselves from their earlier fixed state of social structure or cultural diversity. Liminality, on the other hand, is characterized by the ambiguity of the ritual subject in the society. Individuals pass through a culture that has no attribute to the past and the future generation. In addition, reaggregation is the rite of passage that is consummated. In this phase, individuals are supposed to behave as expected by their social norms and ethical standards of the society (Gullapalli and Sagi 3). Liminality Liminality is normally allayed by the law and customs of each society. Their ambiguity and indeterminate attribution are expressed by symbols that represent the social and cultural transition in the society. Every rite of passage has its own prolific symbols that accompany it. Liminal entities such as painting of hands and feet with henna are a symbol used during Hindu marriage. The bride together with her close family female members usually has henna painted in their body parts before they attend the Mehndi party. This is a party that is normally prepared before the actual wedding date where they celebrate with songs to signify the strength of the couples love in their marriage. Printing of the bridegroom forehead is another symbol that is also used in the Hindu marriage. Bridegroom is normally painted at the forehead by the bride’s brother. A round yellow image is painted using a thumb. This is called Tilak and it symbolizes respect and honor. It is a symbol of acceptance showing that the bridegroom is a perfect match for their daughter. In addition, the bridegroom is also provided with the brass place full of various items such as flowers, nuts, bottle of mustard oil, some sweets, coconuts, fruits and some money. All this items are sent by the bride family as an auspiciousness symbol. The same items are also sent to the bride’s family (Das 5). Mutkor is another symbol used during Hindu’s marriage. This is a situation whereby people dig clay which is symbolically used to make puja a prayer place. It is in this place that they place the ritual basin and lit nuptial fire. The marrying couples together with the people attending the ceremony surround the fire as the marriage vows are made (Gullapalli and Sagi 3). Communitas Communitas is a situation whereby the entire community submits and gathers for a ritual ceremony in the general authority. This is an indication of social relationship between people in the society. It shows the familiarity between the secular and the sacred. This is because some of the offices in the society have sacred attributes. This, therefore, depict that every position in the society has sacred characteristics. The sacred components are thus acquired through various positions in the rite of passage. During Hindu’s marriage, various functions are done on a sacred place. Matkor is performed outside bride’s home in a clean place. At this moment, clay is dug in order to make a fire place. The hoe used for digging is ritually purified through anointing it with a paste of flour by the married women. This is done to ensure that the wedding place is sacred (Das 5). During the marriage ceremony, the priest makes prayers on behalf of the couples. Offerings are also made in order to bless the bride and the bridegroom. The priest then makes fire in a sacrificial basin that has been prepared and placed in a Vedi made out of clay that was obtained during mutkor ceremony. People them surrounds the fire as they wait for the bride and the bridegroom to make their marriage vows. In addition, during the ceremony the bride and groom are also smeared with ointment paste from turmeric root and the mustard oil. They consider turmeric plant as a spiritual plant that has a divine growth. The various rituals made during Hindu marriage are meant to bless the bride and the groom in order to have prosperity in their relationship. A Hindu marriage ceremony is basically meant to ensure the couples have received blessing from their parents and the entire people in the society. This is portrayed by the various sacrifices, prayers and sacred songs sang to praise their God as they seek blessings from him (Gullapalli and Sagi 3). Hindus have a strong diversity of culture and custom that prevail to most of the people in the region. The diversity ranges from the food, clothing and other customs but still reflect in their marriage ceremonies. In the Hindus community, marriage does not only symbolize the sacred union of the couples but the coming together of the two families. Some few months before the wedding, the two families engage in an official ceremony known as Mangni. The families perform rituals together, and couples are blessed by elders from both sides of the family, and they are given presents such as clothes and jewelry. Wedding among Hindus take duration of one week and always starts with a pre-wedding ceremony where the bride and the groom takes a ritual of a holy bath. This is a situation whereby a mixture of water and oil is smeared on their bodies by married women (Das 5). The author of the article "Step by Step of the Rituals performed leading up to the Hindu Wedding...” has broken down the Hindu marriage rituals into three stages. Rituals start when the two families start meeting each other until the wedding takes place. During the first meeting of the two families, there are several rituals that take place. The couples are blessed by their parents through rituals performance. Pre-wedding ritual then follows which take place a day before the actual wedding day. The two families meet to finalize their relationship. This is followed by the Mehendi ceremony where the bride’s feet and hands are decorated in various patterns using henna. Later, the Tilak ceremony is performed in which colored impression is placed on the groom’s forehead. During the wedding day, there are other rituals that take place. The entire wedding ceremony normally takes place around a sacred fire called Agni Homam where the bride and groom are supposed to go around the fire in a clockwise direction seven times (Das 5). The bride and the groom finally wed by the groom tying a sacred thread called Thali as a symbol of promise to take care of the bride throughout his life. Symbolic meanings are used throughout Hindus marriages. During the pre-wedding occasion, the groom’s forehead is painted with a color by the bride’s family to show their acceptance to offer their daughter for marriage. In addition, during the marriage ceremony the bride makes seven knobs on her wedding attire to show her willingness to abide and give love to her husband. Both research on the Hindu marriages from my two academic sources shows that they have similar features. This is because Hindus have diverse culture and ethics across different regions of the world (Gullapalli and Sagi 3). There is a lot of association between rituals performed and their symbolic meaning in Hindus marriages. Various rituals are performed at different stages of marriage and they symbolize different meanings. Rituals are, therefore, used as languages to convey messages to the bride, groom and other people attending the ceremony. An example of the ritual done by the couples after the wedding is sitting together while they untie a ball of knots. This ritual symbolizes that the two couples, should be in a position to solve any issue that arise between them (Das 5). Conclusion It is indeed clear that human life is marked by various changes that happen spontaneously in different time. The changes are what anthropologists such as Van Gennep and Victor Turner termed as the rites of passage. Marriage being one of the passages is performed in a ceremony form in different societies across the world. This therefore, lead to my agreement that Hindu marriage is profitably understood as a rite of passage in which separation from the previous roles is marked by transition. The ceremony is accompanied by symbolized rituals in which integration into new roles of the social world is marked symbolically by a ring. During Hindu marriages, various ceremonies take place and are always accompanied by ritual which symbolizes different meanings. Most of these ceremonies are marked by the Hindu’s traditional practices that leave us with a question whether the same practices still take place to date with the high level of civilization and modernization among people in the current societies. Works cited Das, Narottam. "Step by Step of the Rituals performed leading up to the Hindu Wedding..." The complete Hindu wedding (2010): 1-8. Gullapalli, Sravani and Aparna Raju Sagi. "Indian Wedding Traditions." (2003): 1-7. Read More

 

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