The Gazetteers Department

For the Hindu, religion plays an important part in the context of his family life as also at every stage of the individuals life. Life for him is a round of rituals and ceremonies. Most of the Hindu customs and traditions consist of ritualistic practices related to various religious observances known as samskaras or sacraments. According to the Hindu Dharmasastra, the individual has to pass through many samskaras which are really sarira samskaras because these are intended to sanctify the body (sarira) beginning from the moment the foetus is laid (garbhadhana) to the death (antyesti) of a person. The number of these samskaras differs according to different authorities and some say there are 16 which are obligatory and 24 which are optional. These are usually conducted under the direction of Brahman priests. Of late even the sixteen of these sacraments are reduced to half a dozen in most of the Hindu communities and are really observed only in respect of birth, thread-girding, marriage, pregnancy and death. A samskara is usually preceded by a symbolic sacrifice (homa).

Pregnancy and child-birth.

The garbhadhana or the foetus-laying ceremony to be per- formed at the consummation of marriage derived social significance when child marriage was in vogue. At present, the ritual is symbolically included in the marriage ceremony without any bustle.

The grhyasutras have prescribed for the benefit of the pregnant woman a number of observances of a magico-religious nature and believers in the efficacy of Vedic rites follow them to varying extents. The pumsavana samskara or the male-making rite may be performed during the third month of a woman's pregnancy, so that the deities governing the sex of the foetus would be propitiated and a male child may be the result.

The jatakarma ceremony may be performed at the birth of the child. Here the father has to touch and smell the child, utter benedictory mantras into its ears expressing his wish that it may be endowed with long life and intelligence. However,; the first popular ritual in an infants life is the pancvi and sasthi i.e., the rituals observed on the fifth and sixth day after birth.: On the fifth day a configuration of a betel-nut, rice, flowers, sandal paste, and a sickle or a sword arranged on a pat in the lying in room in the name of pancvi or Mother Fifth is bowed to by the mother with a prayer to save the child from the attacks of evil spirits. On the sixth day, a blank sheet of paper and a reed pen and an ink-stand are set on a stool and worshipped as Satvi or Mother Sixth and a few friends are treated to a; feast. Though these worships have no Vedic basis as a samskara, they are observed among all Hindu castes including Brahmans.

Naming Ceremony.

The namadheya rite is performed on the tenth or twelfth day after the birth of the child when it is given a name. Popularly; the ceremony is known as barse and its observance varies according to caste. Among the higher caste people a Brahman is usually called in and he proposes certain names considered auspicious in view of the astrological circumstances of child birth. The family selects one of these names but usually two names and sometimes even more are given, one of which is kept for common use and the other for formal and ceremonial use. The horoscope is usually cast and read, the name proclaimed, pansupari and sweets distributed and drums beaten. In some castes, a ceremonial cradling is held in the evening by the women of the house and the ' naming' celebrated. On this day, the child receives gifts from relatives in the form of clothes, gold and cash. The karnavedha (piercing of the earlobes) ceremony is performed the same morning or may be postponed to the sixth or twelfth month. If the boy is subject to a vow, his right nostril is bored and a gold ring put into it. The 12th day is also important as on this day, the mother, who since she gave birth to the child was considered unclean, is proclaimed to be clean. On this day, the confinement room is thoroughly cleaned and this is the first day on which the male folk could go to see the mother and the child.

Annaprasana.

Among better class Hindus, a ceremony called Annaprasana celebrates the first feeding of the child. It may take place in the fifth or sixth month after birth. An auspicious day is chosen and relatives are invited who come with gifts for the child. Food, which is usually khir or rice boiled with milk and sugar is put in the mouth of the child with a golden ring or a silver spoon. Usually, the maternal uncle is made to officiate at this function.

Javal.

Then comes the hair cutting ceremony known as javal. As a samskara it is known as cudakarma or the first tonsure of the hair for the sake of dharma and it is performed in the first or the third year or at any age according to the tradition of the family. At present the rite is gone through prior to the upanayana among higher castes. Lower castes are much more keen to observe this as a ceremony, thinking that the hair the child is born with is impure and must be removed with Social celebration.

There are a number of superstitions prevailing among the various castes. The old Yavatmal District Gazetteer says in this regard as follows.—

When a child's hair is cut for the first time, the lower castes sometimes bury it beneath a water-pot where the ground is damp. Probably the idea of this is to make the child's hair grow as fast as the grass does under a water-pot. In Berar a child's hair may be cut for the first time on the 12th or 13th day after birth. Among Hindustani Castes and Marvaris, the hair is cut a few days after birth whether the child is a boy or a girl. The hair is buried but not in a particular place. When the Muhammedans cut a child's hair for the first time or at least once in its life, they weigh it in a scale against silver or gold and distribute the amount in charity. On this occasion a goat should be roasted and eaten without any of its bones being broken. Among Hindustani Muhammedans, a child's hair is cut for the first time forty days after birth. But in Berar and Hyderabad, they sometimes do not cut a boy's hair at all until he is ten or eleven years old and then they take it as an offering to the shrine of a saint. Brahmans must cut a child's hair in its first or third but not in its second year. Generally, before the child is three years old, the whole of its head is shaved except the scalp-lock. In Berar, the scalp-lock is called sendi which every Hindu must keep just as a Muslim must keep the heard. A man who has a son among Kunbis and other castes will not be shaved on Mondays. This day is generally observed as a fast and food is not taken till afternoon by the adults. Thursday is the day of poverty and if a man is shaved on that day, he will become poor. Tuesday is Devi's day and a man must not be shaved on that day, nor on Saturday because it is Hanuman's day. He may be shaved on Sundays, Wednesdays and Fridays unless Amavasya or Pournima falls on any of these days in which case he must refrain.

Thread-girding.

The thread-girding ceremony or munja as it is popularly known is prescribed for all Hindus claiming a place in the first three varnas. The ceremony is also called upanayana or the introduction to knowledge since by it a boy acquires the right to read and study the sacred books. Until this ceremony is performed, he is not really a dvija, twice-born and is not obliged to observe the caste rules and restrictions.

A boy undergoes the upanayana at the age of eight or twelve according to his varna. There are also rules regarding the muhurtas (auspicious times) to be determined according to the position of the planets in his horoscope. The ceremony must take place from morn to noon, never in the afternoons.

Preparations may begin a few days before the thread-girding ceremony. Drummers and pipers to play at the ceremony are engaged. A booth or mandapa is erected in which a raised platform called bahule is constructed. Relatives and friends ask the boy and his parents to a congratulatory dinner called kelvan or gadagner and presents are given to them. A formal invitation ceremony (aksat) is held a day or two before the thread-girding when the temple of Ganesa is visited and the deity is prayed to be present at the ceremony. Personal invitations are then given to local friends and relatives. Printed invitations to distant places are also sent.

On the early morning of the lucky day, musicians start playing on the drum and pipe. What is known as the ghana ceremony is gone through with the help of not less than five suvasinis. Prior to the Upanayana ceremony proper, the usual propitiatory rites are gone through with same procedural details as before the performance of any auspicious doing. These are Ganapati-pujana and Matrka-pujana, i.e., worship of Ganapati and the Matrka deities; Punyahavacana (the holy day blessing) and Devakapratistha (installation of Devaka). The ceremony of Caula (shaving the boy's head), if it was not performed before, is gone through. The boy is then bathed and taken to the dining hall. Boys called batus, girt with the sacred thread and of about the same age as the boy are seated in a row and fed. While they eat, the boy's mother sitting in front of batus gets her son on her lap, feeds him and herself eats from the same plate. The ceremony is known as Matrbhojana (the mother's meal) when it is the last time that the boy eats from the same plate. When this is over, the boy is taken to the barber who shaves all the locks that were left on his head except the sendi. The boy is then bathed and made ready for upanayana ceremony.

The boy and his parents enter the booth and take their scats on the three pats (wooden stools) arranged on the bahule. The father begins the ceremony by giving away some cash to make up for the neglect in failing to perform the samskaras at their proper time. The father then sits on a pat with his face to the east, while the boy stands before him facing west and the priests hold between them a curtain marked with swastika (lucky cross) in vermilion. The priests recite mangalastakas, (auspicious verses) and the guests throw mangalaksatas (rice mixed with kumkum) on the boy and his father. At the proper muhurta (auspicious moment) the priests stop chanting, the musicians redouble their notes, the curtain is pulled to the north and the boy lays his head on his father's feet. The father blesses him and seats him on his right. The guests are then regaled with pan, perfume, rose-water and sweet drink. It is now becoming customary for the guests to make some present to the batu (boy) on this occasion.

The upanayana ritual now begins. A vedi (earthen altar) is made in front of the father, blades of darbha (sacred grass) are spread over it and a homa (sacrificial fire) is kindled on it. Offerings of ajya (ghee), sesamum and seven kinds of samidhas (sacred fuel sticks) are made to the sacrificial fire. The boy then approaches the priest with folded hands and requests him to make him a brahmacari (Vedic student). The acarya, head priest, grants his request. He daubs a cotton string in oil and turmeric, ties it round the boy's waist and gives him a langoti (loin cloth) to wear. He then rolls a panca (short waist cloth) round the boy's waist and a white one round his shoulders. Another cotton string daubed with oil and turmeric and a deer skin passed into it is hung on the boy's left shoulder. He hands over to him a consecrated yajnopavita (sacred thread) and a danda of palas. The boy is made to pass between the sacrificial fire and his father and then takes his seat. The preceptor then gives the boy a coconut and taking him by the hand goes out of the booth and both of them bow to the Sun. On their return to the seats, the preceptor takes the boy's right hand and asks him to state his name and to say whose brahmacari he has become. When the boy mentions his name and says he is his preceptor's brahmacari, the preceptor lets go the boy's hand, takes him round the sacrificial fire and seating him by his side, makes nine offerings to the fire. He then says to the boy, " You have now become a brahmacari, you must observe religious exactness; you must sip acamana before taking food; you must not sleep during the day; you must control your speech; you must keep alight the sacred fire and cleanse your mouth after taking food." The boy is then asked to sit on the north of the sacrificial fire. He then bows to the preceptor and requests him to be initiated into the mysteries of the sacred verse. The boy and the preceptor or the boy's father are covered with a shawl and the preceptor whispers three times the sacred gayatri mantra into the boys right ear, syllable by syllable first, phrase by phrase next and then the whole verse. The shawl is taken away and all return to their seats and give blessings to the brahmacari and his father.

The preceptor then makes four offerings of samidhas to the fire and then the boy makes an offering of one samidha. and wipes off his face thrice with words, purporting "I anoint myself with lustre and may Agni, Indra and Surya bestow on me insight, offspring and vigour." The preceptor concludes the sacrifice with final oblations and sprinkles sacred water over the head of the boy and in all directions. Money presents arc then made to the priests and other Brahmans who bless the brahmacari and the father.

At noon the priest teaches the boy to recite the Madhyanha Sandhya (Midday prayer) and in the evening the Sayam Sandhya , (evening prayer). The ceremony of bhiksavala (begging alms) is then held. The boy and his relatives go in a procession to the temple of Ganapati and on return the boy is seated near the; altar. He approaches his mother and says 'Om-Bhavati bhiksam dehi' (lady, be pleased to give me alms) and holds a cloth wallet; some sweets, rice and gold or silver coins are offered to him. Other married women follow suit, each of whom the boy addresses in the same manner and each presents him some sweets and money. The contents (eatables) of the wallet go to the priest, though he gives part of it to the brahmacari.

The whole of the upanayana ceremony is wound up now-a-days within a day. Formerly, when it used to last for four days the boy was taught each day to offer his morning, midday and evening prayers and made to worship the sacred fire kindled on the first day. The last rite of the upanayana ceremony is medha-janana. A small square earthen mound is raised and a palas branch is planted in it. The boy pours water round the plant and prays to medha, the goddess of mind, to give him knowledge and wealth. The boy is now a brahmacri i.e., an unwed student and from now on for twelve years, he should study the Vedas, under the direction of his guru and should on completion of his studies undergo the Samavartana i.e., return ceremony. That is only in theory. What happens at present is that the Samavartana or Sodmunj as it is called follows immediately after the upanayana. The boy makes over to the priest the loin cloth, the staff, the deer skin etc., and puts on new clothes, a jari cap, a pair of shoes, takes an umbrella and pretends to leave on a journey to Banaras. Usually, the boy's maternal uncle or some one who can act as such requests him not to proceed and promises to give him his daughter in marriage so that he may put an end to his brahmacaryasrama and become a grhastha. Thus the whole ceremony of upanayana has become a mere pretence which is, however, sedulously maintained.

Death Rites.

Death rites and obsequies followed by the various communities in Yavatmal have already been described as recorded by the old Gazetteer. Hindus who follow Vedic or Pauranic rites usually cremate their dead. Sanyasis, when they die, receive a ceremonial burial called samadhi. Infants who have not cut their teeth and those persons who die of small-pox and leprosy are buried even among higher castes. The bones and ashes of the dead are usually consigned to a stream, a river or the sea. Sometimes a part of these is preserved for being immersed in the Ganga river at Prayaga or Kasi.

When a person is on the point of death, his nearest kin, usually the eldest son, sits close to the dying man, comforts him and assures him that his family and affairs would be well looked after. A small piece of gold is laid in his mouth with a tulasi leaf and the Ganga water. When life is extinct, the body is removed from the bed and laid on the ground with the head to the north. It is washed with cow dung water, holy water is sprinkled on it and a wreath of tulasi leaves is placed around the neck. The chief mourner then undergoes a purificatory bath, while the priest chants Vedic verses. If the deceased is an ascendant, the chief mourner and other mourners of the same degree shave their heads except the sendi. They also remove their moustaches. Having done this, the chief mourner offers oblations of rice in honour of the dead. The corpse is bathed and wrapped up in a new dhotar or lugade according as the dead person is a man or a woman. If the deceased is a woman with her husband living, she is arrayed in a yellow cloth and some of the ornaments in her daily use are put on the body. She is decked with flowers, rubbed with turmeric paste and kumku marks are placed on her brow. These honours are not shown to a widow. All relations present, men and women bow to the dead. Finally, the dead body is put on a ladder-like bier of bamboo and borne by four persons on their shoulders to take it to the cremation ground, the priest and the chief mourner who holds the sacred fire for burning the dead body, walking in front. Women do not accompany a funeral procession. All persons attending the procession are bare-headed. Half way to the cremation ground, the oblations of rice are made and they are offered a third time after reaching the cremation grounds. With the help of the live charcoal, brought along, a fire called mantragni is prepared, the corpse is laid on the pyre and the chief mourner then ignites it with the fire. Immediately, after the body is burnt, the chief mourner goes round the pyre three times with a trickling waterpot (in which the fire was brought) and finally throws the pot backward over his shoulders spilling the water over the ashes, to cool the spirit of the dead which has been heated by the fire. He then pours water mixed with sesamum and the rest of the mourners follow suit. The party then returns when the body is completely consumed. During the first ten days all persons belonging to the family and gotra of the deceased observe mourning (sutak).

Obsequies.

The sraddha and funeral obsequies are the only ceremonies performed for the salvation of the ancestors. A special ceremony called Narayana Bali may be performed for those that have died of accident; but in the case of one dying childless, no departure from the ordinary rites takes place. The funeral obsequies are performed during the first thirteen days after death. Oblations of rice are offered every day, in consequence of which the soul of the deceased is supposed to attain a spiritual body, limb by limb, till on the thirteenth day, it is enabled to start on its further journey. Oblations are also offered on the 27th day and some-times hereafter on the day of the death, once in a month for a year, of which six monthly and the bharani oblations (i.e., the sraddha performed on the fifth of the dark half of the month of Bhadrapada) are essential. After a year has elapsed, the oblations of the first anniversary day are celebrated with great solemnity. The annual sraddha is performed on the day corresponding to the day of death in the latter half of the month of Bhadrapada. Where the deceased's family can afford it, a sraddha is also performed on the anniversary day which is known as sraddha tithi. While performing the sraddha of one's deceased father, offerings are also made to other ancestors, three generations back, and to deceased collaterals. Women dying in the life-time of their husbands have special oblations offered to them during their husband's life-time. This takes place on the 9th day of pitrpaksa and is called the avidhava navami day.

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