Asian Journal of Home Science

Open Access Open Access  Restricted Access Subscription Access
Open Access Open Access Open Access  Restricted Access Restricted Access Subscription Access

Change and Continuity in Wedding Ceremonies in Rural Punjab


Affiliations
1 Department of Economics and Sociology, Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana (Punjab), India
2 Department of Extension Education, Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana (Punjab), India
     

   Subscribe/Renew Journal


The study focused to determine the change and continuity in cultural practices related to marriages. The present study was carried out in three cultural zones of Punjab viz., Malwa, Majha and Doaba. The data were collected personally from the two types of respondents viz., Mother-in-laws (G1) and daughter-in –laws (G2) constituting a sample of 360 respondents each. Majority of the G1 and G2 respondents performed ‘Roka/Thaka’ ceremonies followed by ‘Chunni Chadana’ ceremony. Majority (69.44 %) of G2 respondents had Ring ceremony and (69.72 %) performed Shagun ceremony whereas only few of first generation (G1) respondents performed both these ceremonies. In G1 respondents, Ladies sangeet was performed only by the ladies from adjoining houses and villages whereas in case of G2 respondents the DJ’s replaced the traditional sangeet. The traditional sweets such as Ladoos were replaced by costly sweets, dry fuits and chocolates in second generation. All the respondents of G1 respondents prepared hand knitted items, phulkaris, pakhiyan as dowry items but very few of G2 respondents prepared them. The traditional ceremonies such as Din bandhana, Atte pani pauna, Bambiha bulana, Sithniyan are being lesser followed by G2 respondents. There was a shift regarding believe in astrology as only 28.61 per cent of G2 respondents believed in astrology. So, it was seen that there is a continuity of traditional ceremonies but a major shift in performing ladies sangeet, kind of dowry items, and sweets served was seen nowadays. People maintain ceremonies as traditional while simultaneously appropriating them for changes in broader society. Keeping traditional ceremonies as a way of preserving cultural identity in a society that is becoming more influenced by global trends.

Keywords

Ceremonies, Change, Continuity, Marriage.
Subscription Login to verify subscription
User
Notifications
Font Size


  • Bhachu, Parminder (1985). Twice migrants. East African Settlers in Britain. Tavistock Publications, London, United Kingdom.

  • Fruzzetti, Lina. M. (1982). The gift of a virgin: Women marriage and ritual in a Bengali Society. New Brunswick, N. J. : Rutgers University Press.

  • Fuller, C.J. (1992). The camphor flame: Popular Hinduism and Society in India. Princeton University Press. New Jersey.

  • Gennep, Van, A. (1960). The rites of passage. Trans. M.B. Vizedom and G. L.Caffe. Chicago University Press, Chicago.

  • Madan, Paul (1985). Dowry and position of women in India: A study of Delhi Metropolis.Rawat Publications. New Delhi, India.

  • Malhotra, Anshu (2002). Gender, caste and religious identities: Restructuring class in Colonial Punjab. Oxford University Press. New Delhi, India.

  • Menski, Werner (1987). Legal pluralism in the Hindu marriage, in richard Burghart (Ed.) Hinduism in Great Britain. Tavistock Publications.London, pp.180-200.

  • Menski, Werner (2003). Hindu law: Beyond tradition and modernity. Oxford et al Oxford University Press (2nd Ed., 2005).

  • Myrvold, Kristina (2004). Wedding ceremonies in Punjab. In Journal of Punjab studies, centre for Sikh and Punjab studies, University of California, Santa Barbara, 11(2) :155 - 170.

  • Nevadomsky, Joseph (1981). Wedding rituals and changing women’s rights among the East Indians in Rural Trinidad. Internat. J. Women’s Stud., 4(5):484-496.

  • Puri, D. (1999). Gift of a daughter: Change and continuity in marriage patterns among two generations of North Indians in Delhi. Ph.D. Thesis. University of Toronto, Canada.

  • Sagade, Jaya (2004). Child marriage in India: Socio-legal and human rights dimensions. Oxford Publications. New Delhi, India.

  • Uberoi, J.P.S. (1996). Religion, Civil Society and the State: A Study of Sikhism.Oxford University Press, Delhi, India.


Abstract Views: 424

PDF Views: 1




  • Change and Continuity in Wedding Ceremonies in Rural Punjab

Abstract Views: 424  |  PDF Views: 1

Authors

Gaganpreet Kaur
Department of Economics and Sociology, Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana (Punjab), India
Lakhwinder Kaur
Department of Extension Education, Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana (Punjab), India

Abstract


The study focused to determine the change and continuity in cultural practices related to marriages. The present study was carried out in three cultural zones of Punjab viz., Malwa, Majha and Doaba. The data were collected personally from the two types of respondents viz., Mother-in-laws (G1) and daughter-in –laws (G2) constituting a sample of 360 respondents each. Majority of the G1 and G2 respondents performed ‘Roka/Thaka’ ceremonies followed by ‘Chunni Chadana’ ceremony. Majority (69.44 %) of G2 respondents had Ring ceremony and (69.72 %) performed Shagun ceremony whereas only few of first generation (G1) respondents performed both these ceremonies. In G1 respondents, Ladies sangeet was performed only by the ladies from adjoining houses and villages whereas in case of G2 respondents the DJ’s replaced the traditional sangeet. The traditional sweets such as Ladoos were replaced by costly sweets, dry fuits and chocolates in second generation. All the respondents of G1 respondents prepared hand knitted items, phulkaris, pakhiyan as dowry items but very few of G2 respondents prepared them. The traditional ceremonies such as Din bandhana, Atte pani pauna, Bambiha bulana, Sithniyan are being lesser followed by G2 respondents. There was a shift regarding believe in astrology as only 28.61 per cent of G2 respondents believed in astrology. So, it was seen that there is a continuity of traditional ceremonies but a major shift in performing ladies sangeet, kind of dowry items, and sweets served was seen nowadays. People maintain ceremonies as traditional while simultaneously appropriating them for changes in broader society. Keeping traditional ceremonies as a way of preserving cultural identity in a society that is becoming more influenced by global trends.

Keywords


Ceremonies, Change, Continuity, Marriage.

References