Chapter 15: “May we see a Hundred Autumns:” Life-Cycle Rituals in the Hindu Traditions

Namakarana – ritual when a name is given to a baby

The child is put in a crib decorated with silk sheets and flowers.

The child is put in a crib decorated with silk sheets and flowers.

Venki – Nov 1985; Shivani – April 1994

Chaula – the shaving of the head

The child was given a bath before being taken to the temple.

A child’s great-uncle holds him while the barber gets ready to shave his hair.
The actual shaving was done in the balcony of a cottage in the holy site of Tirupati.

Venki – July 1987

Upanayana – investiture of the sacred thread

The sacred Gayatri mantra is given in secret by the teacher
(here the father) to the young boy.

Putting the forehead mark on Venki. Madras, August 1993.

Desika gets the sacred thread. Madras, July 1992.

The young boy, Ganesh, is carried into the house. He is received by the women bearing auspicious gifts and then participates in the yaga.
September, 2000

Upanayana in Jacksonville – at the residence of Srimati Preeti and Sri Haran

Vedic recitation in Jacksonville

Vivaha – pre-wedding rituals

Putting mehendi (henna) on the hands of the bride and her friends.
Gainesville, May 1995.

Vivaha – south Indian wedding

The groom ties the tali (mangal sutra) around the bride’s neck

Exchanging of the garlands (above) between bride and groom.

Giving rice and coconuts to the bride and groom.

Vivaha – north Indian wedding in Gainesville

The bridegroom and bride circle the sacred fire.

The couple with Dr. Keskar, who officiated at the wedding, and Dr. Srivastava (the bride’s father).

Vivaha – Gujarati wedding in Gainesville

Women with ornamental kalash (jars of water) wait for the arrival of the bridegroom. Bijal’s wedding, Gainesville December 1997.

Women with ornamental kalash (jars of water) wait for the arrival of the bridegroom. Bijal’s wedding, Gainesville December 1997.

The bride, Suhag, is
carried into the wedding
hall by her uncles.
May 1995.

The bridegroom arrives on a white horse for the wedding.

The newly married couple.

Garlanding
the bride.

Simanta – rituals during pregnancy

Simanta samskara rituals described in the dharmashastra literature are combined here with the local (social) rite of valakappu (protecting with bracelets). Women stack protective bracelets on the arms of the mother-to-be and apply kumkum on her forehead. This is a domestic sacrament but frequently performed in temples in the diaspora.

Hindu Temple of Atlanta,
October 1998.

Shashti abda purti – 60th birthday I

Shashti abda purti – 60th birthday II

Anteyeshti – death rituals

Rituals on the thirteenth day after death.