ダーデキー・サールハープールの宗教生活(1) : 北インド農村の通過儀礼と宗教的施設

抄録

The purpose of this paper is to understand the religious life proper to the North Indian village, in the framework of its social relations. The description is based on field work done by the author, supplemented by existing village monographs. The major premise for this understanding is that all the rites mentioned here are not practised in their entirety even by the richer part of the dominant castes. ' (1) Rites of Passage: Usually the rites at birth are not observed when a nonprimogenitural girl is born. A Harijan woman assists at birth, using a knife to cut the umbilical cord. Impurity is not the reason for the Harijan's role as a midwife . Some Brahmin participate in the birth rites as astrologers, except when they do not benefit from these events. On Chhath (the sixth day after birth) a luncheon is held, occasionally inviting Brahmins who have no positive function there. The initiation ceremony done today is a sanskritized version of the traditional rite of presenting the turban. "Marriage" (shadi) is composed of a series of rites. The Brahmins' role in this ceremonial complex is not considered to have been especially religious, since their function was quite similar to that of the Nai (barber caste). The Nai and Brahmin together played central roles for the betrothal ceremony (sagai), the latter performing the rite of tilak. The normalization of the sex ratio, which became apparent in the thirties, reversed the proposal direction, and resulted in the simplification of the betrothal procedure of the marriage series. Sex ratio imbalance and hypergamic mechanism of social status determination, which had contradicted each other and complicated the betrothal procedure, were removed. The change from bride-price to dowry took place simultaneously. The positive participation of the Brahmin is not observed in the marriage ceremony in the narrowest sense, although sanskritic etimologies are frequently found in the terms for this rite which begins with the arrival of barat (the march of the groom's side to the bride's village). Counting the bride-price and circumambulation by the pair around the fire, touching their feet to a stone, compose the traditional marriage ceremony, during which the most important roles are played by the brother of the bride robed in pardah (white cloth for segregation). The following rites are milai and bidai on the afternoon of the next day. After receiving the gifts of the two rites, the barat together with the bride starts for the groom's village. In Dhadeki the bride returns to the natal village a few days later, again visiting the husband's village with gauna gift after a one week interval. The year following gauna passes without sexual intercourse between the pair, and the bride repeatedly goes back to stay in the natal home during the first several years. Considering the prolonged nature of the series of rites, shadi is better interpreted as the process of the betrothal completion. Funeral rites generally are simple. The consciousness of corpse impurity does exist, but it is not linked with Harijan since the body of the just expired is washed by a family member. Gifts are usually not exchanged. The cremated remains are brought to the Ganges on the third day. Due to the development of modern transportation the ashes are now carried to holy place towns. Formerly they were most probably cast at particular spots of religious importance along the Ganges or nearby rivers. Sanskritized elements predominate in the requiem rites among which the shrad luncheon held on the thirtieth day is really traditional.