The samskaras are transitional rites intended to prepare a person for a certain event or for the next stage in life by removing taints (sins) or by generating fresh qualities. If the blemishes incurred in this or a previous life are not removed, the person is impure and will not be rewarded for any ritual acts. The samskaras sanctify critical moments and are deemed necessary for unfolding a person’s latent capacities for development.
In antiquity there was a great divergence of opinion about the number of rites of passage, but in later times 16 were recognized as most important. In modern times most samskaras—except those of prenatal initiation, marriage, and death—have fallen into disuse or are performed in an abridged or simplified form without Vedic mantras or a priest.
Prenatal rites such as the punsavana (begetting of a son), which is observed in the third month of pregnancy, are still popular. The birth is itself the subject of elaborate ceremonies, the main features of which are an oblation of ghee (clarified butter) cast into the fire; the introduction of a pellet of honey and ghee into the newborn child’s mouth, which according to many authorities is an act intended to produce mental and physical strength; the murmuring of mantras for the sake of a long life; and rites to counteract inauspicious influences. There is much divergence of opinion as to the time of the name-giving ceremony; in addition to the personal name, there is often another one that should be kept secret for fear of sinister designs against the child. The defining moment comes, however, when the father, the mother, or a family elder utters the name into the child’s ear.
A hallmark of childhood samskaras is a general male bias. In the birth ritual (jatakarman), the manuals direct the father to breathe upon the child’s head, a practice transparently designed to supplant the role that biology gives to the mother. In practice, however, the mother may join in this breathing ritual.
There is also an array of regional life-cycle rites that focuses specifically upon the lives of girls and women. In some communities in southern India, for instance, one finds an initiation rite (vilakkitu kalyanam) that corresponds roughly to upanayana, the male initiation, and that gives girls the authority to light oil lamps and thereby to become full participants in proper domestic worship. Other rites celebrate first menstruation or mark various moments surrounding childbirth. Typically women act as officiants.
The important upanayana initiation was traditionally held when a boy was between the ages of 8 and 12, and it marked his entry into the community of the three higher classes of society; in contemporary Hinduism this can be done at any time before his wedding. In this rite he becomes a “twice-born one,” or dvija. Traditionally, this was also the beginning of a long period of Veda study and education in the house under the guidance of a teacher (guru). In modern practice, the haircutting ceremony—formerly performed in a boy’s third year—and the initiation are usually performed on the same day, the homecoming ceremony at the end of the period of study being little more than a formality.
Wedding ceremonies, the most important of all, not only have remained elaborate—and often very expensive—but also have incorporated various elements—among others, propitiations and expiations—that are not indicated in the oldest sources. Already in ancient times there existed great divergences in accordance with local customs or family or caste traditions. However, the following practices are considered essential in the performance of the wedding rite in most communities. The date is fixed only after careful astrological calculation; the bridegroom is conducted to the home of his future parents-in-law, who receive him as an honoured guest; there are offerings of roasted grain into the fire; the bridegroom has to take hold of the bride’s hand; he conducts her around the sacrificial fire; seven steps are taken by bride and bridegroom to solemnize the irrevocability of the unity; and both are, in procession, conducted to their new home, which the bride enters without touching the threshold. The fire is considered to be the “eternal witness,” and texts on dharma insist upon the essential nature of the fire in Hindu weddings. However, it is not used in the wedding ceremonies of many communities in Kerala and among Coorgi Hindus.
Of eight forms of marriage recognized by the ancient authorities, two have remained in vogue: the simple gift of a bride and the legalization of the alliance by means of a marriage gift paid to the bride’s family. In the Vedic period, girls seem not to have married before they had reached puberty. Child marriage and the condemnation of the remarriage of widows, especially among the higher classes, became customary later and have gradually, since the mid-19th century, lost their stringency.
There are many variations of other types of rituals as well. For example, the traditional funeral method is cremation. Burial is reserved for those who have not been sufficiently purified by samskaras (i.e., children) and those who no longer need the ritual fire to be conveyed to the hereafter, such as ascetics who have renounced all earthly concerns. Members of the Lingayat (also called Virashaiva) community, however, do not practice cremation but instead bury their dead.
An important and meritorious complement of the funeral offices is the shraddha ceremony, in which food is offered to Brahmans for the benefit of the deceased. Many people still perform this rite at least once a year, even when they no longer engage in any of the five obligatory daily offerings discussed below. Daily offerings
There are five obligatory offerings: (1) offerings to the gods (food taken from the meal), (2) a cursory offering (bali) made to “all beings,” (3) a libation of water mixed with sesame offered to the spirits of the deceased, (4) hospitality, and (5) recitation of the Vedas. Although some traditions prescribe a definite ritual in which these five “sacrifices” are performed, this has remained more of an ideal than a practice. In most cases the five daily offerings are merely a way of speaking about one’s religious obligations in general. Other private rites
The morning and evening adorations (sandhya), being a very important duty of the traditional householder, are mainly Vedic in character but have become lengthy because of the addition of Puranic and Tantric elements. If not shortened, the morning ceremonies consist of self-purification, bathing, prayers, and recitation of mantras, especially the Gayatri-mantra (Rigveda 3.62.10), a prayer for spiritual stimulation addressed to the Sun. The accompanying ritual includes (1) the application of marks on the forehead, characterizing the adherents of a particular religious community, (2) the presentation of offerings (water, flowers) to the Sun, and (3) meditative concentration. There are Shaiva and Vaishnava variants, and some elements are optional. The observance of the daily obligations, including the care of bodily purity and professional duties, leads to earthly reward and helps to preserve the state of sanctity required to enter into contact with the divine. Temple worship
Image worship in sectarian Hinduism takes place both in small household shrines and in the temple. Many Hindu authorities claim that regular temple worship to one of the deities of the devotional communities procures the same results for the worshiper as did the performance of one of the great Vedic sacrifices, and one who provides the patronage for the construction of a temple is called a “sacrificer” (yajamana).
Shiva temple, Bhumara.Frederick M. Asher
Building a temple, which belongs to whoever paid for it or to the community that occupies it, is believed to be a meritorious deed recommended to anyone desirous of heavenly reward. The choice of a site, which should be serene and lovely, is determined by astrology and divination as well as by its proximity to human dwellings. The size and artistic value of temples range widely, from small village shrines with simple statuettes to great temple-cities whose boundary walls, pierced by monumental gates (gopura), enclose various buildings, courtyards, pools for ceremonial bathing, and sometimes even schools, hospitals, and monasteries.