Journeying through life: rites de passage in Bengal
By
Sulagna Ray Purkayastha

The birth of my niece and the ensuing festivities and barrage of rituals brought back fleeting images from my childhood. I realized with a jerk how so very similar these rituals were with what I remembered being performed more than two decades ago in my childhood. There is a saying in Bengal,’ baro mashe tero parbon’ meaning among the Bengalis there are more festivals than months in the calendar .Most of these rituals are actually rites de passage in the life of an individual. Rites de passage are a specific kind of ritual that celebrate transition points in one’s life or entrance into exclusive groups

Typical rites de passage in the modern sense are those that accompany birth, the attainment of adult status, marriage and death. The term rites de passage was first used by Arnold van Gennep in his book of the same name. Van Gennep analysed rites into a sequence of three stages

• rites of separation
• liminal rites
• rites of incorporation

The first ritual in the life of a Bengali would actually begin even before her/his birth with the ‘shaadh’ ceremony of the mother. The word ‘shaadh’ means desire or wishes and was a ceremony to ensure that the expectant mother had nothing more to wish for before she went into labour as all her favourite dishes were prepared and she was fed on mouthwatering mishtis and payesh and varieties of fish. She is given gifts of resplendent sarees and jewelry. In the days when childbirth was a potentially dangerous event often taking the life of the mother, ‘shaadh’ was a way to ensure the utmost material satisfaction of the mother .My cousin’s shaadh had chicken wantons and blueberry cheesecake on the menu instead of the usual ‘shukto’ and ‘sandesh’ but the essence of the ritual in the form of showering blessings upon a pregnancy to produce a healthy child and to wish for a successful delivery and child’s survival were all there.

Upon the birth there is segregation of the mother and child for 21 days during which prayers and offerings are made to Goddess Shasti who is the goddess of children. Thus the baby, a liminal entity in the womb till now, crosses the liminal stage of birth to enter and settle into the world of its parents. This period of segregation and rituals apart from keeping the mother and newborn away from infections, also strips the mother of her previous identity as daughter-in-law or wife and gives her a new primary identity of mother. At the end of 6 months for the male child and 7 for the female, an ‘Annaprashan’ or weaning ceremony for the child is held with great pomp and show. The baby has its first taste of rice and fish, the staple Bengali fare as well as the quintessential ‘payesh’ or rice pudding without the tasting of which any ritual in Bengal is termed incomplete. The baby is prettily dressed in bright red silk and jewellery with the mother’s brother feeding her the first grain of rice.
In an interesting ritual to mark the initiation of the baby into the aims, aspirations and desires of the world into which she/he will be socialized, a tray containing a book, a pen a lump of earth and a few coins are kept. The baby is urged to take any one, the book and pen signifying a possible inclination to academics, the coin to business and prosperity and the earth to fertility. There is much fun and laughter as the gathering of family and friends go to great lengths to get the baby to choose what they would rather have the child be on growing up. Most babies are attracted by the colourful cover of books and make a grab for them ignoring the rest of the items on the tray and the mothers are duly proud of it, but I am sure most are disillusioned as soon as the child starts attending school. An elaborate puja is performed calling upon the forefathers to bless and accept the new entrant to the family. It is also at the Annaprasan that the child gets its first formal name.

Among the Brahmins, upon entering adolescence boys undergo a ritual known as ‘Upanayan’ or taking the ‘sacred thread’. Arnold Van Gennep points out ceremonies marking the initiation into adulthood are the most common rites de passage He says they often include
· Trials of pain: boys shave their heads and have their ears pierced during ‘Upanayan’.
· Periods of introspection: boys are kept apart in a closed room for three days not meeting anyone except the closest family members.
· Teaching of sacred and secret stories: the ‘guarded’ Gayatri mantra is imparted to the boys at this ritual.
· The use of symbolic representation: the ‘Dandi’ or stick used to mark the Brahmacharya phase during the three days is later immersed in a river upon resumption of normal life.

The ‘Upanayan’ as a ceremony is fast disappearing among the Bengalis as is the Brahmanical order. The adolescent boys sure will miss the lavish gifts and attention they were showered with during this time, the girls have a reason to rejoice as they were being left out of it all the while. Many societies maintain rites de passage but their cultural content varies widely. They may help in maintaining cultural cohesion, but the social and cultural contents are constantly evolving. Our fast paced lives force the overlooking of a lot of rites de passage ceremonies, making out time for only the elaborate ones like the weddings. This is closely intertwined with other aspects of our lives also, for example the saree is also being increasingly ‘mothballed’ away in cupboards, only to be brought out during elaborate affairs. However these rites still continue as they are a celebration of life itself, a life where birth and death are closely intertwined.