INSIDE THE GURU'S GATE - Anpere

F O U R
PRACTICES IN TIMES OF ORDER AND DISORDER
DIFFERENT CONTEXTS OF WORSHIP ACTS
The previous chapter illustrated various worship acts by which Sikhs in Varanasi are
reproducing and enacting gurbani texts and prayers. This chapter will describe a few
ceremonies and situations in which these and other religious acts are enacted by the
Sikhs. Following a common typology among ritual theorists the chapter is divided
into three sections which successively exemplify Sikh rites of passage or life-cycle
rites; calendrical rites or festivals; and finally rites of affliction and in times of need.
The first two categories can be classified as “syntagmatic” ceremonies as they give
order to the passage of time, either as organized events observed in connection with
biological and sociocultural transitions in the human life or periodical events accompanying
seasonal changes and the religious calendar. The last section, on the other
hand, will exemplify practices that belong to the category of “pragmatic” ceremonies,
that is, ceremonies which occur occasionally and primarly attempts to obtain supernatural
assistance when human conditions are experienced to be disrupted. 585
Unlike the collective and homogenized worship in the gurdwara, observances
of festivals and life-cycle rites always vary by caste and by family traditions. Khatri
families may follow customs which are alien to Jat families, even if both share a religious
identity as Sikhs. There will always be local divergences in the performance of
ceremonies as the Sikh community displays heterogeneity on many social divisions.
Furthermore, rituals are always transmitted and enacted by people who adjust them
to contemporary conditions and needs, and attribute them with their own meanings.
The following descriptions will only exemplify how a limited number of Sikhs at
Varanasi – the majority of merchant castes ‒ may choose to respond to different situations
in life and conduct standard performances. The primary aim is to give an ethnographic
account and lay out the empirical foundation for a general theoretical
discussion in the concluding chapter. Firstly, however, a brief note on the distinction
between ritual and ceremony should be made.
Scholars sometimes use the two analytical terms “ritual” and “ceremony” synonymously
when constructing typologies of ritual-like events and thereby mix up
action with the contexts in which acts are performed. Classifications of particular
rituals are frequently determined by the expected social functions of ritual acts, in
585
The distinction between syntagmatic and pragmatic ceremonies is derived from Marin 1987:
223. For different classification systems of rituals, consult Bell 1997: 93 ‒ 94.
347
Published on www.anpere.net in May 2008