20-24 septembrie 2009 - Biblioteca Metropolitana Bucuresti

On the authenticity of the puberty ritualsin the Indian ritual textsNirmala KulkarniCASS, University of Pune – PuṇeIntroductionThe puberty rituals are counted among the rites of passage to beperformed on a child – either a male or a female – while coming of age.These rituals elevate the child on the higher plain of an adult, because therituals train the child to become a responsible member of the society. Inthe Indian ritual texts one finds description of upanayana (a puberty riteto be performed on a male Aryan child). However, its female counterpartis absent in the ritual texts. Schmidt 1 has made an attempt to provethe Apāla hymn (ṛgveda 8.91) as the only instance of the puberty ritualdescribed in the Vedic literature. He has further claimed that no IE societyhad taken cognizance of puberty rituals for girls. To prove the absence ofthese rituals he has taken support of two works, one by Lincoln 2 for notciting any reference to the IE society in his extensive survey and the secondby Paige and Paige 3 noticing the absence of such rituals in the IE societyas well as providing reason for its absence. Schmidt further claims thatone cannot go to the extreme and accept the absence of the puberty ritualin the IE societies, but the former should be viewed as blended with themarriage rituals. Thereby, the Indrāṇīkarma or the caturthīkarma of thegṛhyasūtra serve as puberty rituals. Since these rituals do not involve anypurification which is crucial to such a ritual in any society, one may acceptSchmidt’s theory with reservations. I have surveyed the wide spectrum1Schmidt, 1987.2Lincoln, 1981.3Paige & Paige, 1981.