Samskaras are rituals and sacrifices in Hinduism that mark life events from conception to death. There are 16 main samskaras that serve as rites of passage. The ceremonies aim to influence health, wealth, intelligence, fertility and social status, and bring people to their highest potential physically, psychically and spiritually to achieve all-round welfare.

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3. India is a very male dominated society, looking to woman as only wives
and mothers.
In his Manusmriti (Law of Menu), Mendu, a Hindu spiritual law giver says,
“Her father protects (her) in her childhood, her husband protects (her) in
marriage, and her sons protect (her) in old age; a woman is never fit for
independence.” Although this comes from an ancient texts, these practices
are still used.
Women are treated with unequal measures, statistically showing that one
and every five married women are subjected to domestic abuse.
An extreme example of abuse is in the form of “dowry deaths,” where
newlywed women are murdered or pushed to suicide then masked as a
accidents to profit more dowry (money, goods, land).
Women from lower classes, where traditional views are still abundant are
forced to be dependent to their husbands and freedom is limited.

4. In all aspects of society, Indian women have taken on more
independent roles as the economy liberated.
A growing rate of woman are taking on head of household in
the absence of men.
Even after taking their husband’s name after marriage, woman
have the right to hold their assets separately.
By India law, women have access to all educational facilities to
seek higher education and follow careers goals.
Government has passed various laws to protect women’s
rights along with encouraging the hopes of woman to have
more activity in the public.
Traditional practices such as child marriage, temple
prostitution, and Sati (the burning of a widow alive on her
husbands burial) have been completely outlawed.

6.  Men are dominant and women take the back
seat and are more submissive
 Men do all of the work and are the main bread
winners in the household.
 Along with bringing home all the money men
traditionally decide how the money in the
household is spent.
 Men, traditionally, don’t do housework they
instead go out and socialize with other men
and worship at the temple everyday after
working.

7.  Men and women are able to
converse in more of an equal
sense. Women play major
roles in the household also
 Men take part in helping in
the household and help
women with the cooking
 Men are not the only ones
allowed to work in the
household women are
allowed to work and bring in
money also
 Men take part in helping
raise the children and don’t
leave all of the work to the
men

8.  Men do not chose their wives, their parents do, and men
don’t meet the wives they are to marry until 3 months
prior to the wedding
 Men can divorce their wives if their wife doesn’t give him
sons, which has caused a high divorce rate in India.
 If a married male in the family dies, the eldest male in the
family will then assume responsibility for the wife and
children and take care of them
 Once married the father in law and males that are older
than the bride are not allowed to look at the bride face to
face and the bride must wear a veil when speaking to the
bride.
 Most middle aged men don’t remarry if they a widowed
the young men are normally the only people who get
remarried.

9. India is a country that has a magical or mystified allure, with bright colored clothing,
bangles and bells. It is diverse in culture and religion. It is through their choice of
clothing that they communicate their social status or caste, religion, region, age and
educational background. (Shukla. P, pg 4).
The most common piece of informal clothing that is worn by men and women of India,
is the Salwar suits, that consists of a three piece outfit. The pants and ,the most
common choice is the Churider pyjama, has a tightfitting drawstring waist, then the
material blousons to the ankles and is fastened with tight fitting snaps. The tunic or
Kurta, is varied in cut, it can be tight or loosely fitted to the body, and can have either
short or long sleeves. The most common feature of the Kurta is its length, it will
always fall between the upper thigh or well below the knee. The men will wear these
pants with a jacket to complete their everyday ensemble. (Shukle,P. pg71).
The scarf or Dupatta, is worn mostly by women, and can vary in style or print. It is
draped over the breast, then hangs vertically down the back and over one shoulder to
the front part of the body. Since it is usually flimsy, sheer cloth, it can also be used to
cover her head and face for modesty purposes.(Shukle,P. pg72).

10. The Sari is another form of clothing that communicates the age and status
of the women of India. The styles of cloth ultimately are chosen by the
men, since they are the buyers of the cloth and usually the weavers.
India is a predominantly male culture. She may posses several
Sari’s, some for everyday wear and others for special occasions. The Sari
is one piece of unstitched cloth, this gives a statement of being pure, this
is why they are usually purchased by brides to be or married women of
India. They are worn with a blouse and petticoats. They are usually
chosen for their weave, color and texture (Shukla,P. pg 68).
The younger brides of India usually choose the bright bolder colors of
red, orange or yellow, to communicate their youth for their Sari .These
colors will also be chosen for their ghunfat, the veil that young brides
wear to cover their faces from the men in the household. As no verbal
communication is allowed between the father in-law and the brothers of
the new bride. The more mature married women will choose the lighter
colors of blues and pale yellows to communicate their presence in the
family. When a women becomes a widow, she will only wear the colors of
white, black or brown to signify mourning. The widow will then become
part of her husbands brothers family and will be treated as equal to his
wife and family. (Aruna, personal communication, October 21st,2011).

11. Women with their
Sari
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12. The Sherwani is a long coat
that buttons up the front and
hangs down usually below the
knee. Men spend lavish
amounts of money these
formal wears in preparation
for their wedding night or
special occasions. The
Sherwani is an expression of
ones wealth and style. The
sherwani contains a nehru
collar which stands up. The
clothing gets it’s origin from
Pakistan, but has been
adopted by the Indian culture.

13. The Indian Sari is a dress worn
by women and has many
different
styles. The sari or saree, is a
length of unstitched cloth that
can
Range from 4 to 9 meters. The
different styles are differentiated
By the way the cloth is draped
over the woman. The sari has
become a way for women to
express themselves fashionably
during
Momentous occasions such as
weddings.

14. The lehenga choli is also a formal
dress that is more modern. The
lehenga choli are dresses that are
embroidered with stones, zari,
crystals, cori, mirrors, and
sequens. This dress is more form
fitting and meant to accent the
curves of the body.

15. Hinduism began around 1500 BCE and is the third largest religion in the
world. It accounts for about 80% of people in India.
While lacking a unified system of beliefs and ideas, it combines very diverse
traditions and beliefs. The dharma controls ones ethics and duties, it acts as
the law or natural law. The samsara controls the rebirth, or reincarnation.
Karma is controlled by performing the right action. And the Moksha is
liberation from the Samsara cycle.
Hinduism is an all inclusive way of life. The purpose of life is to attain
freedom from the reincarnation cycle. To do this one must live life following
the dharma. If successful and ones karma is resolved, they will attain
moksha. If ones karma is unsuccessful, their soul will enter the samsara
cycle and be born into a new body.
Worship can occur at home or at temples so that one can think of divinity
during every day life. Shrines are created at home with icons to celebrate
their chosen god.
Devout Hindus worship daily after bathing at dawn. Worship includes
chanting mantras, reciting scriptures, singing hymns or meditating.
Special occasions like birth, marriage and death, involve elaborate sets of
religious customs. These rituals are called samskaras.

16. Samskaras are rituals and sacrifices that cover every aspect of the Hindu
life, from conception to death.
There are two categories of Samskaras. One is to encourage kindness
from the gods. The other is to keep away or get rid of hostile and evil
powers.
There are 16 main samskaras that serve as a rite of passage.
Ceremonies can be used to influence many things including
health, wealth, intelligence, fertility and social status. It brings man or
woman to their highest potential physically, psychically and spiritually to
achieve the highest level of all-round human welfare.
Max Muller explained the ceremonies as “the deep-rooted tendency in the
heart of man to bring the chief events to human life into contact with a
higher power, and to give to our joys and sufferings a deeper significance
and a religious sanctification.

17. Samskaras are rituals and sacrifices that cover
every aspect of the Hindu life, from conception to
death.
There are two categories of Samskaras. One is to
encourage kindness from the gods. The other is to
keep away or get rid of hostile and evil powers.
There are 16 main samskaras that serve as a rite
of passage.
Ceremonies can be used to influence many things
including health, wealth, intelligence, fertility and
social status. It brings man or woman to their
highest potential physically, psychically and
spiritually to achieve the highest level of all-round
human welfare.
Max Muller explained the ceremonies as “the
deep-rooted tendency in the heart of man to bring
the chief events to human life into contact with a
higher power, and to give to our joys and
sufferings a deeper significance and a religious
sanctification.

19.  When greeting an
elder, there is also
a touching of the
feet of the elder,
with the right
hand, then
touching your
chest. After this, is
the palms pressed
together.

20.  Out of respect, it is common to
remove one’s shoes at places
of worship, when visiting
people’s homes, and even in
certain shops and businesses.
 People beckon one another by
extending an arm and making
a scratching motion with their
fingers, palm facing down.
 The head wobble and mean
various things depending on
angle, expression and speed
 One usually eats with their
right hand, as the left is
considered unclean.

21.  Tilak: a ritual mark
made on the
forehead between
the eyebrows
representing
greeting, blessing or
auspiciousness
 Bindi: An
auspicious mark on
a married Indian
woman’s forehead,
symbolizing
Goddess Pavarti
and female energy.

22.  We have seen how the culture of India
communicates through all sources of verbal
and nonverbal use. From the Sari and Bindi of
the married India women, to their religion of
Hinduism, where the people pray to their
Dharma, in the hopes of attaining Karma. We
have seen how the society has moved forward
in allowing women to work and receive an
education. These are all positive ways that
communication has helped bring India that
much closer into the twentieth century.