Types of Sanskaras

The concept of Sanskaras is yet another unique contribution of Indian philosophy to mankind. It enjoys a dominant place in the Hindu Though. Manu maintained that Sanskaras purify the body. In its literal sense, ‘Sanskara’ means to purify, which starts from Garbhadhana and ends with the last Sanskara i.e. Antheshti.

A Sanskara begins with a havan or yajna in the prescribed manner. There is a divergence of opinion as far as the number of Sanskaras is connected. For example, Gautam Dharma Sutra prescribed 48 Sanskara while some other Sutra outlined only 10 Sanskara. Briefly discussed below, are the eight main Sanskaras.

1. Garbhadhana Sanskara: The Sanskara of human life begins from Garbhadhana. After marriage, the married couple promises before the sacred fire to lead a love-showered life and offer prayers to Lord Vishnu, Sinivali, Ashwinan Agni, and Indra to bless them with the most innocent but powerful children so that they might be able to follow the Dharma. The couple also makes sacrifices to the fire. Thus the Garbhadhana Sanskara is performed with this pure sacred feeling. This all is done for the child that is going to appear in the womb of the woman (mother).
2. Punsavana Sankara: This Sanskara occurs when the wife’s pregnancy reaches its third month. The object of this Sanskara is to get a powerful son as well as the safety and health of the embryo. The prayer is addressed to God to protect the pregnancy. The woman is told to desire a powerful son.
3. Jatakarma Sanskara: This Sanskara is done to create the proper atmosphere suited to the versatile development of the child when he is born and also to reckon parents of their responsibility towards the character building to the child. The Sanskara is performed with the child is born. The father touches the child and whispers some mantras into his ears wishing him to be an intelligent and long life. After it, with a pen of gold, OM is inscribed on the child’s tongue. In essence object of this Sanskara is to remind the parents of their duty towards their child.
4. Namakarna Sanskara: The Namakarna Sanskara is performed when the child becomes ten or twelve days. The child is given his name. On this, Manu feels that the Namakarna should be according to the Varna and ideals.
5. Upanayama: At the beginning of the eighth year of a child’s life, Upanayana Sanskara is performed. The child remains with the ‘Guru’ for undergoing study. The aim of Upanayana Sanskara is to establish a close relationship between the child and teacher to the maximum possible extent. The child is awarded a sacred thread to wear around his neck and taught the principles of Brahamc haya.
6. Samavaratana Sanskara: After finishing his studies and observing all the rules of Brahmacharya, the child, now a Youngman returns to the family told and undergoes the rituals of the Samavaratana Sanskara. At this stage, he is shared for the first time in his life and is permitted to lead a normal domestic life together with other members of his family.
7. Vivaha Sanskara: Vivaha Sanskara signifies man’s entrance in the Grashtha Ashrama. This is the vital stage of socialization for a man and at this stage, he avows to engage in reproduction as his contribution to the furtherance of his race. There occurs a chain of rituals during the performance of Vivaha Sanskara which highlights the importance of wed-lock. This Ashrama continues till he attains his fiftieth year and after that, at 75 years of age he undergoes Vanaprastha Ashrama under the fourfold ashrama system, and the last days of his life are spent in the Sanyasa Ashrama till he breaths his last.
8. Antyeshti Sanskara: When a person dies, the last Sanskara i.e. Antyeshti Sanskara is performed. Tradition is followed and the dead body is burnt on the wooden pyre. Mantras are chanted and ghee beside holy water is sprinkled on the pyre. The eldest son or the eldest male heir of the deceased performs the last rites.

Cultural Significance of Festivals

Festivals hold a vital place in the life of rural people. They spread color in their life and keep them alive to their traditions, festivals remain the people of their high traditions and values.

1. Religious Importance: Festivals have religious importance and they are closely related to religious practices. Different Gods and Goddesses and worshiped on the occasion of different festivals.
2. Social Importance: Festivals provide occasions on which people belonging to different castes meet together and exchange their views. In this way, festivals contribute to social harmony and progress. All the differences are settled when the people exchange sweets and embrace each other.
3. Recreational Importance: Festivals provide a series of recreation to the villages, various cultural activities like dance, drama, music, wrestling, etc., and are organized at several festivals. Dramatic societies provide enough programs on the occasion of Dushehra and other festivals.
4. Artistic Importance: Grandeur is an inseparable part of the village festivals. Many kinds of decoration are done on the occasion of Janam Ashtmi and other festivals. Temples become a place of artistic importance.

Thus festivals provide natural enjoyment of religious events that are celebrated on the occasion of so many festivals are an integral part of rural life and the condition of village life without festivals is beyond imagination. Festivals bring social unity as well as a boon to the poor people who get rewards from the rich for such festive occasions.

Leading Festival of Rural India

As stated earlier, all the festivals are not celebrated throughout rural India. But most of the leading festivals are celebrated with equal enthusiasm throughout the rural part of the country.

Given below the description of some of the leading festivals of Rural India

1. Sakat: Sakat festival is celebrated to guard the villagers against various catastrophes. Mother of male children offer their prayers to Sakat Maharani to protect their children from all the evils and on the evening of the festival day the Sakat Maharani is worshipped and members of the family are served fried food on the day of this festival. Women abstain from food of this day.
2. Makar Sankranti: Makar Sankranti is celebrated every year on the 14th day of January and on this day everyone rises early in the morning and take bath mostly in the river and especially in the Ganges. Special food is prepared on these days and Brahmins are offered rice pudding, ghee, and salt. Lower caste people take rice pudding collectively.
3. Basant Panchimi: It is the Fifth (Panchami) day of Basant when this festival is celebrated. Prayers are offered to the family of God or Lord Shiva on this day. In some of the villages, villagers wear yellow clothes. But this tradition is not universal.
4. Assari: Assari festival is celebrated in the month of assar. Fried food and fruit are the food taken by the higher caste people. Whereas lower caste people take vegetables and other roots. Assari is the festival of women Cow dung lines are drawn on the walls with the belief that it makes the place immune, from an invasion of a snake. Women visit their parent’s residents and children get their heads shaved on this day.
5. Raksha Bandhan: Raksha Bandhan is celebrated by all Hindus throughout the country. On this day colorful Rakhis are tied on the right wrist of brothers by their sisters and offer some sweets and sisters are given some money in exchange. Rakhi is the symbol of the vow that the brother takes to protect his sister from all the difficulties. This festival is also celebrated by the people of lower castes.
6. Naag Panchmi: On this festival, Snake God is worshipped and it falls on the fifth day of saavan. Presents are given to married girls by their parents. Most people take fried food on this day. Many cultural activities like wrestling competitions are organized on this day.
7. Janam Asjtmi: It is believed that Lord Krishna was born on this day at midnight which falls on the eighth day of the month Bhadou. Men and women go on fast till midnight and temples are decorated to depict the happenings of Krishan’s Birth Day. The celebration of Janam Ashtmi is one of the most colorful events of Indian cultural life.
8. Holi: Holi is a kind of Hindu festival. Falling on the day of the full moon in the month of Phalgun, village boys roam in the village and collect wood at a particular place where this is to be lighting the fire and on this occasion, villagers collect together to watch the ceremony. In the evening women worship the place of bone fire. The following day is called Dhulandi on this day colors are exchanged and villagers also sing folk songs. The activities of colors are exchanged and villagers also sing folk songs. The activity of color throwing stopped at noon.
9. Shiva Ratri: Phalgun is the month in which shiva Ratri is celebrated. On this day exclusively Lord Shiva is worshipped and flowers of nature and other materials are put about the idea of Shiva. Generally, people observe fast on the day. Some people take bath in the holly river the Ganges on this day.
10. Worship of Jagannath: The idol of Jagannath has been established in the famous temple in Puri. This festival is also celebrated in most villages. Villagers believe that the worship of Jagannath leads to prosperity. People undertake a pilgrimage to puri and there they offer their prayer. Homes are cleaned properly and fried food is prepared on this day.
11. Dushehra of Jaith: On the day of this festival that falls in the months of Jaith, water is offered to Mahadeva but where the lower caste people are concerned, they offer water at the perfumed residence of the deity.
12. Teej: This festival is celebrated in some parts of the country mainly by women both married and unmarried and only fried food is taken on this day.
13. Vijay Dashmi: Vijoy Dashmi, popularly known as Dushera is one of the greatest festivals of the Hindus, like Holi and Deewali. It is believed that on this day Rama conquered, the Ravana and this established the victory of good over evil. Rama Lila is staged in the villages long before the actual day and the festival is celebrated with remarkable pomp and show. Big effigies of Ravana Kumkharana and Meghanatha are erected and at the appointed day and time on the Dushehra day, they are ablaze with fire. There is great enthusiasm, especially among the villagers on this day.
14. Diwali: Diwali is also, one of the most important festivals of Hinduism. On this day is believed that Rama returned to Ayodhya after fourteen years of exile. The houses are decorated with earthen pots made as lamps and it looks very beautiful in the evening when they are lit. Sweets are exchanged between friends and relatives.

Besides these, other important festivals are Pitra Paksh, Karva Choath Kartiks Poorniman

Meaning and Characteristics of Aesthetic Culture

Meaning 

Aesthetic culture is an integral part of the total culture of a society. It expresses the ideas, aspirations, dreams, values, and attitudes of its people. It is assumed that the aesthetic culture of the rural society helps the historical movement of old types and the emergence of a new life for the rural people. Rural sociology to understand the movement of the rural society itself as it progressed from its part shape to its present one. It will also disclose the changes in the psychological structures of the rural people and their subgroups.

Characteristics of Aesthetic Culture of Rural Society 

According to leading sociologists, the following principal arts constitute the aesthetic culture of rural society.

1. Graphic Arts like painting, drawing, engraving, and so on.
2. Plastic Arts involve the manipulation of materials.
3. Folklore comprised proverbs, myths, riddles, and music.
4. Dance and drama combine the three forms mentioned above.

Chief Characteristics of Aesthetic Culture in Subsistence Societies

Herskovief, Sorokin, Limmerman, and Galpina have given various specific characteristics of the aesthetic culture of the rural people. The following are the most important among them:

1. Art Was Fused with Life: In the opinion of Sorokin, “The arts were not sharply differentiated from religion, intellectual pursuit, and magic. Aesthetic elements entered practically all daily occupations.”
2. Every person took part in artistic activities: Present day society where the people are divided into artistic performing and the audience. In the earlier society all people such as men, children women participated in artistic activities. Then a little number of artists existed in that society. 
3. Art was a Feminist Affair: In the early societies the life of the rural people ‘had a feminist character. As a result this rural art, which was fused with the life of the rural people, also bore the impression of feminism. 
4. Simple Techniques: Rural art was the goods of the village artisan industry and the family itself often made some of these at home. This aspect is in sharp contrast to the instruments of modern art which are the products of specialized modern industries and are therefore complex, highly specialized, varied, and multiform.
5. Agrarian life processes the main constituent: Art was fused with life.  It depicted the life of the rural people in various aspects, economic, social, and religious. Agricultural characteristics are most clearly manifest in songs, music, dances, stories, literature, pantomimes, festivals, dramatic performances, and similar forms of the arts. 
6. Art creations were predominantly collective creations, collective in spirit: Rural people collectively perform on various programs such as drams, Jatra, etc. on the other hand urban people perform individually. 
7. Non-commercial: Self-sufficient economy has existed in rural society. They produce for only their consumption not for the market. The thinkers and artists used their artistic products only for their own consumption.
8. Transmission from generation to generation: In the early or pre-modern societies there were no printing presses and there did not any schools or academies. Then the younger learn from the elder about art and knowledge. In this way, art and knowledge are transferred to the younger.

Importance of the Temple in Village Life

A temple besides being a place of worship is also a place where the intelligent priest influence and guides the villagers. The forecasts and premonition of the priest fluencies the village life to a very great extent. The importance of temples can be studied under the following heads:

1. Religious Importance: Basically the temple is a religious place where village men, women, and children offer their prayers to the god. The prayers (Kirtans Bhajans Path etc.) are arranged by the temple priests who at the end distribute sweets. Besides this, daily routine congregations are invited and prayers are organized, it is a commonplace village assembly that signifies unity among the villagers.
2. Social Importance: Temple is a place where the congregation comprising individuals of different castes and groups gather to participate in the organized ceremony. This is how the temple becomes a place where the people belonging to different castes get an opportunity to exchange each other views. When people talk together much tension in their respective minds is reduced. Several programs of social welfare are also conducted in the village temples, sometimes funds are collected at the temple and these funds are spent on so many public works in the village.
3. Moral Importance: Morality flows from the village temple and villagers realize it in their daily life. The village priest is often called to intervene in such a disputed problem in which there is a question of morality or righteousness.
4. Cultural Importance: Temple is a place where cultural festivities are organized. The villager’s cultural life is enriched by the village temple. Group devotional songs and congregations are held to keep the village alive with its cultural traditions. Musical Instruments are used on all such occasions and dances are also performed before the deity. Many village rituals are performed in the temple. The marriages performed in the village temple are sacred and unavoidable. Women visit the temples to propitiate about their husbands and children and on the fulfillment of a desire to visit the temple and offer their presents and prayers.
5. Educational Importance: Temples in ancient India were the source of knowledge and centers of education. Even today many basic schools are run in the temples, it was believed by the people that if they were taught by the priest their religious and moral attitudes would become sound. Not only children, but the priests also teach Youngman and women in so many fields much depends upon the intelligence and personality of the priest, and once it is effective, his words are taken for granted without the slightest doubt.
6. Recreational Importance: Temples, provide healthy recreation to the villagers through their various organized programs. The village temple situated outside the village often becomes a suitable place for holding village gymnasia and other games it is also due belief that for success the participants must take the blessings of God, especially lord Hanumana. Competitions in wrestling are organized and villagers gather in large numbers to please their eyes and acclaim the performances of other participants.
7. Judicial Importance: The village priest is treated as the messenger of god, who alone can do Justice, village priest in this capacity is called to do justice in certain complicated and entangled problems, priest also recommends punishment to get rid of a sin committed by an individual.

This discussion signifies the crucial role of the temples in villages. The life of the villagers is not only influenced but dominated by the village temple. It is a place of unity and aspirations.