Customs Study of People of Ravi River Basin in Himachal Pradesh

Abstract

In Ravi River basin certain age-old customs are practiced by most of the Hindu population regarding the birth of children and during the period of pregnancy a woman led a normal life and not permitted to go to the cremation ground, forest, River or in front of a dead body and also prohibited from coming out of the house during an eclipse. At the time of delivery a Dai (midwife) attended to her and soon after its birth, the child was bathed in warm water and given honey to taste and a Ghut, a mixture of herbs boiled in water, was also given to the new born child. On the day of the guntar ceremony, all the clothes of the mother were washed and the house was cleaned. A mixture of guntar (urine of cow), Gangajal and milk was sprinkled all over the house. The purohit decides about the name of the child after applying astrological permutations and combinations (Punjab States Gazetteers, 1912). After two and a half years, the hair of the child is cut for the first time and a member of the family cut the hair with scissors and a feast is arranged for relatives and neighbours (Himachal Pradesh Gazetteers, 1963). The people of Ravi River basinin Himachal Pradesh have preferred for arranged marriage system and marriages are arranged by their parents after tallied horoscopes of girl and boy. The marriage customs of the Muslim are different from the Hindus and Marriage is fixed by the Maulvi. Marriage ceremonies of Chamba Himalaya Sikhs are very simple and the ceremony is performed by taking four rounds of the Guru Granth Sahib. Divorce is permitted and can be initiated by the aggrieved party on grounds of infidelity and incompatibility of mature, with socio-judicial approval. Dowry system is spread all over the basin of River in Himachal Pradesh and all the people of this basin give and take dowry depends on their economic position. Dowry, in the strict sense of the term, does not exist among the Gaddis. Hindus cremate their dead and the cremation took place before sunset (Gazetteer of Chamba, 1904). Among the Muslims, a dying person is removed over to floor. The body is then taken to the graveyard, on a cot carried by four persons. The death customs of Sikhs have the same ritual as the Hindus.