The Jayamāla Rite in Eastern North India

Outsiders' and Insiders' Misunderstandings

Bibliographic Data

ID3033356
AuthorsEdward O Henry (corresponding author)
Year2003
Volume59
Issue4
Pages511-530
Publication date2003-12-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueJournal of Anthropological Research (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0091-7710 • E-ISSN: 2153-3806
PublisherUniversity of Chicago Press (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.1086/jar.59.4.3631594
OpenAlexW2312506474
LanguageEN
Citations received1

In this "modern" rite in the Hindu wedding in eastern North India, the unveiled (!) bride garlands the groom, and he garlands her. Most local people think this is a display for prestige or associate it with two myths involving the svayamvar (a contest for the hand of the bride). More-informed/thoughtful local observers point out significant inconsistencies: in neither myth does the groom garland the bride, and the freedom from purdah (including veiling) in the Jayamāla is contradicted in the following rites. The equal ranking suggested by mutual garlanding as viewed through French structuralism is contradicted by local interpretation, in which the garlanding by the groom is completely ignored. The increasing adoption of the Jayamāla rite exemplifies "agency," as conceptualized in Linton's model of culture change decades before its (re-)discovery

Agency (philosophy) · Archaeology · Ceremony · CONTEST · Ethnology · Hinduism · Interpretation (philosophy) · Mythology · Political science · Prestige · Rite · Rite of passage · Social science · Sociology · Anthropological Studies and Insights · Anthropology · Classics · Gender Studies · History · Indian and Buddhist Studies · Law · Philosophy · Religious studies · Southeast Asian Sociopolitical Studies

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