Page 271 - DSOC201_SOCIAL_STRUCTURE_AND_SOCIAL_CHANGE_ENGLISH

Social Structure and Social Change

Notes However, a number of parents were anxious to have their daughters attend
universities. Perhaps one of the main reasons for this new trend is that, with the
change from child to adult marriage, the leisure time of girls must now be filled in
up to nineteen or even twenty-five years. And college is one way of “keeping them
busy” until marriage. Another reason mentioned by interviewees was that the
difficulty of finding suitable mates for daughters sometimes forces parents to
prolong their education further than they had first intended.
Many girls, then, enter careers apparently not because they want them, but because there is nothing
else to be done until their parents find them husbands. But it is a fact that a large number of women
are employed today in the cities as teachers, clerks, doctors, nurses, welfare workers, and from the
point of view of the traditional society, this is indeed revolutionary. It is only to be expected that
women’s education will bring about radical changes in domestic social life and culture. Ross concludes
from her study of educated women in Bangalore that “women of the household will gradually cease
to be the strong backbone of family tradition and caste customs.” This does not, however, mean that
there is a complete breakaway from tradition; while hours may not be spent in ritual, there is usually
a domestic altar where lamps are lit and prayers said. Freedom from pollution does not go so far that
educated Brahmin women eat in the homes of all other castes, let alone Harijans. While the endogamous
circle has widened and subcaste barriers are crossed—for example, a Mandya Sri Vaishnava Brahmin
may ignore all subdivisions among Sri Vaishnava Brahmins—marriages between Brahmins and other
castes such as Okkaligas or Lingayats are few and far between. While the Brahmin dietary may be
enlarged to include the traditionally banned eggs, meat-eating is still rare.
The religious beliefs and practices of educated Hindus are only now beginning to be studied. Apart
from the intrinsic importance of the subject, no study of the processes of Westernization can afford to
neglect changes in religion.
Secularization, even politicization, is an important tendency in urban religion, though not the only
one. For instance, the famous Dasara or Navaratri festival which was bound up with the royal family
of Mysore, and celebrated with great pomp and pageantry, has changed its character with the merger
of the former princely state into new and enlarged Mysore. The rise to power of the dominant Lingayat
caste in state politics, and increased regionalism, have both found expression in the festival
commemorating the birth of Basava, founder of the Lingayat sect, becoming more popular since the
early fifties. The festival lasts several days, and is celebrated in all the big towns and cities that have
Lingayat concentrations. Deepavali (festival of lights), Sankranti (harvest and cattle festival), Ugadi
(New Year) and Rama Navami (birthday of Rama) are common to most Hindu groups in the state,
while others such as Gokulashtami and Shivaratri (Night of Shiva) have a predominantly sectarian
character. The Rama Navami has become, throughout South India except Kerala, an important “cultural”
occasion, concerts of classical South Indian music being held in all cities during the nine days of the
festival period. The popularity of South Indian classical music has increased greatly in the last two or
three decades, and music lovers, whether religious or not, look forward eagerly to the Rama Navami.
The concerts are well attended, and open to all who can afford the price of admission. But while there
is no doubt that the festival has undergone some secularization, classical South Indian music is
essentially devotional, and the great composers whose songs are sung at the concerts were all very
devout men. As Singer has rightly observed, “There is no sharp dividing line between religion and
culture and the traditional culture media not only continue to survive in the city but have also been
incorporated in novel ways to an emerging popular and classical culture.”
In recent years, temples have shown considerable activity, and have organized harikathas (the narration
of religious stories by experts in the art) during Dasara, Rama Navami and other occasions. The harikathas
continue for several days, sometimes even for several weeks, and attract large audiences who spill
over from the temple yard to the roadside, listening to the story and song. Sound amplifiers are
regarded as essential at these narrations.
Pious individuals with a flair for entrepreneurial activity organize Vedic sacrifices (yajnya) which
involve a large investment of money, time and energy, and which go on for several days. The sacrifice
may, for example, be to end a drought or for the “welfare of mankind” (loka kalyana). Another popular
activity is to undertake to write the name of Rama or some other deity a billion times, and then

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