INDIAN CUSTOMS AND TRADITIONS
Indian Customs and Traditions
Faith, family and castes shape just about every aspect of Indian culture -- from birth to death -- and all the trials and parties in between. Indian society is structured around the families people are born into and where they are born. Individuals inherit their social position and stay within it throughout life.
A caste, or jati (meaning "birth"), is the level within the social system that determines who people will marry and often even what line of work they can pursue, where they can live and what they can eat. There are more than 2,000 jati and they fall within four recognized caste groups, or varnas:
Brahmans -- priests and the most educated
Kshatriyas -- warriors and landowners
Vaishyas -- merchants
Sudras -- craftsmen and workers
A fifth, unofficial group, the Panchamas were historically called the "Untouchables" and in more recent years the Dalit or "Oppressed." About 17 percent of India’s population belongs to this lowest of groups and performs farm labor or other manual work thought to pollute or sully higher castes in the system.
In addition to being identified and included as part of a social caste, most Indians remain within family units that cross generations, from youngest to oldest, all living within the same housing quarters or complex Men in a family line often stay with their birth families until their own fathers die and they start extended families of their own, while women will leave their homes once they marry and become part of another's extended family unit.
Most females in India leave their families at a young age and a family's caste and location have a lot to do with when a girl will be married. In 1929, Indian law forbade marriages for girls under 12 years of age, allowing those 12 and over to become brides, but in 1978 the age limit by law became 18. With parental consent, however, many families follow their religious laws and cultural traditions and arrange marriages for girls before and after
Faith, family and castes shape just about every aspect of Indian culture -- from birth to death -- and all the trials and parties in between. Indian society is structured around the families people are born into and where they are born. Individuals inherit their social position and stay within it throughout life.
A caste, or jati (meaning "birth"), is the level within the social system that determines who people will marry and often even what line of work they can pursue, where they can live and what they can eat. There are more than 2,000 jati and they fall within four recognized caste groups, or varnas:
Brahmans -- priests and the most educated
Kshatriyas -- warriors and landowners
Vaishyas -- merchants
Sudras -- craftsmen and workers
A fifth, unofficial group, the Panchamas were historically called the "Untouchables" and in more recent years the Dalit or "Oppressed." About 17 percent of India’s population belongs to this lowest of groups and performs farm labor or other manual work thought to pollute or sully higher castes in the system.
In addition to being identified and included as part of a social caste, most Indians remain within family units that cross generations, from youngest to oldest, all living within the same housing quarters or complex Men in a family line often stay with their birth families until their own fathers die and they start extended families of their own, while women will leave their homes once they marry and become part of another's extended family unit.
Most females in India leave their families at a young age and a family's caste and location have a lot to do with when a girl will be married. In 1929, Indian law forbade marriages for girls under 12 years of age, allowing those 12 and over to become brides, but in 1978 the age limit by law became 18. With parental consent, however, many families follow their religious laws and cultural traditions and arrange marriages for girls before and after