The Frestival of <i>Deepavali</i> as marks of tradition and indentity of working, married Hindu women: continuity and change

Abstract

IntroductionWoven into South Africa's diverse and rich fabric, Hindus' maintain and express their own set of beliefs, customs and traditions in the form of festivals such as Deepavali (festival of lights) . My attention in this paper is focused on the awareness of Hindu working, married women and how they represent themselves during the major Hindu festival of Deepavali to maintain their identity. Cultural identity in this sense encompasses religion, culture and traditions. My close contact with Hindu women in the Stanger area revealed that the identity of Indianness has been progressively built in by including many identity patterns relating to dress, language, food, religion, culture, music and dance which are fast disappearing. This maybe so because of lack of documentation and also because indigenous knowledge has been orally transmitted from generation to generation. Interaction of Hindus with people of other cultures has resulted in changes and modifications of tradition.Hindu women are traditionally perceived as cultural custodians and are thus faced with the challenge to maintain their Hindu identity. Tradition and culture has undergone transformation due to social, political and economic forces (Kuppusami, 1983). My hypothesis is that although Hindu women maybe Western in their outlook, many select religio-cultural festivals such as Deepavali as a means of constructing a distinctly Hindu, Indian identity. Numerous scholars (Duley and Edwards, 1986; Mohanlal, 1998; Mukhopadhayay, 1995; Sweetman, 1995) claim that Hindu religion and culture are intertwined, interdependent and inseparable. Mukhopadhayay (1995) further explains that assumptions about culture and gender are rooted in religious concerns and focus on practices such as religio-cultural functions, which reinforce the power of men by appealing to tradition.The Arrival of to South AfricaMany of the colonial era immigrants, who arrived from 1860 onwards, learnt orally of legends, folklore and epics from their forebears. This they passed on to their children in the same oral tradition (Chirkut, 1993). Coming from small villages, they brought with them to the South African Diaspora, in their memories, knowledge of their religio-cultural practices and festivals that prevailed in their villages. The indentured were a highly heterogeneous population. The majority of them were either Hindi-speaking Hindus from the Northern Provinces of India who emigrated through the port of Calcutta, Tamil-speakers from South India, or Telugu-speaking Hindus from the Southern Provinces who came by way of Madras (Chirkut, 1993). From 1875 onwards, a second stream of immigrants, the so-called Indians or traders followed the indentured labourers. The Indians were predominantly Gujarati speaking Hindus and Muslims, Gujarati being the language spoken by Gujarat is as well as Muslims who came from Bombay and Surat in Western India, and Urdu-speakers (language mainly spoken by Muslims with many Persian words).Research Methodology and Theoretical FrameworkThis section presents data from participant observation and in-depth interviews with Hindu working, married women in the Stanger area on the North Coast of KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa that has a predominantly Indian population. I chose to base my research in Stanger because, firstly, it's where I reside which made it easier for me to work in a much smaller fieldwork area and thus saved time, labour and expense. Secondly, my close contact with the community revealed that almost all the Hindus are descendents of the indentured labourers (Hindis, Tamils and Telugus) and the voluntary Passenger (Gujaratis). Generation is a major factor in continuity and change with regards to Hindu activities in the South African context. All the Hindi, Tamil and Telugu interviewees were of third, fourth and fifth generation while the Gujarati women were of second and third generation. …