Sikh Marriages in India and New Zealand Reports

15 mins presentation

Sikh Marriages in India
and New Zealand – A
Comparison
STUDENT’S NAME:
UNIVERSITY:

Introduction
 Marriage – A building block of family and society.
 Marriage as a subject matter of Anthropology–
1. Implications in personal life
2. Implications in society
 Wedding ceremonies– scope of exploring social and cultural aspects of
an ethnic group.

Overview
 Aim– To identify the differences in the culture, customs,
norms and social implications as observed in the Sikh
marriages in India and New Zealand.
 The traditional implications of Sikh marriage– religion
and customs
 Sikh community in New Zealand
 The changing nature of the institution of marriage in
the Sikh community
 Influence of social norms, customs, practices and
behavior of a foreign country

Background of the Research
 Sociocultural Anthropology-- an amalgamation of social and cultural
Anthropology, provides the scope of discussing the concept of
marriage.
 Core focus of sociocultural anthropology-- cultural diversity and
universalism (Scupin, 2016).
 Follows the methods of ethnography.

Research Method
 Research design-- Qualitative
 Research methodology– Ethnographic research
 Data collection method– Participation-observation method (primary
data) and Existing literature in the field (Secondary data)

Critical Thinking Framework
 Universalism and cultural diversity
 Examination of the social and cultural aspects of Sikh marriage and
wedding rituals
 Ethnographic documentation of wedding rituals and social implications
of Marriage in the Sikh ethnicity

Definition of Marriage
Traditional Definition of Marriage
 Marriage is social and legal sanction of the
union of a man and a woman to identify the
children born to the woman as the offspring of
the union and heir to that man.
 Marriage is an institution that legitimizes the
sexual relationship between a man and a
woman, ensuring commitment and
responsibility towards each other.
Source:
shesaidyes.com

Definition of Marriage
Anthropological Definition of Marriage
 Marriage is a culturally defined variable relationship between a male and a female
belonging to separate families, which legitimizes sexual intercourse and the identity of the
offspring.
 Marriage is a union that provides a set of rights to both the man and woman over each
other, as well as over the children born to the woman.
 Marriage is an assignment of obligation and responsibility for rearing and nurturing children
born to the couple, as well as enculturating them.
 Marriage is a union between two individuals, traditionally a man and a woman, that forges
significant bonds between families of the couple, which often involves social, political,
economic and cultural dimensions.
 It is also considered as the method through which cultural traditions are passed on to the
future generations of the participants (Peoples and Bailey 2011).

 Courtship
 Sexuality
 Social sanction
 Religious belief
 Customs
 Rituals
Ethnographic components in
marriage

Social aspects of Sikh marriage
 Endogamous
 Monogamous
 Religious in nature
 Arranged marriages
 Partnership between two equals.
 Indifferent to caste, class, social
status, lineage of spouse
 Dowry or child marriage is strictly
not allowed. Source: Getty Images

Sikh Weddings: Religious
Traditions and Rituals
Haldi- bride and groom are applied with
turmeric paste.
Mehendi- the bride gets her hands
painted by henna.
Sangeet- the families and the invitees
celebrate the wedding through song and
dance
Kurmai- the ring ceremony.
Ardas- chanting of religious prayers
Laavan- the wedding vows.
Kirtan- reacitation of religious scriptures.
Sagun- exchange of gift between the two
families.
Langar- serving of free meals in the
Gurdwara or the formal dinner.
Source: Getty Images

Sikh marriage: India vs. New
Zealand
Universal features in traditional
Sikh marriage
 Social and legal sanction for the
union of a man and a woman
 Starting a new family
 Performing social, domestic and
spiritual duties
 Religiousness of customs and norms
Source:: Pinterest

Sikh marriage: India vs. New
Zealand
Cultural Diversity in the
Contemporary Society
 Exogamy
 Diminishing trend of arranged
marriage

Sikh marriage: India vs. New Zealand
Cultural Diversity in Indian and Kiwi
Society
 Economic influence
 Lack of religiousness among youth
 Inclination to festivities and grandeur
 Influence on traditional attire, décor,
music and food habit
 Incorporation of westernized customs
and practices
Source: Pinterest

Reflection on the Theme
 Religious inclination
 Family oriented attitude
 Festive nature of the ceremony
 Changed social values

Conclusion
 Tradition vs. contemporary society
 Similarity in social implications
 Diversified due to the influence of different social setting and culture
 Impact of globalization, westernization and changed value system

References
 Atkinson, M. (2016). Ethnography. In Routledge handbook of qualitative
research in sport and exercise (pp. 71-83). Routledge.
 Bernstein, M., & Harvey, B. (2018). 17 The movement towards marriage
equality in advanced industrialized countries. Handbook on Gender and
Social Policy, 307.
 Carrier, J. G., & Gewertz, D. B. (Eds.). (2015). The handbook of
sociocultural anthropology. A&C Black.
 Charsley, K., Bolognani, M., Spencer, S., Jayaweera, H., & Ersanilli, E.
(2016). Marriage migration and integration. University of Bristol research
report available at: http://www. bristol. ac. uk/ethnicity/projects/mmi.

References
 Leonard, K. (2018). South Asian American millennial marriages: Sikhs,
Hindus, and Muslims. Sikh Formations, 14(3-4), 446-458.
 Nesbitt, E. (2019). ‘Woman Seems to Be Given Her Proper Place’:
Western Women’s Encounter with Sikh Women 1809–
2012. Religions, 10(9), 534.
 Page, S. J., & Yip, A. K. T. (2016). Hindu, Muslim and Sikh young adults:
Gendered practices in the negotiation of sexuality and relationship.
In Religion, gender and sexuality in everyday life (pp. 51-69). Routledge.
 Peoples, J., & Bailey, G. (2011). Humanity: An introduction to cultural
anthropology. Cengage Learning.

References
 Quinn, N. (Ed.). (2016). Finding culture in talk: A collection Harris, A.
(2018). Description and comparison in cultural anthropology. Routledge.
 Rapport, N. (2014). Social and cultural anthropology: The key concepts. Routledge.
 Scupin, R. (2016). Cultural anthropology: a global perspective. Pearson Education.
 Singh, G., & Kaur, A. (2016). The Influence of Bollywood Films on Punjabi Sikh
Youths’ Perception of Their Religious Identity (Doctoral dissertation, UTAR).
 Singh, P. (2017). Sikh dharam. In Religions of India (pp. 138-162). Routledge.
 Thandi, S. S. (2016). What is Sikh in a'Sikh Wedding'? Text, Ritual and Performance
in Diaspora Marriage Practices. Journal of Punjab Studies, 23.
 Williams, V. (2016). Celebrating Life Customs around the World: From Baby Showers
to Funerals [3 volumes]. ABC-CLIO.