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Rituals to Remember ' Sumangalis'
If death has came to a married women (Sumangalis), while her husband was
living, she is generally remembered by ritual and ceremonies.
There is an interesting custom among the Chettiars
of Chettinad.
The 'padaippu' is a re-union of kith
and kin of the dead person for the purpose of prayer and offering
of food to the departed ancestor. The 'padaippu'
is a ceremony held to appease the spirit of the women who
died before her husband and to keep off evil spirits. After her
death, her children are left to her husband's care and the husband
gets remarried. The children of the first wife may not be properly
treated by the second wife. As a precaution against such possibility,
women who died before their husband's are treated as part
of the family deity and are worshipped. Certain families maintain
a room in their ancestral homes for padaippu ceremony. This room or chapel
has the sanctity of the sanctum sanctorum. There
is no fixed day for this worship. Any time of the year suitable to the
chief devotee is chosen. He may perform the ceremony either on the eve
of a marriage in his family, or the morrow of initiating a new business
venture or before a voyage abroad. The deceased women's dress is washed
and placed before the photo or oil painting, items of food which she relished
are prepared with meticulous care and spread out lavishly in large leaves
in front of her portrait. The jewels of the departed woman are also kept
intact and displayed on the occasion. It is the prayer of every participant
woman member that she too may be lucky to die before her husband and to
avoid the sufferings of widowhood that she also may be worshipped as part
of the family deity. |
