Page 66 - 31JAN2020E4

From Tehelka Archives
January 31, 2001

No compromising faith

for wedded bliss

Superstition overrode common sense yet again as married women in Tamil Nadu rushed to buy new
wedding necklaces following an unfounded religious rumour, writes sudha g tilak

handra Narayanan, 52, could Such being the sentiments, the ru- her office and I wore a fresh thread my-
not quite believe what she mour was never verified when the self, and I also called up as many married
read on her e-mail. It was her e-mails started pouring in from abroad, women as I knew and told them to take
son Anand, 27, writing to her warning mothers and sisters and wives the precautions.” By the time she rushed
C from Milwaukee, USA, saying to “protect” their thaali. Pavement sell- to the local temple near her house to
she should “wear a new thaali (wedding ers made a killing by selling the humble get a fresh thread for her daughter, she
necklace or mangalsutra) round her thread and piece of turmeric worth half found the shop shelves were empty.
neck for the safety of Appa’s life.” a rupee for as much as 5. As Kalyani Tiruchannor is a small town at the
“While I don’t really believe in such Narasimhan, a housewife, says, “I was base of the famous Tirumala Hills. On
rituals, superstition took the better of informed about this by my niece from January 29, a special puja called the
me and I rushed to buy “kalyana utsavam” or
a thaali and wear it,” she the wedding festivities
says, speaking to tehelka. of Goddess Padmavati,
com. consort of the Tirupati
Narayanan is not Venkatesa, was conduct-
alone. On the evening of ed here. It is said that in
29 January, many wom- the bustle of the wedding
en, both educated and cart being taken along
uninformed alike, were the temple precincts,
flooded with the news some devotees may have
of an impending disas- seen wedding necklace
ter to their married sta- move a bit out of position,
tus following a rumour amidst all the floral gar-
from a little town at the lands, and this could have
base of Tirumala Hills led to the rumour that
in Andhra Pradesh that the thread had snapped.
Goddess Parvati’s thaali Amazingly, the ru-
had snapped and fallen. mour spread so far that
Snapping of the thaali by nightfall, women in
is considered to be the Tamil Nadu and Andhra
worst kind of ill-luck that Pradesh were rushing to
could happen to a married woman. Women feared harm to wear a new thread. Meanwhile, temple
Therefore, it was said that all married sent faxes to newpaper offices dismiss-
women should buy a new thaali and tie it their married status ing the whole affair as “rumours spread
round their necks to assure the longevity following a rumour from by mischief makers.”
of their husband’s lives. But on Tuesday morning, wherever
For those unfamiliar about Tamil Andhra that Goddess one looked , one could see women wear-
sensibilities, the thaali is an overrated ing fresh yellow threads round their
symbol both in tradition and in popular Parvati’s thaali had necks. The rumour has proved, yet again,
culture, with films deifying the married snapped and fallen — that in India, a Ganesh sipping milk or a
woman and the wedding necklace she necklace adorning Goddess Padmavati
wears. It is believed that the snapping the worst kind of snapping is enough to sweep the people
of the necklace leads to widowhood ill-luck that may happen off their feet.
and many melodramatic scenes have
revolved round this tradition. to a married woman LETTERS@TEHELKA.COM

66