Janeu| Bhojpuri Initiation Rites & Folk Songs (Documentary Trailer)

Releasing the trailer for our next film “Upanayana Samskara | Bhojpuri Initiation Rites & Folk Songs”. The documentary film aesthetically documents the ritual and the associated folk songs that are sung by women in Bhadwar village of Bihar, India. Releases in April 2016.

Upanayana is one of the traditional samskaras, or ‘purificatory rites’, that are prescribed in the vedic way of life. These samskaras, sixteen of which are considered as the main ones, mark the turning points, where we enter a new stage of our life. The upanayana marks the end of childhood and the beginning of studies, for a child. The upanayana is also called ‘initiation into the vedic communion’ or the ritual for coming closer to knowledge. Those that have completed this samskara, are referred to as dvija, or ‘twice-born’. As a part of the initiation, the child’s head is shaved off and is given a thread to wear which symbolises the three responsibilities: towards parents, towards the master and towards the society. At the end of the ritual, the boy does begging rounds and the whole society donates money for his education. This, as we are told, makes the boy take up responsibility towards the whole society and not only for his individual self and family.