Releasing our new ethnographic film, Janeu | Bhojpuri Initiation Rites & Folk Songs

Short Synopsis

While rituals in India are majorly seen as men’s job, not many know that women hold an equally important role in the purification rituals – of expressing the emotions that develop during the ritual through songs. The film documents the folk songs sung during the initiation ritual (Janeu or Upanayana) in the Bhadwar village of Bihar. The rite of passage leads the person being initiated to take the first step towards the path of devotion: the essence of the wisdom of the Vedas.

The film is a part of a project for safeguarding the Intangible Cultural Heritage of India using the practice of visual anthropology.

Read more: https://espiritokashi.org/portfolio/upanayana-samskara-bhojpuri-initiation-rites-folk-songs/