Rasam Pagri

Rasam Pagri (ਰਸਮ ਪਗੜੀ, رسم پگڑی, रसम पगड़ी) or Rasam Dastar is a social ceremony of North India and Pakistan, common to Hindus, Muslims and Sikhs, conducted upon the death of the oldest male member in a family, in which the oldest surviving male member of the family ties a turban (pagri or dastar) on his head in the presence of the extended family or clan.[1][2] The turban signifies honor (or izzat), and the ceremony signifies the transition of responsibility for the protection and welfare of the family from the deceased to the surviving oldest male member.[1] The ceremony usually takes place on the fourth day from the day of funeral rites (Antim Sanskar, also known as Uthala), or on the thirteenth day, Tehravin.

Etymology

Rasam means ceremony in Hindi-Urdu, Punjabi, Kashmiri and other languages of the northern Indian subcontinent. It is derived from the Arabic word rasm meaning procedure or method.[3] Rasam Pagri literally means the ceremony of the turban.

References

  1. ^ a b Jacob Copeman, Veins of devotion: blood donation and religious experience in north India, Rutgers University Press, 2009, p. 60, ISBN 9780813544496, http://books.google.com/books?id=EbSXa5Fag9gC&pg=PA60&dq=%22Rasam+Pagri%22+-inpublisher:icon&cd=1#v=onepage&q=%22Rasam%20Pagri%22%20-inpublisher%3Aicon&f=false, "... rasam pagri is the passing of the deceased male's turban to ... 'When people have the funeral gathering, a turban (pagri) is put on the elder son to show he is now responsible for the family ..." 
  2. ^ Singh, Nagendra Kr; Abdul Mabud Khan (2001). Encyclopaedia of the world Muslims: tribes, castes and communities (Volume). Global Vision Pub. House. p. 88. ISBN 818774605X. 
  3. ^ Alfred Felix Landon Beeston, Arabic literature to the end of the Umayyad period, Cambridge University Press, 1983, ISBN 9780521240154, http://books.google.com/books?id=MXKBa1qph-UC, "... Arabic rasm, meaning method, procedure ..." 

External links