Posts

Showing posts from April, 2015
http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/tamil-nadu/hc-orders-interim-stay-on-dk-thali-removal-festival/article7101133.ece?homepage=true Just read this news article about this festival where couples have decided to promote gender equality by discarding their thaalis and the Court approving of this. The thaali, for the uninitiated, is neck piece usually made of gold worn by married women. For centuries it has been seen as a symbol of marriage and prosperity. When the husband dies before the wife, a ritual is carried on, whereby the thaali is taken off the woman’s neck. This is usually a unpleasant event whereby the woman is informed that she is the unfortunate being whose husband has left for heavenly abode before her. A woman who dies before her husband does, is therefor held in highest regard and burnt along with the thaali. She is dressed in finery and flowers to symbolize how well she has lived her life and applauding her on the appropriate timing of her demise. I have always found