Living Styles
Uttarakhand society is a heterogeneous mixture of the various ethnic groups from the Kumaon and Garhwal regions. Most of the people belonging to theUttarakhand society are heterodox Hindus and Buddhists; while we also come across a number of Sikhs, who have migrated from West Punjab and settled in Uttarakhand since 1947.
The languages spoken by the people of Uttarakhand are basically Hindi, Garhwali and Kumaoni.
Vedas and other Hindu Shastrs , the people had got high propensity towards education and learning. It is abode to the most erstwhile engineering college of India, namely the Indian Institute of Technology at Roorkee. Other premier universities of the region are the G. B. Pant University in Pantnagar, Kumaun University in Nainital and Almora. It is also a storehouse of art and crafts. Expert crafts men of the region have produced exuberant art pieces thus capturing the world market within a short span of time. The Garhwal School of painting is also famous worldwide and these include instances of Ramayana, series of Radha -Krishna love paintings etc.
A deep analysis of the Uttarakhand society reveals that the native people of Uttarakhand had an agrarian-pastoral way of life, and they earned their living by cultivating the hilly tract.
At all auspicious occasions tilak made out of processed turmeric with akshat (Pithya) is put on the forehead. Village ladies are seen with a long pithya starting from the upper nose up to forehead. Various superstitions exists as common throughout the country. A black spot is put on the forehead of a child to ward away from evil spirits . Courtesy calls are made on days other than Tuesday and Saturday. Mourning calls are made exclusively on Tuesday and Saturdays. Visit to sick persons are not made on Tuesdays , Thursdays and Saturdays. Females do not pay visit to their mothers on Thursday. Elders are greeted by touching their feet with ovation of pailagon and responded by chirinjivi bhav or saubhagyavati bhav.Others are greeted with folded hands using Namaskar.
Married women put round ingoor or sindoor on their forehead . On special occasions married women wear huge golden nose ring called “Nath”. Black beaded ( Chareu) garland on their neck is considered to be the pious symbol of leading a married life for a woman. Golden necklace is commonly used but poor people use silver in the neck known as “Hansuli”. So far as the usual dress is concerned females wear sari but there is still a longing for the conventional dress of ghaghara-pichora . Every lady keeps it ready for ceremonial occasions. People live in houses made out of stone or bricks. Few old constructions are made out of wood also. Wood carvings which was very common in the past are now very rare. In Kumaon, roofs have slopes and roofing is done with the help of tin or slates of stone. In villages, animals live in ground floor called Goth and human beings in first floor. Hill temples are the monuments having mixture of deep sense of art and culture. Sculpture varies with the time of inception of the temple. The mode of worship is also different in many aspects from that of plains. These temples act as the nucleus of the social and cultural activities.Kumaon people organise Jagars to please local deities.Golu, Bholanath, Sam, Aidi, Gangnath are some of the local deities.
Uttarakhand society is a heterogeneous mixture of the various ethnic groups from the Kumaon and Garhwal regions. Most of the people belonging to theUttarakhand society are heterodox Hindus and Buddhists; while we also come across a number of Sikhs, who have migrated from West Punjab and settled in Uttarakhand since 1947.
The languages spoken by the people of Uttarakhand are basically Hindi, Garhwali and Kumaoni.
Vedas and other Hindu Shastrs , the people had got high propensity towards education and learning. It is abode to the most erstwhile engineering college of India, namely the Indian Institute of Technology at Roorkee. Other premier universities of the region are the G. B. Pant University in Pantnagar, Kumaun University in Nainital and Almora. It is also a storehouse of art and crafts. Expert crafts men of the region have produced exuberant art pieces thus capturing the world market within a short span of time. The Garhwal School of painting is also famous worldwide and these include instances of Ramayana, series of Radha -Krishna love paintings etc.
A deep analysis of the Uttarakhand society reveals that the native people of Uttarakhand had an agrarian-pastoral way of life, and they earned their living by cultivating the hilly tract.
At all auspicious occasions tilak made out of processed turmeric with akshat (Pithya) is put on the forehead. Village ladies are seen with a long pithya starting from the upper nose up to forehead. Various superstitions exists as common throughout the country. A black spot is put on the forehead of a child to ward away from evil spirits . Courtesy calls are made on days other than Tuesday and Saturday. Mourning calls are made exclusively on Tuesday and Saturdays. Visit to sick persons are not made on Tuesdays , Thursdays and Saturdays. Females do not pay visit to their mothers on Thursday. Elders are greeted by touching their feet with ovation of pailagon and responded by chirinjivi bhav or saubhagyavati bhav.Others are greeted with folded hands using Namaskar.
Married women put round ingoor or sindoor on their forehead . On special occasions married women wear huge golden nose ring called “Nath”. Black beaded ( Chareu) garland on their neck is considered to be the pious symbol of leading a married life for a woman. Golden necklace is commonly used but poor people use silver in the neck known as “Hansuli”. So far as the usual dress is concerned females wear sari but there is still a longing for the conventional dress of ghaghara-pichora . Every lady keeps it ready for ceremonial occasions. People live in houses made out of stone or bricks. Few old constructions are made out of wood also. Wood carvings which was very common in the past are now very rare. In Kumaon, roofs have slopes and roofing is done with the help of tin or slates of stone. In villages, animals live in ground floor called Goth and human beings in first floor. Hill temples are the monuments having mixture of deep sense of art and culture. Sculpture varies with the time of inception of the temple. The mode of worship is also different in many aspects from that of plains. These temples act as the nucleus of the social and cultural activities.Kumaon people organise Jagars to please local deities.Golu, Bholanath, Sam, Aidi, Gangnath are some of the local deities.
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