Growing up
The house is gaily decorated. The guests are arriving. It is the day of
samarttiya kalyanam. This is the day when a Tamil girl becomes a
woman—at about the age of 13.
Before the ceremony, the girl dresses in her everyday clothes—a blouse
and skirt, or a kind of dress called a sarong. After all the guests
arrive, the girl is taken to the yard behind the house. There, a special
platform called a pandal has been built. She kneels, and an older,
married woman pours water over her from five brass pots.
Then a Hindu priest, who was praying while the girl was being bathed,
gives her a sari. This is a beautiful kind of robe that is worn only by
grown-up women. The girl goes into the house and puts on the sari and
gold jewelry. For the first time in her life she is dressed as a grown
woman. Then she goes back outside.
The girl’s mother and sisters now take specially prepared plates of
sweet foods with candles stuck into them. They wave these around the
girl’s head, to attract evil spirits from the girl to the food and
lights. Then the girl is taken into the house. The guests give her
presents and congratulate her. Now she is a woman!
All over the world there are special ceremonies that mark the end of
childhood for both boys and girls. Some are joyful. Some are sober and
serious. Some are scary and painful. But they’re all very important to
the boys and girls who take part in them. After the ceremonies, their
lives change. They are no longer children. They must take on new tasks.
They must learn to conduct themselves as men and women.
Candles, placed in a dish of food, are waved before a Tamil girl during
the ceremony that marks the end of her childhood.
United States
When Jewish boys are about 13, they have a Bar Mitzvah. Jewish girls may
have a Bat Mitzvah or a Bas Mitzvah. These ceremonies mark their entry
into adulthood. They must read from holy books and answer questions
about their religion.
