Celebrations of Ageing in Late Adulthood: The Hindu Perspective

Abstract

During the last two decades, the ageing literature has emphasised the need for positive features of the ageing experience, and the need to reframe late-life perspectives. This becomes a more salient issue with demographic changes in ageing seen worldwide. Since 1965, the flow of immigrants to the United States from India has been steadily rising, including Hindus from India. Every culture consecrates periods of life or developmental milestones with rituals, traditions, or festivities. From the Vedic period, celebrations have been stipulated by the Hindu scriptures for different periods of late adulthood. Specifically, this project focused on the Saṣtiabdhapūrti celebration that marks the completion of the sixtieth birthday. Through face-to-face interviews conducted with 12 Vedic scholars/Hindu priests in the USA, the contemporary practices of Hindu immigrants in the United States were examined in this study. The goal of this project was to increase awareness and understanding of culturally diverse ageing experiences. How we view ageing and late life has implications for how we treat the elderly in our society, and how we regard our own personal ageing.