the irawen culture

           ANTHROPOLOGY

The World of the Unknown

In the world of anthropologist, even the world’s most unusual thing is no different than their own culture and customs to them. By making the familiar different and the different familiar, anthropologists around the world have proven how diverse they are and how they can adapt and also connect to any culture, even the most exotic ones.

 Situated above India and under the vast Himalayas is the place where the Irawens call home. The culture of the Irawen also has a lot to do with the solar and lunar gods. As alien as this sounds and may be scientifically impossible, in the Irawen culture every girl child has to marry the sun. This traditional ritual has its own significance and it is performed by different families in different ways. It is called Ufag. As per the Irawen culture, a girl child has to perform this ceremony so that they can get married later in life with a man.

The girl child is forced to stay in a room that is isolated from sunlight and any men for 12 days. The room is made dark and the room and only man made light is allowed to light the room. The room is said to be protected by a sprit ghost who is also worshipped by the Irawen. The replica of the ghost which is named Yahkk is made out of cotton and put in a box in the corner of the room. Every day the Yahkk is given food and is belived that if people touch it or take away its food the person will be cursed and the girl child is sacrificed to the gods. As per the culture

The girl child is forced to wake up at dawn to clean herself with water from spring which is extremely cold and which includes parts of plants to cleanse the body of the young girl for holy purposes. After this the young girl is taken to get ready and look like a bride. As per history and myth the girl child has a high chance of getting ill due to food that is served. The food that the girl child eats is not allowed to have any salt or spice. The food is made to be either sweet or tasteless just for the girl to survive the 12 days. A girl child if falls sick, she cannot take any medication and is forced to conceal the pain. While doing this if she dies she is buried in the very room she was staying in while the ritual as the ritual incued her not to be able to see the sunlight, the same is continued even when she is dead.

The irawen culture is wide and definitely not seen elsewhere.  From the acestors of the Irawen it is said that this ritual is done to make girls pure and so that the Sun god can protect them from people and that an Irawen girl child is never widowed due to one of her husband being immortal and a god.