Introduction

Cutchi Memons came to Travancore around 1790 on the invitation of Raja Kesavadas, the then Dewan under the Maharaja Karthika Thirunal Rama Varma. Naturally, they brought with them all the customs they were used to. They had until the not very distant past maintained very many interesting ritualistic celebrations.

Cutchi Memon Customs were partially derived from the Rajasthani, Gujarathi and Punjabi culture which had a strong influence on the community before conversion and those derived from the societies where they lived after migration. The other part was derived from the Persian culture which had a base in the Shariah as well as the impact of the Arab rulers of Sindh. The customs also got mutilated and readjusted to the changing timesand the cultures into which they got assimilated fully or partially.

An attempt is made in this article to briefly discuss the ceremonials as were practiced in Thiruvananthapuram and mostly witnessed by the author or told him by his parents and grandparents.

It is worth recalling that until about three generations ago, even though some members of the community did marry girls from local Muslim communities, they did not offer their girls to men of those communities and that the offspring from such inter-community marriages were neither considered as Cutchi Memons nor as members of Cutchi Memon Jamaaths, despite the fact that they picked up the language and to some extent the core customs. In fact those associated with such persons were even boycotted.

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The various occasions for the customary rituals observed by Cutchi Memons can be grouped as follows:

A. Lifecycle performances such as Marriage, Child birth, Sunnath, and Death
B. Religious performances during the months of Muharram, Safar, Rabiul Awwal, Ramadan, Shawwal and Dhulhajj
C. Other Societal Behaviour

Memon Men, Women and Kids

Some Important Characters

Before we go into the details we must know the role of certain important characters involved in the ceremonies concerning life cycle events. They were Dhami, Hajjam and their wives, Dai and also the Langhis.

The Dhami was an official of the Memon Jamath, responsible for conveying all communications to the members from the Jamath Setth (head or President as known today) as also for delivering marriage related invitations from the members. All communications were verbal.

Hajjam (the barber or the 'surgeon') was also an appointee of the Jamath. He was responsible for the invitation to and actual operation of the Sunnath ceremony. He was also required to announce deaths. Another character associated with Sunnath was the Jallado (the holder) who assisted the Hajjam. Until about 1940s we had Cutchi hajjams. Later local persons were appointed by the Jamath. Dhami and Jallado were invariably members of the community. Langhis were entertainers engaged on various occasions, mostly comprised of Hijdas.

Dai was a traditional midwife who would assist in child birth and after care of the mother and the child. The term Dai originally referred to a wet nurse engaged to breastfeed infants whose mothers either died or suffered from disease or shortage of milk or refused to breastfeed. The practice of wet nursing was prevalent in Cutch, but doesn’t appear to have percolated down with the migrants, possibly because the Memon community maintained isolation from local communities. By the middle of the last century all these characters have vanished from Memon memory.

Introduction

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Memon Men, Women and Kids

Some Important Characters

Before we go into the details we must know the role of certain important characters involved in the ceremonies concerning life cycle events. They were Dhami, Hajjam and their wives, Dai and also the Langhis.

The Dhami was an official of the Memon Jamath, responsible for conveying all communications to the members from the Jamath Setth (head or President as known today) as also for delivering marriage related invitations from the members. All communications were verbal.

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