Written analysis 1-4-2

“People opinion on wearing mangalsutra by women”

Mangalsutra is the religious thread that is worn by man to his wife in the marriage ceremony. Huge population of the south Asian belt follows this culture and assumed it to be the popular culture. It is famous in the Hinduism country and its practices are seen in varied.

Mangalsutra possess the popular belief that on wearing it by woman, the man will have everlasting lives and will always be blessed by the holy god and goddesses. If we consider marriage as a culture then we may consider wearing mangalsutra as a part of culture. But when Hindu marriage ceremony is considered considering it only as a part of it wouldn’t do justice because without it the marriage is not complete and after marriage its not marriage certificate that we observe but its mangalsutra that we see to identify any woman as married or single. Hindu women wear it entire life until their husband is alive indicating that their husband is alive

Mangalsutra has also myth that on wearing the mangalsutra, husband will have long lives but still they die. It is the cultural and religious belief based on the myth passed from generation to generation. Peoples opinion about wearing is related to belief towards their religion and towards their god. a married woman if doesn’t wear it then she is looked upon as unacceptable to the society. To prove that she is a Hindu woman and her husband is living she must wear a mangalsutra. All Hindu women believe that mangalsutra is responsible for all good things and keeping their husbands away from bad lucks. if by accident or any mistake they didn’t wear it they believe that something bad is going to happen to their husband

As per the icon, it itself posses the structural shape that serves to be the icon. Mangalsutra is varied in shape, size, money and structure. Women in our country also wear it.

Icon Analysis

The three contemporary icons that I have selected are: Shamanka Blessing (The Goddess Freya), Mary Magdalene and The Goddess Liberty.

The Goddess Freyja:

According to Norse mythology, a subset of Germanic mythology, she was the goddess of love and beauty and she is also well known as the main goddess of the Vanir (fertility gods). Apart from Old Norse Freyja, modern forms of her name include Freya, Freja, Freyia etc. The history also tells that Freyja is the one who rides a chariot driven by two cats, owns the boar Hildisvíni, possesses a cloak of falcon feathers and is the owner of necklace Brísingamen. Freyja is famous in different poems, storys, and art works.  She is believed to have ruled heavenly field Fólkvangr after her death and there she used to receive half of those that die in battle. Freyja's husband, the god Óðr, is not frequently found in the history and it is also found that in his search she cries tears of red gold.

I chose The Goddess Freyja as one of my contemporary icons because I used to hear a lot about her as the goddess of love and beauty. I used to see her images and portraits and go through the history to unveil her mystery I used to have. I used to and I still admire her for being a female warrior.

She, obviously, means the goddess of love, beauty and fertility to me but apart from that I also take her as an icon of all those abstract things which represent good and are meant for humanity, meant for love and peace. I feel she had gone through a lot during wars and so she must have known what are the consequences of war or say anger and hate. So I take her as an energy to eliminate hate and anger from us.  

Mary Magdalene:

Mary Magdalene, also known as Mary of Magdala, was one of Jesus' most celebrated disciples, and she was also the most important female disciple involved in the movement of Jesus. The history also says that Jesus made her pure from "seven demons". She is also described as Jesus’ close friend and most prominent during last days of Jesus, being present at the cross after the male disciples. She was also the first person to see Jesus after his Resurrection. She has also been described as simply “Mary” but to describe as different from other Mary she was called Mary Magdalene and it is also believed that Magdala, a town near the western shore of the Sea of Galilee, is from where she came.

I chose Mary Magdalene as one of my contemporary icon because I had heard about her when I had once visited to church and she is less famous despite all hard works she did by being with Jesus. She, being a lady, dared to stand by Jesus side at that time where women were not given any importance. And I also chose her as my icon because she was chosen by Jesus so she must have been special.

She means a pure soul to me. Hadn’t she been a pure soul Jesus wouldn’t free her from “seven demons” or also referred as seven illnesses. Since she was the one to be the first to notice Jesus after his Resurrection, it clearly indicates that she was of pure soul and the chosen one to be the first to see god. History also describes her as prostitute, but a man like Jesus only knew that it was not a sin. I think she must be the icon of all women representing purity that a woman carries.

 The Goddess Liberty:

She is the goddess of liberty who have existed in many cultures dating from dating from the Roman Empire to the British "Britannia" or the Irish "Kathleen Ni Houlihan". The history has described the ancient Roman goddess Libertas,now known as goddess liberty, was honored during the second Punic War by erection of a temple  on the Aventine Hill in Rome by the father of Tiberius Gracchus. Similarly a statue was also raised by Clodius to honour her at Marcus Tullius Cicero's house after it had been razed. She is also believed to resemble the Roman god of sun. Embodiments of Liberty include Britannia in the UK, "Liberty Enlightening the World," commonly known as the Statue of Liberty in the USA, Marianne in France and 200 statues of Lady Liberty  donated by the Boy Scouts of America  located on Michigan’s Mackinac Island.

I chose “The Goddess Liberty” as my third contemporary icon because she is world famous and through the film “Titanic” and the history, of course, I came to know about her and her importance. I used to think why must have people made such a statue and of lady. I always used to think of her I was asked about any icons.

She means different things to me. I take her as the symbol of liberty. I think she represents the courage one needs to have to be free and live their own life. The fire that she holds in her hand makes me feel that just by being a statue or just by being in our history she is being able to enlighten us.

Popular culture "Mangalsutra"

Popular culture has been defined variously in different countries based on the cultures prevailing in their society. In general, it can be defined as the culture, which is followed in mass and is focused and highlighted in the society. It does not remain constant over a time rather changes with the practices of new generation. According to me, it means any type of culture, which is generated as per the need at various time intervals to satisfy the generation existing as a popular one among prevailing ones.

Today world is the world of business. In this sense, we can say that there is huge competition in global business environment in order to introduce our business. Whenever we work, we should first understand the influencing culture of the society in which we are targeting our product. We should take better care of the people engaged in such environment. If we can better serve these populations then we can get popularity and can occupy market share. If same manner is continued in the present and the future, it will help us to have better stability in our professional life. Understanding of popular culture is highly relevant in business environment as the culture demands various products to meet the needs of cultural practices and their mass production is concerned with business activities. Since they change with time, my present business activities and future business activities are dependent on its change. The ability to provide the products related to popular culture in present and future determines my success of business.

In my opinion, “Mangalsutra” is the best example of popular culture artifact because I am a Hindu and almost all Hindu women (married) must wear it to represent their marital status. Moreover, “Magalsutra” is the religious and cultural necklace, which has high cultural value, popularity, and significance. It is worn by Groom to bride in marriage ceremony wears it and without it, the culture is incomplete and invalid. As business point of view, its mass production is never going to decline. Only the forms and its styles may change. This artifact wearing practices are mainly practiced in South-Asian countries like Nepal, India, and so on.