Effect of Traditional Ritual ‘Garbhotsav Sanskar’ on Infant’s Mental Health in Karnal District Haryana: A Case Study

Abstract

Garbhotsav Sanskar is an Indian traditional ritual performed by pregnant women for an upcoming child. Garbhotsav Sanskar is performed throughout India by All World Gayatri Pariwar (AWGP) under Aao Gadhe Sanskarwan Pidhi (Building a cultured generation) movement. The present study aimed to evaluate the strength and difficulties in the children whose mother performed Garbhotsav Sanskar and followed the holistic lifestyle which compare with the children whose mother did not perform the same. The study aimed to the psychological effect of the ritual and given instructions, a comparative study was done on the children of district Karnal in Haryana, India where 20 children of age 2-4 years (experimental group) were selected whose mother performed the Garbhotsav Sanskar and followed the holistic lifestyle taught by AWGP volunteers, while 20 children of the same age (control group) were selected whose mothers were unaware of such rituals and lifestyle. Children from both groups were evaluated using the ‘Strength and Difficulty Questionnaire’. The findings showed that children of mothers who went through the Sanskar and followed the guidelines given by the team had significantly higher strength (p<0.05) than the children of mothers who didn’t go through the process of Sanskar. Though the numbers of samples were less, the case study indicated the potential of the philosophy and the message of this traditional ritual Garbhotsav Sanskar for the mother in nurturing and developing a child from its beginning.