Sociology of Widowhood: A Study of Veerashaivas

In Indian society the women are considered as second class citizens. Generally the traditional Indian Society subordinated the woman and confined her to the home. She had no right of independent existence. Hence there is a need to know more about the woman in India and to understand the many facets of her life. We have to understand her role as mother, daughter and wife. Apart from this, we come across women who have been deprived of all the privileges and suffered all the time inhuman treatment. To this category belong the widows whose plight is unimaginable in the context of prevailing patriarchal system and double standards of values, one for man and another for woman. The present study pertains to study the integration of widows in family, community and society. The study covers the various aspects such as age of the widows, literary level, attitudes of widows towards re-marriage, duration of widowhood, type of family size of the family, the role of religion in integrating the widows. The study also purports to identify the role of personal variables bearing on the integration of the widows. The findings of the study indicates that majority of them are from joint-family middle aged. Widows face the problem of integration during first few years of death of their husbands and they lead normal life when they start participating in family, neighbourhood and community activities. It is significant to note that the conditions of widows among Veerashaivas are much better than widows of other religions.