Reading Marriage as Cultural Text: A Geertzian Interpretation of the do'sia Marriage Ritual among the Garos of Northeast India

Andrea Bazeley Agitok Sangma

Abstract: Marriage rituals are important cultural institutions through which societies express social values, regulate kinship, and reinforce collective identity. This study interprets the traditional do'sia marriage ceremony of the Garos of Meghalaya through Clifford Geertz's theory of interpretive anthropology. Using qualitative documentary analysis of historical ethnographic sources, particularly Playfair (1909), the paper applies the concept of thick description to examine the symbolic meanings embedded within ritual practices. The analysis demonstrates that ritual elements such as the sacrifice of the cock and hen, divination, examination of entrails, and communal feasting functioned as symbolic expressions of kinship, prosperity, morality, and communal responsibility within a matrilineal social order. Rather than viewing these practices as isolated customs, the study interprets them as cultural texts through which social meanings were publicly communicated and reproduced. The paper contributes to sociological discussions on ritual symbolism, indigenous knowledge systems, and the interpretation of kinship institutions in Northeast India.

Keywords: Garo, do'sia marriage, Clifford Geertz, interpretive anthropology, ritual, symbolism, matriliny, indigenous knowledge, Northeast India

How to Cite?: Andrea Bazeley Agitok Sangma, "Reading Marriage as Cultural Text: A Geertzian Interpretation of the do'sia Marriage Ritual among the Garos of Northeast India", Volume 15 Issue 6, June 2026, International Journal of Science and Research (IJSR), Pages: 1412-1415, https://www.ijsr.net/getabstract.php?paperid=SR26626151345, DOI: https://dx.doi.org/10.21275/SR26626151345

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