Page 11 - Peoples_Journal_Sri_Lanka

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ISSN 3121-3049
People's Journal Sri Lanka Volume 01, Issue 01

The Belief in Traditional Practices among Rural Youth from

a Socio-Cultural Perspective

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Dr. R.K.M.T. Indrani , G. I. Madushani 2
indrani619v@gmail.com
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Department of History and Archaeology and Department of Sociology 2
University of Sri Jayewardenepura, Sri Lanka

Abstract

A ritual is a sequence of activities involving gestures, words, actions, or revered objects.
These traditional rituals are a characteristic of human society, and they are maintained from
generation to generation. In this research, the researcher focused on the beliefs of traditional
rituals in the modern generation in rural areas. The research problem is, ‗Is there a belief
about traditional rituals in the new youth generation in rural areas?‘ The main objective of
the study is to identify the beliefs of new generation on traditional rituals. Specific
objectives are studying the comparison between the beliefs of the old generation and the
new generation, identifying the customs and beliefs that people have, and determining the
impact of these rituals on society. The study area of this research is the Wathogala Grama
Niladhari division, located within the Yakkalamulla Divisional Secretariat Office in the
Galle District. People who are between 30 and 20 years old are the population. Among
them, the researcher selected 10 people randomly as the sample. Marriage rituals are the
main theme of this research, and it was conducted as a case study. According to the research,
when looking at society, many people believe that the youth do not have confidence in
rituals. But at the end of the research, I can mention that the new modern generation also has
confidence in rituals. Before they plan their weddings, they first meet an astrologer to get
information about both of them. After that, they fix a date according to the time of birth. It
appears that the young generation also indirectly believes in these things through their
statements. Finally, all of the modern generation have confidence in traditional rituals. Even
though they publicly state that there is no scientific truth to traditional rituals in modern
developing societies, they admit that they still believe in these rituals subconsciously.

Keywords: Confidence, Modern, Rituals, Youth

Article History: Received: 02.03.2025 Accepted: 24.06.2025