Essay on Important Components of Rituals !
These four components are basic to all rituals in any religion. Let us briefly consider each of them.
(i) The Ritual Space:
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This is a well-defined setting characterized mainly as the domain of the sacred. While in most cases such spaces are permanent and identified by members of the faith as such, there are also temporary settings defined as ritual spaces, during the occurrence of a ritual in such a space.
(ii) The Participants:
These include all the individuals participating in a ritual. In most ritual settings these would consist of a general audience made up of believers of the faith and the priest performing the main activities of the ritual together with their assistants or helpers. Each of the participant act or has a clearly defined role and is called upon to perform a specific function during the period of the activity.
(iii) Rituals Objects:
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These generally refer to a range of objects that are used during any ritual. As objects whose meaning is basically centered around the fact that they exist in the domain of the sacred, these objectives also come to acquire a sacred character about them.
(iv) Verbal and/or bodily actions:
Every ritual involves a range of bodily actions from kneeling down, bowing, etc. to verbal responses whether these are mere recitation of prayers or the chanting and singing of hymns. What are of important are these body actions and oral incantations is that they follow a definite pattern or sequence and the adherence to such a pattern or sequence is quite rigidly maintained.