Conclusion
It may be analysed that whenever society moves from a simple to complex stage, changes are inevitable in their religious and cultural life too. Since religion is the integrated part of almost all cultures, its practice can be seen in the family, marriage structure, and other social organisations.
Edward B. Tylor has also mentioned that traditional people generally have fixed and definite attitude towards religion which affects their social and economic life to greater extent (Upreti 2007:143). The Sahariya are not the exception to it.Now-a-days, the Sahariya also believe in folk deities that were earlier worshipped by the local caste communities only. The culture contact of them with other caste communities brought them quite close to Hindu communities. Therefore, now religion of the Sahariya could not be seen in its exclusivity or culture-specific dimension. The signs of belief in folk deities of the region are quite predominant.
Singh (1998) also pointed out that traditionally, the Sahariya professed their religion with all its specificity. But their long interaction with the caste Hindus has motivated them to worship Hindu gods and goddesses (Singh 1998:835). At present the Sahariya’s religion can be seen as an admixture of their own religion as well as of Hindu communities. This characteristic can be attributed to close and continuous contact with neighbouring Hindu communities. It is difficult to say exactly when these changes took place. Despite changes folk religion operates largely at the subconscious level (Bhatti 2000:9).
The Sahariya worship Hindu gods and goddesses out of devotion along with their own distinctive deities. Since, in the later part of their life they moved to plains and faced new kinds of problems especially related to their livelihood and survival; therefore, for solution of such problems, they sought solace in folk deities of that region.
Though tribal religion and Hindu religion of great tradition are like two opposite ends of a pole, consequent contact with other tribal religions of a particular region acts as a continuum. A movement between both ends often gives a distinct expression, but without belonging to either. The degree and rate of the movement from tribal religion to Hindu religion and vice-versa varies greatly depending on the emerging socio-economic scenario. The continuum in case of the Sahariya, however, appears as a distinct space combining traits from both the Sahariya and Hindu religions. The distinct space, often conceptualised as syncretism, or change and continuity or third space, in fact is a peripheral space within the Sahariya religious worldview though distanced from the traditional sphere to a great extent. It is a liminality in Sahariya religious worldview, but not a distinct space in between the Sahariya and the Hindu religions.Further, the change that placed in a liminal position has economic content. Whether it is their migration to towns or non-Shariya’s interest in their resource, the economic factor is obvious. The economic reasons brought them in contact with other communities and affected their religious worldview.
Notes
1 Saptami is the seventh day of the fortnight according to Hindu Lunar calendar.
2 Bhadrapada is a month of the Hindu calendar corresponding to August and September.
3 Ashwin month is the seventh month of the Hindu calendar and corresponds to SeptemberOctober.
4 Khejri is a sacred tree which was, historically, protected by the Bishnoi community. The movement to protect this tree in the 1730s laid the foundation of Chipko movement in the 1970s. Khejri tree, Gogaji and other Pir are part and parcel of folk people’s sentiments and religious beliefs. Every village can have its own shrine for Gogaji or other Pir. The above saying also signifies that the faith in Gogaji and other Pir is not caste or community specific.
5 Kartik month is the eight month in the Hindu calendar and falls in the months of October and November in the Gregorian calendar.
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