CONTENTS

List of Figures xi

List of Tables xii

List of Contributors xiii

Acknowledgements xx

Abbreviations xxii

Introduction: ‘Tribal Religion’ Or ‘Tribe and Religions’: Engaging with a Contemporary Dilemma 1

Maguni Charan Behera

PART 1

Contemporaneity 17

1 Religion, Rites, Rituals, Customs, and Traditions among the Denotified/Nomadic Tribes: A Case Study of Waddars and Yerukulas

in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana States 19

Malli Gandhi

2 Religious Worldview of the Tai Ahom of Assam: Present through the Past 30 Diganta Hatiboruah

3 Beliefs, Rituals, and Taboos Among the Bakarwal of Jammu and Kashmir 41 Ubaid Ahmad Dar and Mitoo Das

4 Religious Life of the Kabuis of Manipur 51

Potshangbam Binodini Devi

5 Sorcery in Practice: A Contemporary Reading Among the Sabars of

Purulia, West Bengal 66

Soumita Chatterjee and Sutapa Choudhury

6 To Believe or Not to Believe: A Study of the Folk Beliefs of the Nagas

in the Novels of Easterine Kire 81

Rupam Gogoi

7 Social Dimension of Faith and Beliefs of the Oraon: Revisiting S.C.

PART 2

State, Tribe, and Religion 113

8 From Khambeswari to Stambheswari: The Journey of a Tribal Deity

into Hindu Pantheon 115

Pravat K. Mallick

9 In Search of Legitimacy: Tribal Rituals, Native Chiefs, and Colonial

State in Orissa 128

Sasmita Rani Shasini

10 Tribe, Religion, and Census of India: (From 1871 to 2011) 140

Rajesh Roshan

11 Interface Between the State and the Church in Mizoram:

A Historico-Political Reading 179

Jangkhongam Doungel

PART 3

Multi- and Cross-Culture Negotiation 189

12 Decolonising Tribal Religion of the Tangkhul Nagas 191

Taimaya Ragui

13 The Impact of Christianity on Khasi Society of Meghalaya: An

Analysis on Contemporaneity 205

Rusievan Shangpliang

14 Rituals in Traditional Kuki Belief System and Their Place among

Christian Kukis 221

Seiminchon Chongloi

15 Interfacing Primal Religion of the Hamai (Zeliangrong), Christianity,

Heraka, and Tingkao Ragwang Chapriak 239

M.

PART 4

Shifting Religious Worldview 257

16 From Spirits to Personage: Changes in Religious Faith Among the

Rathwa Adivasi of Gujarat 259

Madan Meena

17 On the Threshold of Change: Religious Beliefs and Practices of the

Bonda as Revealed in Pratibha Ray’s The Primal Land 274

Poongodi A. and B. Cauveri

18 Tribal Ecoethics and Religion: A Study of Select Ecoethical Narratives

from Northeast India 297

Nigamananda Das

PART 5

Conceptualising Change 311

19 Liminality: Religion of the Sahariya of Rajasthan State, India 313

Amithy Jasrotia and Seema Agrawal

20 Dandakatta Ritual in the Oraon Religion: A Symbolic Interpretation 325 Nisha Kumari and Abhishek Kumar

21 Devgudi: Village Sacred Shrine of Chhattisgarh Now and Then 338

Digbijoy Giri

PART 6

Towards Institutionalisation 353

22 Issues of Institutionalisation and Kurichiyan Religion in the Current

Socio-Political Context of Kerala 355

Bindu Ramachandran

23 Thus Says the Supreme God: Examining the Idea of Revelation in the

Tribal Movements in India 366

G. Kanato Chophy

24 Situating Shamanism in Contemporary Tribal Religions of Arunachal

Pradesh: A Case Study of the Idu Mishmi 377

Tarun Mene and Rajiv Miso

PART 7

Politics and Tribal Religion 391

25 Tamil Folk Religion: Contemporary Dynamics 393

Lipika Ravichandran

26 Tribal Religion and Identity Politics 406

Archana Rahul Khupte

27 ‘Tribal Religion is a Reality’: (Furnishing of Certain Clinching

Evidences from the Tribal Nilgiris) 419

C. Maheswaran

28 Disrupting Classification: ‘Tribes’, the Demand for Recognition of a

Tribal Religion, Possessed Women, and the Case of ‘Demons’ 429

Radhika Borde

Glossary 445

Index 465

FIGURES

3.1 A Shrine in the Greater Himalayas Where the Bakarwals Tie

Threads While Traversing the Passes 43

6.1 Foundation of Beliefs 82

6.2 Cyclical Nature of Human and Belief Interrelationship 92

16.1 Pithora Paintings Showing Train with Passengers and Guard 260

16.2 Primitive Practice during the Bhanguriya Fair in Which the Badvo is

Nailed and Swung over the Pole to Test his Piousness 262

16.3 Rathwa Youth Dressed in Traditional Attire to Assert their Identity

and Unity at the Gair Holi fair in Kanwat, Chota Udepur 265

16.4 Hindu Temple at Devhat, Chota Udepur 267

16.5 Jagaran Presided by the Guru of Kabeer Panth at Tejgadh 269

16.6 Posters of Various Gurus of Pragat Purshottam 270

16.7 A Guru of Pragat Purshottam is Seen Weighed in a Balance 271

22.1 Map of the Wayanad District 357

25.1 NTK’s Illustration of Lord Murukan 399

25.2 Raja Ravi Verma’s Painting of Lord Murukan 401

TABLES

A.

1891 Censuses) 150

A.10.2 The Population by Tribal Religion (as per 1901-1911 Censuses) 151

A.10.3 The Population by Tribal Religion (as per 1921 to 1941 Censuses) 152

A.10.4 The Population by Tribal Religion (as per 1951 Census) 154

A.10.5 The Population by Tribal Religion (as per 1961 Census) 156

A.10.6 The Population by Tribal Religion (Census 1971) 159

A.10.7 The Population by Tribal Religion (as per 1981 Census) 164

A.10.8 The Population by Tribal Religion (as per 1991 Census) 171

A.10.9 The Population by Tribal Religion (as per 2001 and 2011 Census) 176

14.1 Analysis of Response According to Various Age Groups 232

14.2 Analysis of Response According to Various Age Groups 233

14.3 Analysis of Response According to Various Age Groups 233

21.1 Profile of Sample Villages 341

21.2 Village-wise Distribution of Deities 343

21.3 Invited Deities during Dussehara 344