(i) Animism
Among the sacred beliefs the faith in spirits is most common with the tribals and thus animism. This animistic belief is rather a universal feature of the religion the tribal have. For them, all spots and places are holy as they are the seats of spirits. Animals, plants trees, ponds, rivers, stones, hills or mountains are all abodes of spirits. The dead are no exception to this rule as they still through soul or are reborn in the shape of offspring. The whole neighbourhood whether village or forest in which the tribals live is full of spirits. For all tribes whether major, like the Santhal, Munda or Oraon or minor, like the Birhor, Chenchus or the Forest-Hunting tribes of south India, the whole world is full of spirits.
- In Middle India, the Santhals and Oraons believe in the presence of the souls of their own dead whom they worship at Majhive Tham. Among the Korwas of Mirzapur, as, Majumdar (1961:422) states, there is a spirit presiding over crops, another over rainfall, still another over cattle and a number of spirits are there which dictate the attitude of the Korwas to their neighbour, to the tribal priests, to the headman and to the general affairs of the tribe. Thus, animism carries with it the belief in Malevolent spirit and powers which influence the destiny of man. Vidyarthi finds among the Malers of Santhal Pargana a strong belief in the supernatural beings, the Gossaiyan. One of the Maler informant states his beliefs in Gossaiyan as, “The disease, the famine, the scarcity of water, the low fertility if soil, the low production of crops, high incidence of death, etc., all these happen only when the evil spirits and Gossaiyan are not worshipped properly and the sacrifices are not made timely”. Among the Kamars and the Bhuiyas of Chhattisgarh, Dube found the presence of a belief in spirit specially so when they were dreaming, the inner spirit of the body roams hither and thither. When a person dies his body becomes madhee and lives in the graveyard, the inner spirit Jiv goes away Bhagwan(God).
- In North-Eastern Himalayan, among the Mikirs the localities with impressive mountains, waterfalls, deep and rivers, great boulders, etc., have each assigned to them gods which are supposed to be interested in the affairs of men and have to be placated by sacrifices. The belief in reincarnation is reflected in the naming of the offspring. They generally name their children after their dead relatives, because it is believed that the dead come back to the world. The Garos believe in the existence of spirit in man which, after death, spend some time in another sphere before he is reincarnated. When one falls ill, the Jaintias offer prayers to the existence of other worlds wherein the spirits of the dead live. The Nagas move around their village with a big stone with a belief in the existence of certain spirit in the stone.
- In Western India the Bhils (Nath, 1960: 93, 182) believe in the survival of the dead and that the soul continues to exist as a spirit. Again, they have numerous nature spirits-spirit of hills, streams and forest and a band of punitive and malevolent spirits. The Varlis (Maharasthra Census Office, 1972: 42) stand in great awe of spirits. If anyone falls ill or any tragic incident occurs, they attribute it to the wrath of some god or to the act of a spirit or a witch. Vir is their ancestor God. The Thakurs (Chapekar 1960:67) have also Vir as their ancestral spirit.
- In South India, the Malabarians in Kerala regard some stones as symbols of deities. The dead ancestor, now in the form of deity, goes on protecting his family. The Todas of Nilgiri also believe in ancestral worship. They observe two death ceremonies-one green and the other dry. Buffaloes are beaten to death to accompany and live with the spirit of the dead Toda. The Muthuvans, Paliyans, Ullatans, etc., make offering to the spirits of particular local or other awe-inspiring natural objects.
(ii) Animatism and Manaism
Animatism refers to the belief in anything or anybody which is or who is ‘animate’ or endowed, with ‘life’ and that ‘life’ is considered to have a supernatural power or force. The term Manaism which is derived from the Melanesian word mana, refers to the impersonal, supernatural form associated with objects or persons Manaism does not entail the conception of a personalised spirit or soul, but only an impersonal force which is an inherent and automatic endowment.
The Ho, Munda and other tribes of Chota Nagpur use the term bonga to designate mana. For these tribal, bonga is the impersonal manifestation of supernatural power, whose degree also varies depending upon the degree of awe the object with man inspires. For example, the cycle has bonga, the steam engine has greater bonga, and the aeroplane has, perhaps, the greatest bonga. The Oraons protect themselves from malevolent mana by the sarhul ritual performed in each village. An Oraon girl married into another village, where the ceremony has not taken place, is believed to have absorbed dangerous mana there. When she comes to her own village on a visit, she is not allowed to enter her house. She will be kept outside and given food and drink without anybody touching her and will be treated as an untouchable. The plates, containers or mat used by her will not be taken back into the house, only after the sarhul ceremony has been performed will her man have been rendered harmless.
Majumdar takes the animistic beliefs of the tribals as their beliefs in malevolent spirits and powers which influence the destiny of men. Discarding the idea of the only form of religion among the primitive people, he suggests another form of thoughts. He opines the tribal religion in India stands on the theory of Bongaism but did not propound this with a view to making any hypothesis about the root of the primitive religion. But the felt that the religious beliefs among the Ho, Munda and other tribes of Chotanagpur give ample indications of their strong belief in one particular cluster of Bonga. Bonga may rightly be called the Indian parallel of the Melanesian term “Mana” ‘Bonga is conceived by the Ho as a power that pervades all space. It is indefinite and impersonal to start with. That is why it is believed to take any shape-or form. This power gives life to all animals and plants, it encourages growth in plants, it brings down rain, storm, hail, flood and cold. It kills and destroys evils, stops epidemics, curse diseases, gives currents to rivers, venom to snakes and strength to tigers, bears and wolves. The vague idea of power later on, evidences itself and is identified with things or objects of his environment, as the latter is regarded by primitive man as part of himself”. He believes that Bonga or Mana or an impersonal spirit forms the substratum of primitive religion everywhere. Majumdar’s study of the Hos further reveals that when the curiosity of a child is around by any mechanical contrivance however simple or crude, like a cycle, rail engine, plane etc., it is immediately satisfied by calling it Bonga. He understands Bonga in the same way as his father or any adult of his tribe does: it gives him a vague idea about a power, the nature of which he does; it gives him a vague idea about a power, the nature of which he does not know, nor the adult of his tribe would worry about. The very mention of the word “Bonga” is enough, i.e. his reactions can be easily anticipated. According to Vidyarthi, among the Malers, every child, adult and old, every commoner and specialist, has some sort of conception in his about the spirit and supernatural world which he calls by the common term Gossaiyan. The Maler children are instructed about the Gossaiyan from the very beginning. The term Gossaiyan is a household word and is used to denote a group of spirits that are believed to guide their destiny. Similarly, among the Birhors, Rai (1967) finds the cult of Bir. They have a number of Birs responsible for their different purpose, Hanuman Bir being the supreme, the others are Hunder (wolf) Bir, Bagh (tiger) Bir, Bhal (bear) Bir, Sundar (hunting) Bir and sons of Birs. The cult of Bir is all pervading and effective for all. The Birs protect the Birhors in different ways and they are also always conscious of the presence of Birs. For Atal (1968) Bheru, in fact, acts as a Mana-power. The deity of Bheru in its generic sense is a regional spread in Mewar and its cult is the most effective vinculum joining many villages of the vicinage into a common core of ritual usages. In fact, any stone marked with vermilion and unidentifiable as any particular deity will be explained by the people as some sort of Bheru. In the religious experience of an average villager, the fear of Bheru and reverence towards it are invariably present irrespective of group considerations.
(iii) Naturalism
Worship of nature is another form of belief which prevails among the Tribals. Sun, Moon and Earth are considered the creator or supreme power.
- In Middle India, the Santhals, Mundas, Hos, Malers, and Birhors of tribal Bihar identify the Sun as Sing Bonga, i.e Supreme God. The Santhals equate Dharmesh, the supreme deity, with the sun and regard it as husband of Dharthi Mata, the Mother Earth. Among the Mal Paharias the deities are the Sun (Beru) and the Earth (Dharti). The Bhumijs of West Bengal also bow down before their Supreme Being, the Sun God. The Earth, the Sun, the Fire and Water are regarded as deities, the great supernatural beings, and are believed in by the Bondos of Orissa. For them the creator is the Sun. The Saoras of the area place the responsibility of creating man on the shoulders of the Sun and the Juangs think that the first Juangs made their appearance out of the Earth. Offerings are made to Goddess Earth at all new eating festivals. Further, the Sun is their Dharam Devata or Supreme God. Jakhri, the Earth Goddess, Wehra as Dharam Raja and the Sun are worshipped by all Kuvi Kandhas. The Dongria Konds celebrate Bhihono Parba and sacrifice buffaloes by striking them dead with axes. They believe that the blood shed before the Mother Earth is essential to guarantee a good harvest. The Kutia Konds sacrifice a buffalo for Goddess Earth by decapitating it with a sharp sacrificial axe. The Savaras often regard Uyungsum, i.e., the Moon, is the wife of Uyungsum and the ultimate source of all life is the children. Goddess Earth is the axis of the Marias, Murias, and Abujh Marias of Bastar are who feeds and sustains her Maria children. She has allotted the land to each clan and fixed the boundary of the territory.
- In the Himalayan region, the Garos consider the sun. the Moon and the Stars as spirits placed in the heavens for ruling the region. The Kacharis’ belief regarding the Earth is more or less identical with that of the Garos. The different tribes of Arunachal Pradesh also worship the Sun and the Moon as the Supreme God.
- In South India the Todas and Koyas revere the Sun. the Muthuvans, Uralis and Kanikkars of Kerala recognise the Sun as their God and believe in Prakriti Acharam. The Muthuvans worship the Sun early in the morning. The Uralis take the Sun as the creator, the Kanikkars know the Sun as Bhagavan and offer a lighted lamp with some fruits and rice by placing them in front of their hovels.
(iv) Taboo
Taboo is another scared belief which a rather negative custom of any belief is. It has become superstition for the people. Some regard taboo as “holy dread”, an objectified fear of the demoniac power thought to be concealed in the tabooed object. Majumdar (1961:357, 62) takes the religious side of taboo as safeguard ritual operations to protect religious persons and places of worship and prevent irreligion from spreading. He further believes that the sanctity of taboo is still inspired by the idea of bonga and when a taboo is violated, the tribals believe, it may result in disaster.
Toughing a plough and roofing a house are taboo for the Kharia women. Though women are well treated and not regarded as drudges, they are excluded during some observances. The exclusion of Kharia women from certain religious festival and ritualistic observances like their periodical segregation during their menstrual period, appears to Roy (1937:120) to be due not any assumed inferiority in their status but due to the tribals’ horror of manses which is supposed to attract evil spirits. The Oraon women also observe the taboo of touching a plough. If these taboos are transgressed, an expiation ceremony has got to be undergone. The Gonds of Madhya Pradesh do not touch a menstruating woman for that is enough to destroy a good harvest.
The Sema Nagas have genna as a parallel of taboo and chini of forbidden. A person killed by a tiger is genna. His clothes, houses, tools, weapons, utensils all become genna to them and propitiation measures are taken to ward off the effect. The male Tharus of the Tarai area of Uttar Pradesh are denied many principal receptions. A breach of the law would bring on the entire society divine wrath on the other hand, the Todas of the Nilgiri Hills do not permit their women even to enter the dairy area. They are also denied any work associated with milk which is scared for them as Maise is for the Malers and their religious rituals revolve round these. In Kerala the Kadars, Mula-Pandarms, Mal-Vendans and Uralis strongly believe that when they roam in the forest dominated by Shasta they should be pure. Thus, it is evident that the religious beliefs also exist in the form of taboos. In other words, the tribal faith has been reinforced by taboos.
(v) Ancestor Worship
The activities of ancestor are quite evident for the tribal and ancestor worship finds an important place in their religious beliefs. They recognise that man’s power is restricted and that he has access to limited areas, but, through ancestor worship, he acquires powers of a far-reaching and compulsive kind. They believe in the existence of ancestors and their interest and intervention in the worldly affairs. They are at work in their real life. Dube (1970) and Vidyarthi (1963:144) consider ancestor worship an important aspect of the tribal religion. Since the tribals firmly believe in the idea that spirits of the dead ancestors have power to decide their destiny, they are very cautious in performing the rites and observe all the ceremonies carefully. The newly dead person is believed to have joined the earlier dead ancestors. The spirits of ancestors are called and worshipped, (i) annually, (ii) occasionally or (iii) when one is economically able to perform it. The tribals believe that unless the spirit of the newly dead ancestor is worshipped it continues to exit and appear in dream. It always harasses its relatives to expedite the preparation for worship, mortuary sacrifice and feast.
In the Himalayan tribes, among the Nagas, Mithun ceremony is very important. It is totally decided to the spirits of ancestors. A mithun is sacrificed in the name of the dead. The Mizos of Mizoram conceive that after the death of person his spirit proceeds towards the Rih lake. According to the Jaintia belief when there is sickness in the family prayer are offered to the ancestors to help drive away the evil. Among the Khasis the glorification of the dead in the form of ancestor-worship forms an important aspect of their religious beliefs. The underlying belief is that the dead ancestors have enough power to aid, assist and bless their descendants to grow, thrive and prosper. The Tharus of central Himalaya offer “Roti” to their dead ancestors on Dipawali day every year. The Khasas have greater attachment to their ancestor spirit than other gods and goddesses.
In Middle India, among the Malers of Santhal Parganas, Jiwe Urkkya is their ancestral spirit, the spirit of the dead relatives. This spirit invariably becomes a source of fear for them from the very day of a death till the first feast normally given on the fifth day of the funeral. Later the Malers conceive ancestral spirits as essentially benevolent spirits. The Santhals depend on their ancestor’s spirit, the Haprhanko, for their welfare. For some types of calamities the ancestral spirit is held responsible and worship has to be offered to pacify it. The Mundas place their ancestral spirits in the Ading after the purificatory rite of Umbul-ader ceremony. Again, once a year, is the Jang-topa ceremony, i.e., the bone relics of the dead are deposited in the Sasan. This also prevails among the Hos as Jantopa and among the Oraons as Harbori. The occasion is considered by the Hos as the celebration of the union of the spirit with the almighty Bonga whereas the Oraon’s belief is that the spirit goes underneath the earth where the bone relics are put in the Kundi or bone-burial ground. The Kharias believe that every person has two souls, Jiom and Longoe, and on death Jiom joins the ancestors while Longoe goes back to reside in its former house and is propitiated by the descendants. The Bhils of Madhya Pradesh and west India have also a strong feeling for their ancestors. The Minas worship their village founders.
In South India the Todas have a concept of one soul which leaves the body as soon as the person dies. The Kadars invoke the ancestral spirits to get their blessings in all ceremonies, rituals and on other occasions. The Kanikkars, Karimpalanas, Korgas and Paniyans of Kerala recognise the spirits of their ancestors as gods.
The performance of ancestor worship as described above clearly suggests that the departed ancestors as such play a definite and decisive role in the tribal life in general and in their religious belief in particular.
(vi) Monotheism
Monotheism is the belief in a single Supreme Being, a High-God who is the creator and protector of the world and its being. The belief in a High-God is prevalent widely in tribal India. The Ao Nagas believe in one Supreme God whom they call Lichabe Ali Yang Raba Sangram. Lichabe means God; Ali Yang Raba means Creator of Earth including men and plants; and Sangram means scared spirits. In Central India, the Kharia and the Khonds call their Supreme God as Bero meaning Sun. Everywhere offerings are made to the High-God to propitiate Him.
(vii) Fetishism
Fetishism is derived from the Portuguese word, ‘feiticos’ from the Latin ‘factitius’ meaning a skilfully made object. Fetishism refers to the worship of a fetish or the veneration of charms. Henry Pressler in his Primitive Religions in India had referred to Fetishism in India. The Bondos regard a certain sword, supposed to link them to superior Rajput warriors, as a fetish. The myth about this sword related to a brother named Apt Khanda Mahaprabhu and his sister. As one day Pat Khanda saw his sister sitting naked and husking grain, she disappeared below the earth in her shame. The brother, smitten with remorse, turned himself into a sword. Somehow this sword came into the possession of the Bondos, who hid it in a banyan tree. At the festival in honour of this spirit possessed sword (which is the fetish) the tribe gathers in force and after many preliminaries, the sisa (priest) climbs the tree, to an altitude of forty feet. He finds the sword and brings it down in his right hand, pours water over if and sacrifices fowl and a goat pouring the blood over the fetish. Bondos scramble to get a few drops of blood to smear their foreheads with. The sisa recites a charm. Then, he climbs the tree again and deposits the sword-fetish in his hiding place. It should be noted that propitiation and petitions are addressed to the spirit in the sword and not to the sword itself. Yet the sword is possessed of supernatural power because of the resident spirit called dey or deya.
(viii) Polytheism
It is evident from the accounts given above of the different beliefs prevailing among the tribals of India and their religious practices that they practise polytheism. The divine powers have been identified with a group of powerful forces and deities which control and influence the happenings in the community. Most of the tribes have a cluster of spirits and superbeings and identification of different powers with different deities is made accordingly. Some deities are held responsible for their village, general health, rain, grain and so on. All these deities have their own respective departments and areas of influence, effect and control as well as nature of actions. The tribals believe in many gods and goddesses and have diverse methods of worshipping, depending on their traditions which show an attachment to polytheism. Different names, different forms and various responsibilities have been attributed to these gods and deities. Animistic gods, the Bongas, nature and the ancestral spirits are their premise with they are preoccupied.
Among the tribal people, it is usual to find a god who protects their fields and crops, another god who protects their hamlets, a third families and kinsmen, a fourth their property and so on. Different gods and deities have different specific jurisdictions and abodes. A tribal person is familiar to many gods like the god of the hill, the god of the forest, of spirit, of the stream and of the river, of the tank and the spirit of the tree, the sun god, the earth goddess, the moon god, etc. A team of gods and goddesses are there where their people are. Their locus is more definite. In a tribal community, all their social and cultural activities revolve round the spirits and gods and the supernatural power is decentralised in other
deities according to their scope and power. They have their specific gods for their health and disease, for calamities, for their clan group in the form of totem, for their descendants in the form of ancestral spirit, for their cattle and so on. In every pebble or stone or wooden pole marked with vermilion are certain gods and deities and the power of a personal fetish resides entirely in the representing object.
The Hos of Singbhum and the Munda of Ranchi think that they are almost surrounded by various spiritual powers and supernatural things. The supreme God, the Singbonga, of Mundari-speaking tribes of middle India are served by a number of Bongas, Viz., the Bongas of mountain, forest, river, etc. Singbonga is considered to be the creator of the earth. According to Majumdar (1937:132) the Bongas are Singbonga or supreme god, Nage Bonga or river goddess, Dessauli of Hatu Bonga, i.e., village deity. Marang Bonga, Disum-maray Bonga or Marang Buru, i.e, the village deity. Marang Bonga, Disum-maray Bonga or Marang Buru, i.e, the god of ancestral home of the Hos which is on the top of a mountain. Majumdar further points out that the Bongas are practically innumerable and differ according to locality. A few other Bongas were also recorded among the Hos of Saronda forest area in 1967 and those are the Bogya Bongas, spirit of tiger, Birsa Bonga, spirit of jungle, Buru Bonga, spirit residing on hills, Garo or lkir Bonga, spirit of river, and Kapru Bonga, spirit residing in the forest coupe (Rai 1967). Invoking of a number of gods too reveals the presence of polytheism among them Rai (1967) observed the worship of Kapru Bonga of the Hos. The Deori, i.e, the village priest, uttered words which translated into English would mean: “O God of Thalkobad (a village), Buru Bonga, GaraBonga, all the Bongas and Kup Bonga, the forest contractor will come with 20-23 men to cut the coupe. In the coupe trucks will enter, save them all and be merciful.” The Santhals recognise Chando or Thakur as the supreme being who is invoked on all occasions. Maran Buru is another deity for the Santhal community itself. Again, they have numerous deities like Pargana Bonga and Manjhi Bongas as supervisors over other Bongas, Sima Bonga, i.e, the boundary deity, Bahrebonga or the village outskirts deity, evil spirits like bhut, rakes, etc. The Malers have also too many Goddaiyans like Beru Gossaiyan, i.e, Sun God, Bilpu Gossaiyan or Moon God, Bindke Gossaiyan, i.e, stars, Chalnadu, etc.
(ix) Totemism
The term totem refers to a natural object of item, either inanimate or animate, with which a group of individuals identify themselves. The system of mystical attachment of groups of people with totems is called Totemism. The group that observes totemism is called a totemic group. A totem may be a plant, or an animal, or even and object like a rock. The members of totemic group distinguish themselves from other groups by wearing totemic emblems as charms and by painting or tattooing the figure of the totem on the walls of their houses, canoes, weapons and even their body. A prominent exhibit is the construction and erection of a totem pole representing the figure, of the totem, which is generally carved or painted, in the locality where the specific group members reside. Totemism and clan organisation go hand quite often. Each clan is named after a totem. The super-natural and mystical relationship between the members of a clan and their totem is so strong that if overrides any blood relationship. Since the totem is regarded as the totemic group’s ancestor, it is looked upon with reverence, and is treated both in life and death like a fellow kinsman. Beliefs concerning the relationship between a group and its totem is often expressed in myths. These myths might reveal the way in which the totemic species helped the members of its group and vice versa, in some miraculous way, and the bond of gratitude had been maintained both by the descendants of the totemic species and the totemic group. That is why, a totem is never killed nor eaten by its group members. Special rituals may be performed for the multiplication and well-being of the totemic species. The death, either natural or accidental, or a totem is ceremonially mourned. The relation of kinship between the totem and its group members is also expressed in clan or totemic group exogamy. Even sexual relations between members belonging to the same totemic group are considered to be incestuous. Totemism is thus a system that integrates man and nature for a harmonious living.
Totemism is widely prevalent in tribal India. The Santhal have hundreds of totemic groups named after paints, animals or objects. The Gonds have a goat clan whose members regard the goat as their totem because a goat which had been stolen by their ancestors for sacrifice turned into a pig when the theft was
discovered and thus saved the thieves from punishment. The Korakus have tree totems as they relate that their ancestors had in a battle under various trees to save themselves from their enemies. They believe that these animals had saved and protested the ancestors of their clans when by accident they had been left behind in the fields as helpless babies. The Kharia (Dhelki) have more than eight totemic clans named as follows: Mura (tortoise), Soren (Stone), Samad (deer), Cage (quail), Carliha (a fruit), Charhad (a bird), Hansda (eel), Mail (dirt), Kiro (tiger), Togho (a bird) and so on. The Kamar tribe also have several exogamous named clans as follows: Netam (tortoise), Sori (a jungle creeper), Wagh Sori (tiger), Naq
Sori (snake), Kunjam (goat), Marai (carcase eaters) and so on. The people believe that the Kunjam are the children of a he-goat and a Kamar girl. The Netam were saved by a tortoise at the time of the deluge. Among the Toda, the buffaloes at the time of the deluge. Among the Toda, the buffaloes, and the treatment of their milk. The dairies are their temples, the dairymen the priests, and the various incidents in the lives of buffaloes are the occasions for ceremonies. One of the important ceremonies of the year is the occasion when a buffalo male calf is killed and its flesh eaten. This is the only time when buffalo flesh is consumed. At the death of a member of the tribe, the buffalo plays and important part in the ceremonies accompanying the cremation of the dead body. It is interesting to note that the mourner addresses the buffalo in the same terms of kin relationship that he uses for the deceased. The Oraons erect wooden totem posts and make occasional offerings to them. Totemism is thus an integral feature of tribal India.
HEAD HUNTING
THE very mention of ‘head hunting’ induces many in India to think of Naga tribes of north-eastern region. However, it is a fact that the practice of head hunting has been widespread in many regions of the world. ‘Head hunting’ refers to the practice of severing or slashing a head and keeping it as souvinier for a variety of purposes. Till the last century this practice has been prevalent among many primitive societies of the world including some of the Naga tribes of the north-eastern region of India. However, with the advent of the present century especially during the last fifty years or so, head , hunting has become a thing of the past with the erstwhile ‘head hunters’ resorting to it in exceptional circumstances.
THE head hunters believed that the soul and all the extra ordinary powers of the hunted person become subordinate of the hunter and he becomes more powerful. It also served as a means of status elevation in the society.It was also believed that head hunting brought good fortune, fertility and increased productivity in crops. Beside servingas a marker of muscular prowess I head hunting was also believed to contribute for more reproductive power. Among the Nagas expertise in head hunting was considered an added qualification for an eligible bachelor. Displaying the severed heads on bamboo poles as talisman, especially of the aged women, was the usual practice among the primitive Melanesians for obtaining better crops. Among all the head hunting groups the usual modus operendi has been to ambush the victim, usually of enemy groups, with utmost expertise. Heads of women were always more coveted because they were more guarded and hence their head hunting signified more valour on the part of the hunter. As far as the Naga tribes concerned head hu’hting is no more prevalent. The British rulers dealt with it with iron hands and later on the government ofindependent India too made a multipronged attack on this custom through various sociopolitical and administrative means.The result of all these efforts is that except in very rare circumstances head hunting has become a thine of the past
SHAMANISM
SHAMANISM and Shaman are widely distributed phenomena among the tribal and non-tribal peasantcommunitiesin the world. Shamanism include those rituals and beliefs which are based on the principle that certain spiritsenter into certain men who become ‘possessed’ and in turn are dictated by those spirits in performing various types of acts and rituals.Such people as the ones described above are popularly known as ‘shaman’. Terms like ‘Ojha’ are also quite prevalent amonga number of communities in India. Shamans are endowed by superhuman powers. They may be both benevolent as well as malevolent but more frequently they exist in benevolence.
AMONG most of the societies maintaining the Institution of Shamanism, the Shamans act as‘faith healers’ or Yolk doctors’. However, they may also engage themselves in sorcery and witchcraft. In the former role they perform rituals and prescribe folk medicine to the affected people. If the practitioners of folk medicine are not able to deliver good, the Shaman steps in, communicate with the spirits and suggests propitiation of spirits as remedial measure.
THIS may include havan, sacrifice of animals or any strange or ‘bizarre’ rituals. Many tribes of Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Orissa and West Bengal have a strong Institution of Shamanism. The tribal communities specially primitive tribal communities feel very insecured because of uncertainties of the world around them. The fear of epidemic, natural disasters, inter group warfare, sorcery and witchcraft sustain Shamanism.
Recent Changes
THE major religions of India have variably influenced various tribal religions and pantheons and only those tribal communities still maintain their native religious beliefs with purity who are leading an
almost isolated social existence in dense forests. On the basis of the latest Census data of, the tribes may be classified into following religions.
(i) Hinduism, (ii) Christianity, (iii ) Buddhism, (iv ) Islam (v) Jainism, (vi ) Other religions
AMONG the above mentioned religions, the influence of Hindu religion on the tribes is tremendous and almost 90 percent tribals follow Hindu religion in one form or the other. Those who have are also quite embraced Christianity considerable in number and about six percent are under the shadow of the cross but those following Buddhism, Islam or Jainism are negligible in number . One important point which is to be kept in mind in this context is that even those tribes who have embraced any of the above mentioned major religions have not necessarily shed their local tribal beliefs and rituals and many of them are found to be practicing their traditional faith along with their acquired faith.
WHEN we view this situation in the geographical perspective that barring the tribes inhabiting the islands falling under Bay of Bengal and Arabian Sea, most of the tribes of South India along with
the tribes of western India and central India are more of less Hindu.