The Routledge Handbook of Contemporary Readings on Tribe and Religions in India: Emerging Negotiations

Tribal societies in India observe a diverse set of religious practices which are a quintessential part of their community life. This handbook explores rituals, beliefs, ceremonies and festivals, liturgy, knowledge and traditions that tribal people practice today and traces the history of their interaction with other religions, communities and cultures. The book provides analytical, intellectual, and cultural insights into the religious tradition of tribes within the interactive space of a pan-Indian civilisation. It examines contemporary religious practice within tribes while also exploring changes either brought on by interactions or political interventions. The volume reflects on the intersections of cultural or political life of communities and their religious worldviews. The book also discusses the processes of assimilation or adoption of different religion or religious traditions by tribes and the challenges of detribalisation and shrinking populations of vulnerable groups. It explores both established and emerging dynamics in the field of tribe and religion and provides a look into the unique systems of kinship, worship and life within many different tribal communities in India. This and its companion handbook, The Routledge Handbook of Tribe and Religions in India: Contemporary Readings on Spirituality, Belief and Identity , provide a comprehensive look into the religious life and practices of a very diverse group of tribes in India. It will be of interest to academics and researchers working in the fields of religion, anthropology, indigenous and tribal studies, social and cultural anthropology, sociology of culture, sociology of religion, development studies, history, political science, folkloristic, and colonialism. Cover Half Title Title Page Copyright Page Dedication Page Table of Contents List of Figures List of Tables List of Contributors Acknowledgements Abbreviations Introduction: ‘Tribal Religion’ Or ‘Tribe and Religions’: Engaging with a Contemporary Dilemma Part I Contemporaneity Chapter 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 Chapter 2 Religious Worldview of the Tai Ahom of Assam: Present through the Past Chapter 3 Beliefs, Rituals, and Taboos Among the Bakarwal of Jammu and Kashmir Chapter 4 Religious Life of the Kabuis of Manipur Chapter 5 Sorcery in Practice: A Contemporary Reading Among the Sabars of Purulia, West Bengal Chapter 6 To Believe or Not to Believe: A Study of the Folk Beliefs of the Nagas in the Novels of Easterine Kire Chapter 7 Social Dimension of Faith and Beliefs of the Oraon: Revisiting S.C. Roy Part II State, Tribe, and Religion Chapter 8 From Khambeswari to Stambheswari: The Journey of a Tribal Deity into Hindu Pantheon Chapter 9 In Search of Legitimacy: Tribal Rituals, Native Chiefs, and Colonial State in Orissa Chapter 10 Tribe, Religion, and Census of India: (From 1871 to 2011) Chapter 11 Interface Between the State and the Church in Mizoram: A Historico-Political Reading Part III Multi- and Cross-Culture Negotiation Chapter 12 Decolonising Tribal Religion of the Tangkhul Nagas Chapter 13 The Impact of Christianity on Khasi Society of Meghalaya: An Analysis on Contemporaneity Chapter 14 Rituals in Traditional Kuki Belief System and Their Place among Christian Kukis Chapter 15 Interfacing Primal Religion of the Hamai (Zeliangrong), Christianity, Heraka, and Tingkao Ragwang Chapriak Part IV Shifting Religious Worldview Chapter 16 From Spirits to Personage: Changes in Religious Faith Among the Rathwa Adivasi of Gujarat Chapter 17 On the Threshold of Change: Religious Beliefs and Practices of the Bonda as Revealed in Pratibha Ray’s The Primal Land Chapter 18 Tribal Ecoethics and Religion: A Study of Select Ecoethical Narratives from Northeast India Part V Conceptualising Change Chapter 19 Liminality: Religion of the Sahariya of Rajasthan State, India Chapter 20 Dandakatta Ritual in the Oraon Religion: A Symbolic Interpretation Chapter 21 Devgudi: Village Sacred Shrine of Chhattisgarh Now and Then Part VI Towards Institutionalisation Chapter 22 Issues of Institutionalisation and Kurichiyan Religion in the Current Socio-Political Context of Kerala Chapter 23 Thus Says the Supreme God: Examining the Idea of Revelation in the Tribal Movements in India Chapter 24 Situating Shamanism in Contemporary Tribal Religions of Arunachal Pradesh: A Case Study of the Idu Mishmi Part VII Politics and Tribal Religion Chapter 25 Tamil Folk Religion: Contemporary Dynamics Chapter 26 Tribal Religion and Identity Politics Chapter 27 ‘Tribal Religion is a Reality’: (Furnishing of Certain Clinching Evidences from the Tribal Nilgiris) Chapter 28 Disrupting Classification: ‘Tribes’, the Demand for Recognition of a Tribal Religion, Possessed Women, and the Case of ‘Demons’ Glossary Index