Religion in Tribal Society

Roshan John Joseph

Hidayatullah National Law University, Uparwara Post, Abhanpur, New Raipur – 493661, Chhattisgarh

INTRODUCTION:

Tribal religion is based on oral traditions. The tribes express their beliefs in everyday language. Their rituals are aimed at solving day to day problems of life. Objects of worship are things of nature such as trees, rivers, mountain, sun, moon and earth. Rituals are mostly performed collectively and transmitted orally.

Tribal World view is grounded in the natural events and life-experiences. Their cosmology is socially effective i.e. existential, but un-interpretative.¹

Faith in supernatural is structured in a tribal society. According to the 1961 census of India, it would appear that about 89 per cent of the tribals claimed to profess Hinduism and 5 per cent had converted to Christianity. Most of the tribals in India follow some or other form of Hinduism. It is mainly due to the contacts the tribals had with their Hindu neighbors. Christianity was introduced among the tribal groups during the British rule.

Almost all the tribal religions across India believe in the existence of spiritual powers. The most important problem of life is to deal with these powers to ensure individual and collective well-being. The solution for this is to seek conciliation and communion with the more definite and potent personal spirits and to deal with the more indefinite and impersonal forces by way of control, expulsion or avoidance through appropriate rites, ceremonies, spells and taboos.

Religion of a tribe is simple. Religious beliefs and behavior are not treated as something apart from other kinds of beliefs and behavior. Religion pervades all aspects of their life. Tribal life and society cannot be fully understood without understanding their religion.

Tribal Religion in a state of simplicity:

Religion of a tribe is simple insofar as it is expressed in everyday language and experienced in everyday life. Every tribal religious system consists of three essential elements. Firstly they believe in the existence of a superhuman world which refers to the belief system of tribals. Secondly they form a human relationship to the superhuman world which refers to their value system. Thirdly for establishing a relationship they practice various rites and rituals which refer to their action system.

The tribals believe the superhuman world as the real world. They communicate to this world through symbolic words called the ritual language.²

Forms of ritual may vary from one tribe to another, but the basic ritual code of Mantra, Mudra, Dhvani, and Vyavahariki is applicable to all cultures.³

Mantras are simple words of everyday language used by tribes in the performance of their rites and rituals.

Mudras are various kinds of hand gestures and bodily positions representing specific feelings and esoteric actions. In tribal dance the movement of steps, interlocking of hands and other hand gestures have both aesthetic and ritualistic significance.

Dhvani is the third component of ritual language. The sound of musical instrument guides the dance Mudra. Certain forms of sound have special significance.

In course of the performance of a ritual what follows in the form of prescriptions or instructions, thoughts, methods and behavior is the vyavahariki code.

The Uralis are mainly a tribe of agricultural workers, who were mainly residents of cardamom hills in Kerala. The tribal chief is known as Kanikkaran.⁴

Agriculture is considered as the main occupation of the Urali tribe. Although they depended on fruits and nutritious roots, but now the Uralis consume different food crops. Rice, vegetables, tapioca etc. are amongst their staple food, which are widely cultivated by the Urali tribe. Cash crops such as cardamom, coffee, and areca nut are also farmed. The Uralis are also engaged in hunting. Other than these, mat and basket weaving, pottery and working as farm labour also form part of their occupation.

It is custom amongst the Urali tribes to wear a sacred thread on special occasions like weddings and funerals. The female members wear special dresses and an elongated ornament, named Kuchu, is worn on the neck. Music is an intrinsic part of their culture, and drums and flute comprise the main musical instruments. The Uralis perform traditional Urali dances matching to the rhythms of the music.

The Urali tribes like most of the tribes in south India, worship nature as Gods and inventor of the world. They consider the Sun as `the creator of all souls` and moon as the mother of all creation. Worshipping the sun comprises an important aspect of their religion.⁵

Every Urali tribe has a headman called the Kanikkaran, who is primarily the priest of the group, supernaturally selected. On the death of a Kanikkaran, his successor is chosen by the spirit-doctor who is called on this occasion, swings his head from side to side and reaches a state of ecstasy. He asks the spirits who would be the next successor. ⁶

The structure of Urali rites and rituals is formed by various components or elements which are related to each other. The very purpose of the rites and rituals is the protection from evil, luck in health and availability of progeny and food. The velichappadu (oracle) is the performer of these rites and rituals. The preparation before performing these rites and rituals include bathing, smearing oil on head and limbs, fasting, cleaning the space with mud and water etc.

To the Urali, everything above, below, or around, them is animated either by spirit or supernatural elements. Every living being is animated by souls. The spirits reside in a large number of things. They also possess various superstitious beliefs and consider that the local hills are possessed by evil spirits. They also conduct frequent exorcisms, conducted by the village shamans or witchdoctors. The shamans undergo a long and hard training to prepare for becoming a trained exorcist.⁷

The contacts between the tribals and their Hindu neighbors have not only resulted in the impact of Hinduism on tribal beliefs and practices, there is also an impact of tribal religions on the practices of certain Hindu groups living in tribal villages.

Christianity was introduced among the tribal groups during the British era. Christianity came into tribals firstly through the conversion of Khasi tribes of Assam in 1813. Christianity has brought about many changes in the cultural life of the tribals in India. The missionaries attempted to convert numerically major tribes.

The Khasi believe in the supreme creator God U Blei Nong-thaw. According to the Khasis this feminine Goddess protects them from all the troubles of the life.⁸

Conversion to Christianity gave the tribals a model of westernization. Church organization, western education, values and morals reached the tribals through Christianity.⁹

The conversion to Christianity resulted in considerable changes in celebration of festivals, village organization, economic life and other aspects of their culture. Thus, some scholars have viewed Christianity as a source of disintegration of tribal religion.¹⁰

Under the Church organisational network, many tribal groups scattered over a wider area came together and built contacts not only with the provincial and national but also international Church bodies.¹¹

The Khasi religion illustrates the relationship between human beings and God through parables and mysterious words. According to the Khasi, religion is the relationship between them and God and this relationship is governed by two factors namely reason and covenant.¹²

Tribal religions may differ among themselves slightly or significantly according to their own cultural history or on the basis of the extent to which other religions have made an impact on them. These may be classified into two broad categories: one with the old beliefs and rituals and another with the old beliefs and rituals undergoing theological orientation. The difference lies not in praxis but in' the acceptance of a theory developed outwardly.

Tribal religion of the first order pervades all aspects of life, that is, it performs integrative functions; which the second category is more restricted in its effect. In the first case, there is no gap between belief and behavior; in the latter the gap exists and widens with the increase in theological orientation.

The tribal revitalization of indigenous ritual idiom and the search for a new theology may appear incompatible in their goals; in reality they together aim at securing maximum efflorescence of tribal identity.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT:

I would like to thank Dr. Ayan Hazra for offering this subject, Religion in Tribal Society and for his valuable guidance and advice. He inspired me greatly to work on this project. His willingness to motivate me contributed tremendously to my project. I would also like to thank him for showing me some example that related to the topic of my project.

REFERENCES:

1. Pugh, B.M. The Story of a Tribal: Autobiography, Orient Longman: Calcutta (1976)

2. Saraswati, Baidyanath, Ritual Language: a Transanthropological Perspective, N.K. Bose Memorial Foundation: Varanasi Vol. 62 (1982)

3. Id at pg. 93

4. India Net Zone, Urali Tribe, Kerala (2008), available at http://www.indianetzone.com/9/urali_tribe.htm (last visited on October 14, 2011)

5. id

6. id

7. Tribal Community in Kerala (2010), available at http://frencyjacob.blogspot.com/2010/04/tribal-community-in-kerala.html (last visited on October 14, 2011)

8. Khasi Tribe (2011), available at http://www.indianmirror.com/ tribes/khasitribes.html (last visited on October 15, 2011)

9. Sahay, Keshari N, Christianity and Culture Change in India. Inter-India Publications: New Delhi (1986)

10. Singh, Kynpham , Khasi Religion -and Khasi Society of North-east India, Vikas Publishing House: New Delhi (1980)

11. Khasis of Meghalaya (2008), available at http://www.travelindia 360.net/khasis-of-meghalaya.html (last visited on October 15, 2011)

12. Khasi Tribes of India (2011), available at http://tribes-of-india.blogspot.com/2008/11/khasi-tribes-of-india_06.html (last visited on October 15, 2011)

Received on 04.04.2012

Revised on 06.05.2012

Accepted on 14.05.2012