81 research outputs found
LIMINALITY AND COMMUNITAS RECONSIDERED: THE POLITICS OF CASTE AND RITUAL IN GOALPARA, WEST BENGAL
This paper concerns a local Bengali deity named Dharmaraj, whose worship in eastern
India was quite extensive in medieval times. Today, however, ritual performances in his honor
are confined to three contiguous districts of West Bengal. This decline in worship is partly due to the
co-optation of a predominantly lower-caste deity by Brahmins. The degree to which “Sanskritization”
has altered the practices associated with the deity shall be explored in both historical and ethnographic
contexts based on medieval Bengali literature and anthropological fieldwork. The aim is
to understand how the deity can be manipulated ideologically over time to serve the interests of
different caste groups. I wish to sketch the dynamics of how Dharmaraj is currently constructed, interpreted,
and understood in one small village – Goalpara – located in Birbhum District, the center
of the deity’s worship.
To do this, I will present data pertaining to annual puja, or ritual performance, for the deity.
Ritual data will be supplemented with exegesis provided to me by a cross section of individuals belonging
to various castes within the village. I intend to conclude by suggesting that the deity serves a
mediational role in the village by resolving conflicts resulting from caste hierarchy. Moreover, his
annual puja, although not levelling social status, displays a strong sense of Turnerian communitas,
which allows for a temporary form of egalitarianism in which members of all castes gain access to
the deity
Animal slaughter and religious nationalism in Bhutan
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