Abstract
The paper presents an ethnographic account of an interactive cultural space taking a shape between tribe and caste communities in the princely state of Bonai in Odisha in a ritual triangle consisting of the king (Raja), Adibasi (tribe) and goddess(es) during annual Dasara festival. A network of sociocultural and political relations has been conceptualised within the analytical framework of “sacrificial polity” and approached through “synchronic–anthropological and diachronic–historical perspectives”. Precisely, the paper studies deities; functionaries and their role; hierarchal social structure in the space; the process, procedures and time of ritualistic performances; and significance of symbols and events, myths and legends in great details, and thus presents a composite history of a region across distinct ethnic groups.
The chapter was first published in Alles, G.; L. Guzy; U. Skoda and Ü. Valk (eds.) 2015. ‘Contemporary Indigeneity and Religion in India’. In International Quarterly for Asian Studies/Asienforum, special issue, Vol. 46, No. 1–2, pp. 81–101, and is reprinted here with kind permission by the International Quarterly for Asian Studies/Asienforum.
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- 1.
Reply (No. 10226) by Administrator, Bonai, to Additional Secretary to Government, Home Department, States Section, Cuttack (20/09/48).
- 2.
Wednesday, 1 August 2007, state of Orissa is possibly heading for second Kalinga Nagar at Bonaigarh by Prasanta Varma http://www.ndtvblogs.com/views/viewcomments.asp?gl_guid=&q_blogid=18063&blogname=Oriya. Accessed 08/03/2015.
- 3.
National Workshop on Underlying Causes of Deforestation and Forest Degradation in India. http://vh-gfc.dpi.nl/img/userpics/File/UnderlyingCauses/India-Report-Underlying-Causes-Workshop.pdf.
- 4.
Representation of the Bonaigarh Tribals to the Governor of Orissa, by Prasanta Varma. http://hindtoday.com/Blogs/ViewBlogs.aspx?HTAdvtId=775&HTAdvtPlaceCod.
- 5.
See, for example: World Environment Day: Cry to save Khandadhar gets louder, by Shubhankar Behera on June 5, 2014. http://www.odishatv.in/world-environment-day-cry-to-save-khandadhar-gets-louder/. Accessed 28/01/2015.
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Skoda, U. (2019). Rajas, Adibasis and Their Goddess(es). In: Behera, M. (eds) Shifting Perspectives in Tribal Studies. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-13-8090-7_5
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