Following Other’s Religion and the Problem of ‘Liminal’ Identity: An Eco-Religious Study of the Bhumij Tribe of Bengal

The tribal religion system is marked by its distinctiveness. The religious beliefs and practices of the Bhumij tribe of West Bengal lie in their rituals, performance, and customs. Rituals are part and parcel of a community that encompasses their religion, customs, and cultural identity. The ethnic identity of the Bhumij who are considered to be the worshippers of nature, is reflected in their belief in ‘eco religiousness,’ ‘animism,’ and ‘totemism.’ All the rituals and festivals of the Bhumij, like the ‘Sharul festival,’ the ‘Karam festival,’ etc., highlight the eco-religious tradition of worshipping gods and goddesses. Following the religion of the larger mainstream society, tribes are witnessing a rapid change in the construction of their cultural identities. ‘Liminal’ entity is a state of ‘in-betweenness.’ Due to acculturation and the dominance of the larger society, the Bhumij follow the rituals and religion of the Hindu. The paper will analyse how the Bhumij face the in-betweenness of cultural identity while performing the religious practices of others. The study intends to investigate the dichotomy of identity crisis when tribes follow Hinduism as they are neither considered to be tribes nor Hindus. Therefore, the main concern of this paper is not to delineate the cultural admixture of the tribal and Hindu cultures but rather to identify the consequences of this cross-culturalism. It is obvious that the impact of modernization on tribal culture has blurred the boundary and the tribals are in a perplexed condition where they can neither execute their culture entirely nor follow the Hindu culture properly. Gradually they are derailing themselves from their root and are followed by the ‘outer’ influence. Moreover, objectifying the ‘mixed cultural’ state, the paper will elucidate the forces and reasons behind the condition of ‘in-betweenness’ of these tribal people.