Chomangkan The Death Ceremony Performed by the Karbis

Abstract

This book is dedicated towards understanding one of the most important ceremonies performed by a major hill tribe of Assam call the Karbi, predominantly residing in the Karbi Anglong district, along with scattered numbers in the other districts of Assam. Chomangkan refers to the death ceremony performed by the Karbis, and is one of the most important and elaborately performed socio- religious functions of the community. Chomangkan however literally means a Khasi dance. This book is an attempt to understand how a ceremony related to death received the name of a dance form and that too not of the own community. The method used for data collection have been mostly participant observation by the author himself and the book is dedicated towards presenting the rituals performed during the four days of observance of this ceremony in its real form through detailed description of the same through the lens of the community.