A Study of Mortuary Practices of the Plains Karbis of Assam

Abstract

The practices connected with the disposal of the dead vary across communities. Variations are observed in the same community at times depending on the geographical variation, As to the psychology of mortuary ritual, it frequently appears to involve an ambivalent attitude on the one hand and attitude of fear and horror towards the corpse, coupled with a desire to dispose of it as completely as possible. The rituals of the Plains Karbis on the whole are based on oral tradition; there is no written manual containing the detailed ritual structure and their procedure. In the wake of secularization, there was a tendency for abbreviation or complete omission of the elaborate life cycle rituals while emphasis was given on the reception, etc. In the process much of the essence and beauty of the ritual has been lost. While there are lots of literature on the belief part of their religion their deities, belief in the supernatural, souls, myths and folklore, literature on their rituals is almost nil. This justifies the reasons for urgency of documentation of their mortuary rituals. The study therefore is an attempt to find out the festivals performed by the plain Karbis of Assam and their method of performing these festivals. The study is based mainly on the field study conducted in the village Hajongbori of Kamrup Metropolitan district. The geographical coverage of this study is extended to two plains districts of Assam viz undivided Kamrup and Nagaon district. A total of 15 Karbi inhabited villages have been surveyed for the qualitative study.