Book Review

 

Book Review:

Paulinus R. Marak. (2005). The Garo Tribal Religion: Beliefs and Practices. Kolkata: Maulana Abul Kalam Azad Institute of Asian Studies. Anshah Publishing House.  Pp. 122. ISBN: 81-8364-002-8. Price: Rs. 280/-, US$ 18.

Reviewed by

Dr. Pritish Chaudhuri

pritish.chaudhuri@gmail.com

PGT, History

Central Public Sr. Sec. School, Udaipur,

Rajasthan.

 

The present book presented us with a vivid description of the origin and migration of the Garo tribe. It describes the existence of the Garos with the different tribal groups settled in the Garo hills of Meghalaya. The basic content of the study is focused on the beliefs and practices of the said tribe. The author throws light on the Garo religion. The Garos are descended from Tibeto- Burman race of the Tibeto- Chinese family. Originally they lived in north western China between the upper waters of Yang-tse-kiang and Ho-ang-ho. Then they migrated to India and gradually by passing through various places of West Bengal and Assam finally they settled down in the Garo Hills of Meghalaya and in some parts of Bangladesh for centuries. On the basis of the cultural and linguistic differences the Garos are divided into eleven groups. There is a great controversy regarding the origin of the Garos. Now they call themselves as ‘A-chiks’.

One of the characteristic features about this tribe is their ancient animistic religious beliefs and practices which they perform. They worship numerous deities in day to day life. They earnestly believe in supernatural powers. They perform many rituals, ceremonies including animal sacrifice in order to appease those deities. This entire religious system controls their life and they pray to god to secure their life and wellbeing of their own people.  The Garo people believe in the existence of good and evil spirits. They call them as ‘Mites’. There is no written record about their religion but only by oral transmission, their myths, beliefs, rituals, etc. are still practices. The Nokma and Kamal has a very important role to play in the Garo village society. The Nokma is the village chief and Kamal is the village priest. Both hold higher status in the local social hierarchy. The village chief is the politically powerful person whereas the priest is the spiritual leader. All the matters related to society, disputes, etc. are settled down by their village chief. Kamal is responsible for the performance of all village festivals, rituals and ceremonies. He use to conduct marriage ceremony and death rituals both.  

The Garos are mostly the agriculturist community and they practice jhum cultivation. Their belief in dreams is strictly followed. As for instance, in the first ceremony of jhum cultivation, if anybody have a bad dream he abandons the plot of land which he was about to cultivate. On the contrary, if anybody dreams of plenty of sand collected in the front place of his house, it signifies that he will get plenty of production from the field. In this way there are number of dreams that are related to their beliefs and incorporate those in their real life. However, we can call it a blind faith or superstition.

Many religious ceremonies are performed in connection with ailments. The Garos offer sacrifices for their sick people. They have a strong belief that the sickness, diseases, bad omen or curses fallen over them because of their disobedience against the law of nature and deities.

The author has also mentioned the funeral ceremony and the concept of death and rebirth of the Garo tribe in detail. There are many rituals associated with this ceremony. According to Garo legend, there is no occurrence of death as such. All human are immortal and they are reincarnated to a new body. The author has pointed out all the process and system of cremation in a chronological manner. Besides the religious beliefs, they also believe in certain superstition that death can be caused by a simple process of practising a kind of snippings. Witchcraft, black magic, ghosts and spirits are common among them.

Although majority of the Garo population are converted into Christianity, but there are many ancient festivals and functions that are still now practiced. The conversion of Christianity has affected their ethnic religion. From all those above mentioned beliefs and practices the author has traced the process of acculturation. The ancient traditions still inherit in the mind of the Garos.

This book is very helpful for the future researchers and scholars who are willing to work in this particular tribe. This book will help as a guideline or as reference book that gives us a baseline survey data about the culture of Garo tribe of Meghalaya with its geographical location.

Published in :    Sodh Patrika, Year. 70, No. 1-4. ISSN: 0975-6868. (p. 208-209).

 

****