Religious Belief and Practices (A Portrayal of the Integrative Process)

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Bastar district (undivided) is the homeland of various ethnic groups with their distinct cultures and also sharing each other's cultural traits. The present treatise highlights about the religiosity of Bastar tribal groups who are having their own territorial boundary but the role of mother cult-Mata Danteshwari, - the tutelary deity of Bastar King, acts like a centripetal force where both Hindu and tribal are roaming from apex to center and also act as a cohesive unit through which even distant pargana and villages of Bastar are tied up through a single thread. The essence of Bastar Dusehra festival (when chiefly Mata Danteshwari is appeased) evolved as a way of consolidating political power (through Manjhi, Chalki, Patel and Gaita etc.) using cultural and religious symbols through Danteshwari Mata.

Dr. Amitabha Sarkar (b.1952) is M.Sc, Ph.D from the University of Calcutta. His noteworthy empirical contributions in anthropological research arena are indus trialization, tribal ethnography, Culture ecology, and digenous knowledge system and ethno medicine. He has published seven books and more than seventy research papers in reputed journals. He is Life member of Indian Anthropological Society, INCAA, and Indian Science Congress Association. He is associated with Anthropological Survey of India since 1977.

Dr. (Mrs) Samira Dasgupta (b.1953) obtained her M.Sc and Ph.D degree in Anthropology from Calcutta University. She has specialized in Cultural Anthropology. She is a perceptive researcher and has contributed more than fifty research papers to reputed journals.

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