ASPECTS OF RITES AND RITUALS: A STUDY AMONG THE MISHINGS OF CHAINAKI MISHING VILLAGE OF UDAIPUR, TINSUKIA DISTRICT, ASSAM

Religion may be marked as any set of attitudes, beliefs and practices pertaining to supernatural power which may vary within a culture as well as among societies and may change over time. We do not find any primitive as well as modern society without rites and rituals associated to one's religious beliefs. In this paper a humble attempt has been made to highlight some of the aspects of religious rites and rituals of the Mishings, one of the largest groups of Scheduled Tribes (plains) of Assam. It is primarily based on a fieldwork carried out among the Mishing people of Chainaki Mishing village of Udaipur of Tinsukia district, Assam. The findings of the present study reflects that they are the followers of their traditional animistic religious belief system Donyi Poloism. However, their religion is also aptly marked by the adoption of Vaishnavite beliefs and practices.