Folk and tribal traditions
Topic: Buddhism, Jainism and Heterodox Traditions · NCERT: Class 6, Ch 7 "India's Cultural Roots"; Class 6, Ch 8 "Unity in Diversity, or 'Many in the One'"
Meaning
Folk and tribal traditions are the beliefs, stories and rituals of ordinary village people and tribal communities. They are mostly passed on by word of mouth. They treat nature (mountains, rivers, trees, animals, even stones) as sacred, and many of them also have a supreme god. Through history they have freely exchanged gods, ideas, legends and rituals with the Vedic, Buddhist and Jaina schools. Both sides came out richer. The sociologist André Béteille said that Hinduism, "throughout its evolution, has been influenced by tribal religions", just as tribal religions were influenced by Hinduism.
Example
Jagannath of Puri in Odisha was originally a tribal deity who became a major Hindu god. The exchange went the other way too: some tribes have their own versions of the Mahābhārata and the Rāmāyaṇa, recorded from the northeastern states to Tamil Nadu.
Don't confuse with
- Chaitya: a single sacred spot, such as a special tree or rock with a small shrine, that was later taken into Buddhism. Folk and tribal traditions are the whole wide body of popular belief, not one site.