article
Garo of Bangladesh: religion, ritual and world view
Contributions to Southeast Asian ethnography • Singapore • Published In 1988 • Pages: 129-156
By: Khaleque, Kibriaul.
AbstractBrief abstract written by HRAF anthropologists who have done the subject indexing for the document
This is a very good overview of Garo religion. It includes discussions of supernatural beings (MITE), belief in souls, creation myths, sacrifice, festivals, music and dance, musical instruments, funerary practices, and religious syncretism. MITE are responsible for creating the world and controlling nature, health, wealth, and happiness. They are both good and bad and need to be propitiated. Most illnesses are attributed to one MITE or another and curing ceremonies involve identifying the MITE and making the appropriate sacrifice. The dead are cremated and the village priest (KAMAL) recites incantations to aid the soul on its way to the land of the dead (CHIKMANG.) A mortuary post (KIMA) is erected outside the deceased's house to guide the soul back home in the case of reincarnation. Village festivals are associated with the different stages of swidden cultivation and the village head (NOKMA) is responsible for carrying out the sacrifices. Although most Garo have forgone celebrating traditional village festivals, even Christians continue to carry out the traditional funerary feasting, singing, and dancing.
- SubjectsDocument-level OCM identifiers given by the anthropology subject indexers at HRAF
- Art
- Sickness
- Burial practices and funerals
- Religious beliefs
- Prayers and sacrifices
- Religious denominations
- cultureCulture name from the Outline of World Cultures (OWC)
- Garo
- HRAF PubDateThe date HRAF published the document
- 1999
- RegionThe area the document pertains to
- Asia
- Sub RegionThe more specific area the document pertains to, which is located within the Region
- South Asia
- Document TypeMay include journal articles, essays, collections of essays, monographs, or chapters/parts of monographs
- article
- Evaluation
- Creator TypeThe type of person writing the document, e.g. Ethnographer, Missionary, Archaeologist, Folklorist, Linguist, Indigenous Person, and so on.
- Sociologist
- Document Rating A ranking done by HRAF anthropologists based on the strength of the source material on a scale of 1 to 5, as follows: 1 - poor; 2 - fair; 3 - good, useful data, but not uniformly excellent; 4 - excellent secondary data; 5 - excellent primary data.
- 4: Excellent Secondary Data
- 5: Excellent Primary Data
- AnalystThe HRAF anthropologist who subject indexed the document and prepared other materials for the eHRAF culture/tradition collection
- Ian Skoggard ; 1998
- Field DateThe date the researcher conducted the fieldwork or archival research that produced the document
- 1979-1983
- Coverage DateThe date or dates that the information in the document pertains to
- 1950-1983
- Coverage PlaceLocation of the research culture or tradition (often a smaller unit such as a band, community, or archaeological site)
- Mymensingh District, Bangladesh
- NotesAdditional notes
- Kibriaul Khaleque
- Includes bibliographical references (p. 156)
- LCCNLibrary of Congress Control Number
- sn 84010468
- LCSHLibrary of Congress Subject Headings
- Garo (Indic people)