Volume : 3, Issue : 6, June - 2014

Religious Rituals of the Mising Tribe of Assam

Dr. Ranjit Kaman

Abstract :

One of the component of the sacred performance mainly performed by the priest or his assistant, where rituals or sacrifice played an very important role to propiate the deities and spirits. The worship and offering are associated with shamanistic performance. The sacred performances are essentially solemn situations of worship those are observed during the sacrifices. Purity is strictly observe in all occasions otherwise the spirits may become displeased and it may be resulted disaster to the persons , family and village concerned. The Mising are second largest tribal community of Assam. They mainly inhabit in the eight district of Upper Assam. Their rich traditional culture distinguished them as separate community from other communities of the region. Since the time immemorial they perform some Uies to propiate their Gods and Goddess. This paper throw light the rites and rituals performed by the Mising in their life cycle and also unfold method followed and food items used for the perform the ritual. The rituals performs to appease two types of spirits–Agam Uie(benevolent) and Pomjir Uie( malevolent)also discussed. It also categorized the sacred performances as individual, family and community. The objective of sacred performance is discussed clearly in this paper. It is thrown light on the role of Mibu(priest) and Satulla(clergy)in their socio–religious life. Domestic animals are very important part in their religious life. After migrating to the plains of Assam, the culture of plain considerably impacted their culture. The penetration of alien culture and it impact on their cultural life minutely discussed in the paper.