Question : Ways of Acquiring Mate in Tribal Society.
(2018)
Answer : Marriage is a customary transactions that function to establish the legitimacy of new born children as acceptable members of society.
The tribes in India have a variety of ways of acquiring mates. Since the tribals consider their marriage, more or less, as a social and civil contract, many tribes do not perform religious ceremonies for the solemnization of marriage. Marriage is an almost universal feature of all societies but the modes of getting a spouse vary ....
Question : Discuss the different traditional forms of religion in tribal societies.
(2017)
Answer : Religion is defined as any set of attitudes, beliefs and practices pertaining to supernatural power, whether that force is Gods, spirits or ghosts. Religion sets up a framework of beliefs relating to supernatural or super human beings, or forces that transcend the everyday material world.
Every religious system consists of a set of three essential elements:
Question : Difference between Religion and magic.
(2017)
Answer : Religion and magic reveal many similarities. Both of them deal with unobservable powers. They operate only on the basis of faith of the adherent or believer. Both religion and magic can be explained as human attempts to cope with fears, frustrations and uncertainties of day-to-day life. Both in religion and magic attempts are made to direct the supernatural power to achieve specific ends, using certain techniques.
Malinowski and Frazer are well-known scholars who have contributed ....
Question : Totemism.
(2016)
Answer : The origin and evolution of tribal religion is difficult to trace. From taboo and totemism to belief in the rebirth and the immortality of soul, in whatever rough form, are the features common in all tribal religions, all over the country.
The primitive form of religion is seen in the Totemism, Mana, Animism, Animation and taboo belief. It has dominant influence on all the tribals.
In the words of E.A. Hoebel, “Totem is an object, often ....
Question : Critically examine different Anthropological approaches to religion.
(2016)
Answer : Anthropological studies of religion have long constituted some of the most important thinking in the development of religious studies as a field; to some extent, all major theorists of religion can be considered “anthropological” because they all in some way seek to compare and understand “religious” phenomena of various cultures. The anthropology of religion has often centred on those socio-cultural elements that are frequently identified as religious myths, rituals, magic, beliefs about Gods and divine ....
Question : How do you relate the concepts of ‘Sacred’ and ‘Profane’ in Durkheim’s theory of religion with a focus on the role of totem?
(2015)
Answer : According to Durkheim, religion is something eminently social. Religious representations are collective representations which express collective reality. Recognizing the social origin of religion, Durkheim argued that religion acted as a source of solidarity. Religion provides a meaning for life. Durkheim saw it as a critical part of the social system. Religion provides social control, cohesion and purpose
for people as well as another means of communication and gathering for individuals to interact and reaffirm social ....
Question : What is understood by ‘Rites of Passage’? Describe the various phases of the ‘Rites of Passage’ and their significance.
(2014)
Answer : Rites of passage are rituals which mark the passing of one stage of life and entry into another, e.g., birth, puberty, marriage, initiation to the priesthood, or death. The concept was first brought to attention by the Belgian scholar Arnold van Gennep and became an important part of the analytical framework of many in British anthropology of different theoretical persuasions, including Audrey Richards, Max Gluckman, Edmund Leach, Mary Douglas, ....
