A Study of the Religious Background of the Deori Community in Assam

Abstract

Religion plays an important role in the development of the socio-cultural background of a community. Deories are one of the aboriginal tribes of Assam. The Deori tribe belongs to the Sino-Tibetan family of Mongoloid stock. The tribe has maintained their Mongolian racial traits, languages, religion and folk tales, beliefs through centuries. The Deori tribe had migrated from Dibang, Lohit, Kundil valleys and settled in Upper Assam centuries ago. The Deoris were not a ruling community of Assam rather they were involved in religious activities under different ruling dynasties of Assam time to time. The Deori people follow indigenous faith. They worship their ancestors; Kundi-Mama, Boliya Baba (pisadema) and Tameshwari (pisasi). They also worship the Hindu deities. Deoris are very religious people. Since antiquity, Deori people worshiped God by singing hymns and holy songs. Later on the experienced priests known as Bordeuri and Bharali started sacrificing animals in their temples. They used to serve as priest in the Sutiya and Ahom kingdom and hence got the name Deori i.e those who worship God. The origin and occupation of the Deori community are interlinked with their religious beliefs. Deoris are one of the major ethnic tribes of Assam with a strong religious background, this characteristic makes them special among all the tribes of this region. The objective of the paper is to focus on the religious background of the Deori community of Assam.