Published Paper Details:

The Sundarban region is one of the most water-forest-swamp areas in the south-easternmost province of India and is a diverse reservoir of socio-economic, religious and folk culture. This region is the land of relatively ancient civilization. The ancient lower caste Poundras or Pods are the majority population of this region. This predominantly Poundra region was later populated by Muslims, Christians, Portuguese, Mugh, Firingi and Tribal peoples. As the British took over the colonial power of Bengal, they adopted a plan to capture the Sundarbans in order to expand the agricultural land and increase the revenue. During this time the forest area was divided into different areas and given to the landlords, latdars and leaseholders. They brought tribal people from Chhotnagpur, Manbhum, Singhbhum region for the need of skilled labor in forest harvesting. These tribal people like Santal, Munda, Oraon, Ho, Bhumij etc. started living on the condition of getting agricultural land without going back to their native land. Later, the little land they we under the control of the zamindars, latdars, leaseholders etc. They are forced to engage in occupations like farming, fishing and crab hunting, collecting wax and honey from the forest in order to save their lives. Not only did the profession change; Due to their long residence in the Sundarbans region, they have adapted various norms and features of the local socioculture. Particularly among the Sundarbans, the worship of the main deity called 'Marangburu' or 'Singbonga' is disconnected. As the main component of their Karam Puja is the Karam tree, they worship the Kadam tree of this region instead. Moreover, along with the worship of deities like Tusu, Bhadu, etc., they expanded the religious sphere by connecting with the local Hindu society's deities like Dakshinaraya, Vanadevi, Vishalakshi, Kaluraya, Gangadevi, etc. Moreover, the tribals continue to live their struggling lifestyle through the adjustment, change, evolution and adaptation of clothing, food habits, home construction, linguistic and tribal justice systems.