Santhal Worldview

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Dr. Nita Mathur is an anthropologist presently associated with the Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts where she coordinates collaborative programmes based on lifestyle studies. She is currently exploring the concepts of body, womb and seed through Santhal vocabulary Apart from contributing a number of research articles in reputed journals and books, she is the author of Cultural Rhythms in Emotions, Narratives and Dance (in press).

The Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts (IGNCA) is envisioned as a major resource centre engaged in redefining the arts in the larger matrix of culture and lifestyle of people. The Centre is engaged in evolving a multi-layered, multidimensional model of lifestyle studies with emphasis on 'folk' tradition or loka parampara. The specific community studies take cognizance of the interrelatedness of nature, ecology, beliefs and practices, knowledge system and art works in an integrated framework. Research into various aspects of cultural communities as the Changpas of Ladakh, Gujars of Central Himalayas, Meiteis of Manipur, and Angamis of Nagaland, in the North, Visvakarmas and forest dwellers of Karnataka, and Mukkuvars of Tamil Nadu in the South, Santhals of West Bengal, Bihar and Orissa, and Bhuiyans of Orissa in the East, and Warlis of Maharashtra in the West have been undertaken.

The loka parampara studies accept that there is continuity between the intellectual, textual tradition (sastra) and its interpretation and application in lived life (prayoga). This is more than corroborated by the in-house projects on the Gaddis of Himachal Pradesh, millet or bojara growing communities of Rajasthan, and the Garhwal Himalaya communities given to performing Pandava dance theatre. Each of these exemplify the multiplicity of textual interpretations within a culture and across cultural groups. The interrelatedness of textual with oral tradition calls for exploration of some fundamental concepts which reflect people's understanding of the cosmos and the entire creation. This becomes particularly relevant in the case of cohesive communities those that have been referred to as 'tribals' representing primordial, pristine vision and creativity.

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