Volume-II, Special Issue, February 2026
Novel Insights A Peer-Reviewed Quarterly Multidisciplinary Research Journal |
Volume-II, Special Issue, February 2026 |
Ritual, Rain and Resistance: Hudum Deo as Indigenous Ecological Practice Sathi Mandal, Research Scholar, Dept. of English, Raiganj University, West Bengal, India Email: sathimandal98325@gmail.com |
Received: 01.01.2026 | Accepted: 20.02.2026 | Published Online: 28.02.2026 |
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Abstract | ||
In a time of climate emergency, it’s very urgent for us to move towards the non-canonical archives to folk rituals and customs as the repositories of ecological knowledge. Hudum Deo is a cultural performance of Rajbanshi community people, found in North Bengal and Assam. In Dinajpur districts of West Bengal this performance is known as ‘Jol Maangar Gaan’. This tradition not only negotiates between the human and non-human entities but also the climate uncertainty and agrarian survival. This ritual is mainly performed by the women and is completely women centric so, it’s deeply connected with the women’s social, cultural and ecological roles. This paper will study how the spiritual relationship between women and the nature has been highlighted by their folk cultural performance and also how this oral performance of Hudum Deo acts as a crucial site in order to rethink about the environmental sustainability through indigenous, gendered and performative ecological practices. Keywords: Folk Ecology, Eco-feminism, Environmental sustainability, Oral tradition, Indigenous knowledge | ||