The mite, spirits, of Songsarek practice among the Garo of Meghalaya in northeastern India, among them Tatara Rabuga, the creator, and Misi Saljong, the sun god associated with fertility and the harvest. Songsarek, meaning the way of the forefathers, is the indigenous Garo religion practised alongside a now Christian majority Garo population, and it centres on agricultural ritual, sacrifice and the mediation of the community's ojhas, or ritual specialists, rather than on a fixed scripture.
Facts
Structure
Structure of the PantheonA supreme creator above a working order of intermediary powers 1 Divine HeadshipA supreme creator who withdrew from active rule and receives little direct cult 1 Succession Between Divine GenerationsOne divine generation; no succession between generations is recorded 1 The Creator and the Ruling GodsThe creator withdrew after making the world and is seldom addressed in cult 1 Attestation
Era of AttestationHeld from the beginning in the tradition's own terms; documented in the outside record from the 19th century 1 Veneration TodayActively venerated in a living tradition 1 Sources
Primary SourceOral tradition held within Garo communities, with published ethnography 1 Organisation
Membership of the PantheonEvery place, clan and lineage adds its own 1 How Mortals Enter the PantheonAncestors and founders become objects of cult 1 Cult
Principal Cult CentreNo single centre. Observance is held at the household and the village, and the Wangala harvest festival is held for Misi Saljong 1 Connections
Associated With
This source names India directly: "the Garo of Meghalaya in northeastern India, among them Tatara Rabuga, the creator, and Misi Saljong, the sun god associated with fertility and the harvest."
Source Encyclopedia of ReligionMircea Eliade (ed.); Lindsay Jones (ed., 2nd ed.)
Source Encyclopedia of ReligionMircea Eliade (ed.); Lindsay Jones (ed., 2nd ed.)
Sources
1. Encyclopedia of Religion
Mircea Eliade (ed.); Lindsay Jones (ed., 2nd ed.), Macmillan Reference, 2005View the Source Reader Challenges (0)
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