The Bediyas : Marginality Explored

The Bediyas: Marginality Explored is an ethnographic work on the Bediyas of Nadia District of West Bengal. The Bediyas are not only socially secluded but are also stigmatized as 'impure'. Some of them are highly specialized in snake-catching. Their occupation has pushed them to a socially isolated life. They were nomadic in the past and had to travel from one district to another in search of livelihood. Since those days they have been performing minimum rituals and rites to propitiate gods and goddesses. After a detailed analysis of their rites of passage (rituals related to birth, marriage, death etc.) and the pattern of their interactions with others, the present work tries to point out the crises the Bediyas are facing in their day to day life. 

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