Browsing by Subject "Religion"

Now showing 1 - 15 of 15

Open Access
The Exploration of the Hijra Cult’s Hidden Ethnographic Aspects: Fluid Identities of the “Third Sex” in India
(University of North Bengal, 2024-03) Gagneja, Shaveta
Transgender is an umbrella term that refers to individuals who have a gender identity or gender expression that differs from their biological sex assignment. Due to their independence from sexual orientation, they have frequently been referred to as the “third sex” neither male nor female. The hijra’s are individuals of various physical and sexual characteristics, including transsexual, transgender, transvestite, homosexual, and asexual individuals, as well as hermaphrodites or intersexed individuals, and eunuchs. The majority of hijra are gender nonconforming individuals who have a long history in India, where they have played significant roles in Hindu society for over 2000 years. Although it is widely believed that Hijra’s are bestowed with the ability to bless, the issues confronting these communities have not been adequately explored due to the community's hidden nature. An attempt has been made to illuminate the hidden truths about this ethnic community’s way of life, as well as to investigate the community’s unconventional traditions and unique cults. The ethnographic component of the manuscript will be examined in the first section of the manuscript, with a focus on delineating the theoretical frameworks within which hijra identity exists. The section that follows will go over the process of becoming a Hijra, as well as their religious and cultural practises. As a result, this article focuses not only on Hijra subjectivity, but also on Hijra perspectives and the process of being recognised as a third gender.
Open Access
Female Genital Mutilation – A Hindrance to Women’s Rights and Freedom
(University of North Bengal, 2018-03) Rai, Neelam
Open Access
Floral Depictions in the Coiffure of Ancient Indian terracotta
(University of North Bengal, 2018-03) Choudhury, Anamika
India, world famous for its culture has a diverse, rich and elongated motifs tradition. In fact, the traditions of motifs in our country can trace their origin back, almost to about 5000 years ago, to the ancient Indus Valley and Mohenjodaro civilizations, and they have been created and developed through the ages against a background that is richly woven with the myths and imaginary of sign and symbol. The development of a particular motif is undoubtedly being the result of religion, customs, natural surroundings and social beliefs of the particular area to which its creator belongs. Though always speculative, the meaning of the motifs used in decoration of coiffure, Head-dress and hair dress may change with cultural context but the symbolic meaning of various motifs remains some whatever they are applied.
Open Access
Judicial Opinion on Whether Personal Law is a “Law” under Article 13 of the Constitution of India
(University of North Bengal, 2023-09) Kejriwal, Shruti
India is a land of religious pluralism. Every religion has its own set of customs and rituals. Personal law may apply to either a group or an individual. It is applied based on the faith or the religion, which an individual chooses to practice and profess. In India, there have been migrations and invasions by varied foreign rulers, which have led to multiple set of personal laws. Some practices of these religions are discriminatory on the ground of gender. Contemporary India witnesses the upsurge of feminist legal responses on the concerns of gender inequality in religious laws. Beginning from the Constituent Assembly Debates to the formation of the Constitution of India and then the unclear varying judicial pronouncements in relation to the personal laws by the Indian judiciary have made the topic of personal laws dynamic. In this context, it is imperative to understand the concept of personal laws as it prevails today. This article looks into the location of personal laws within the structure of Article 13 of the Constitution of India.
Open Access
KINGS AND CULTS IN THE LAND OF KAMAKHYA UP TO1947 : A Study on Religion, Power and State
(University of North Bengal, 2014-03) Sarma, Gopesh Kumar; Sarkar, Ichhimuddin
Open Access
Reformist movement in india : analysis of the role of sant kabir in bhakti tradition
(University of North Bengal, 31-03-2020) Kumar, Ramesh
Open Access
Religion and religious establishment of Kamata - Koch kingdom
(University of North Bengal, 1993) Debnath, Pabitra Kumar; Bhattacharya, P K
Open Access
Spirituality, healing and science
(University of North Bengal, 2015-03) Sarkar (Das), Mallarika
A growing body of literature suggests a positive connection between spirituality and physical health. Despite the strong research evidence that spirituality and health are positively correlated, spirituality has been regarded within mainstream medicine as largely irrelevant to the work of clinical team. In keeping with the growing scientific interest in spirituality and complementary treatments, this article attempts to explore the interface of science, spirituality and healing. The present article addresses the importance of the inclusion of the spiritual history in order to bring about faster healing of the individuals.
Open Access
Study of some aspects of the history of Kamata-Koch Bihar
(University of North Bengal, 1985) Guha Roy, Shyamal Chandra; Bhattacharya, P K.; Sarkar, Jadunath
Open Access
The Bhakti Cult’s Vision of Religious Reformation: A Secular Strategy for The Modern World
(University of North Bengal, 2025) Bhattacharya, Apabrita
This paper aims to explain the origin and significance of the Bhakti cult in medieval India. Though it has significant social and religious overtones, the Bhakti movement is fundamentally spiritual. The Bhakti movement may also be viewed as an effort to lessen animosity among various religious groups. Even though the movement originated in South India, its secular worldview quickly expanded throughout the nation. During the era of the Bhakti movement, there was a noticeable and profound shift in society. It encourages the idea of religious cooperation and fights against bigotry and social injustice. This paper has attempted to define the role played by Bhakti saints in fostering social cohesion. Secularism seeks to foster a few tolerant, cooperative ideals in our contemporary culture to create an unbiased, conflict-free environment. In this paper, I intend to demonstrate the principles of religious unity, emphasised by a few well-known Bhakti saints, that offer a secular perspective and strive for social welfare.
Open Access
Understanding religious language as a form of life : Philosophical quest after later wittgenstein
(University of North Bengal, 2021) Deka, Anup; Das, Kanti Lal
Open Access
Unravelling the Myth: Exploring State and Religion under Aurangzeb
(University of North Bengal, 2016-03) Chettry, Aniket Tathagata
Traditional historiography often identifies Aurangzeb as 'communal' or as a 'religious bigot' whose orthodox policies alienated large sections of Hindu community away from Mughal rule weakening the base of the Mughal empire in the subcontinent. This article emphasises on the need to contextualize most of Aurangzeb's actions before he be labelled as communal or a bigot. This paper attempts to explore the politics behind many of Aurangzeb 's most controversial actions like the levying of j izyah or the destruction of temples in order to show that most of Aurangzeb 's policies were a response to the political exigencies encountered by him rather than being fueled by any quest/or imposing a rigid Islamic order throughout the Mughal empire. This article also focuses on several other aspects of Aurangzeb's reign, often ignored by the traditional historiography which clearly indicates Aurangzeb's willingness to conform to the model of rule laid down by Akbar which was based on a broad idea of tolerance and patronage to all religions.
Open Access
What religion is
(Macmillan and co. ltd, 1931) Bosanquet, Bernard
Open Access
Wittgenstein on meaning of life
(University of North Bengal, 2024-03) Ghosh, Avhijit
The key contention of this paper is to explain the concept of the higher value and its role in realizing the meaning of life after Wittgenstein. Concerning value, Wittgenstein does not hold the position of classical ethicist; instead, he understands ethics based on the linguistic and logical analysis of the world. It is a debatable question about what type of book Tractatus is. Some would say that it is a book of logic. Others would say it is a book of ethics and religion, etc. However, such opinions regarding the book show its multifarious philosophical dimensions. This paper consciously tries to determine the profound significance of the concept of higher value (mystical). At the outset, Wittgenstein does not show his concern concerning ethical and religious values; rather, he is concerned with determining the sense of the world or reality through the language-reality relationship. However, it doesn’t provide him with intellectual and philosophical satisfaction. Therefore, he turns his mind towards the limits of language and the world, which takes him into a realm of nonsense and mysticism. It also helps him realize higher values (mystical) and allows him to determine the meaning of life and the world. This also takes him to a certain ineffable truth about which he possesses silence. For him, ethics, aesthetics, and religion pertaining to value are interconnected as they are concerned with the same view about the world as sub specie aeternitatis. Wittgenstein distinguishes between absolute value and relative value. What is relative is accidental and related to the factual world. On the other hand, what is absolute is non-accidental lies beyond the limits of language and the world. Thus, what is non- accidental is transcendental. As it is transcendental, it is inexpressible. Thus, for Wittgenstein, value is deeply connected with happiness, i.e., the meaning of life and the world. Hence, the paper makes a conscious effort to show the philosophical significance of the concept of higher value by employing linguistic and logical analysis of the world and how it is deeply connected to the meaning of life and the world.
Open Access
Wittgenstein’s Counter-explanatory take on Religion
(University of North Bengal, 2025) Jha, Purbayan
If we try to understand any philosophy of religion in Ludwig Wittgenstein’s writings we may not find one, still his remarks on religious beliefs and languages draw some interesting points that could tempt us to look at religions and religious practices with an open ended perspective. Wittgenstein’s Remarks on Frazer’s Golden Bough is an example of his approach against explanation of religious beliefs and rituals. Wittgenstein thinks that the explanation of killing the priest-king in order to keep his soul as fresh does not add any significant value to the religious discourses. Any kind of metaphysical thematization in this regard is better to get rid of, as far as Wittgenstein’s views are concerned. Rather he takes an anthropological approach to religion and its practices, where the practices are intertwined with his notions of language-games and forms of life. D.Z. Phillips addresses the fact that in Wittgenstein’s earlier writings on Frazer we find that there could be a principle in the language by which all the rituals could be ordered, but later on as Rush Rhees points out, it has been found that the imagination of ritual implies it imagining in a form of life. Our urge for explanation often takes us to a juggernaut from where it becomes so much difficult to return and have peace. I will be trying to show how clarity in the Wittgensteinian sense could help us better to comprehend the value of religion and have impact over our religious discourse. Rituals in religion can’t be based on evidences, like what is done in science. Religion is based on faith. If there is loss of faith in God, then it need not be based on rational justification rather a shift in the form of life where the older language might seem meaningless to the concerned person.