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(GIST OF YOJANA) Songs of Shaman - Arunachal Pradesh

[August-2020]

Songs of Shaman - Arunachal Pradesh

Shamanism is prevalent among different tribes in Arunachal Pradesh. Every tribe in Arunachal Pradesh has its own kind of ritual expert for performing rites and sacrifices. In almost all the previous writings, the term (indigenous) priest or shaman is used for them.
Tani people who trace their ancestry to Abo Tani, believe that antiquity of Shamanism is as old as the emergence of humankind. In Arunachal Pradesh among different tribes, Shaman is mostly seen as a diviner, communicator, negotiator, healer, ritual specialist, and religious expert but neither as a magician nor a mystic. S/he is the middleman between human and spirits who can communicate with the spirits on their behalf.
As Tani people believe in the existence of spirits, they need human specialists, a shaman, who have experience and can get access to the spirit world as a communicator. Each clan has important religious specialists who initiate and foster contact with the spirits and divinities.
They will contact the spirits and convey the messages between human and spirits. They are said to have the power to call the spirits for blessings, support and protection against evil and to enter into the spirit world and to communicate and negotiate with them that cause people to become sick.
They are believed to enter into a dialogue with the spirits and ask for prosperity and health of the members of the clan. Shamans are also the storehouse of traditional knowledge in the form of legends, myths, ritual incantations etc. They are well-versed in ritual performances and knowledge and wisdom associated with it.