The Karbis are one of northeast India's, tribal groups with high concentrations in the Karbi Anglong and Dima Hasao (earlier North Cachar) hills district. Ethnically they belong to the Indo-Mongoloid group and linguistically to the Tibeto-Burman family of languages (Phangcho, 2003, p.1). The Karbis were previously known as ‘Mikir’ but they prefer to call themselves Karbi, and sometimes Arleng (meaning a man). The name “Mikir’ was given to the community by the Assamese, but the origin, however, in unknown ( Stack and Lyall, 1908) . Regarding the term ‘Karbi’ Bey in his book The Karbi Belief mentions that the term ‘Karbi’ is derived from the word ‘Thekar kibi’ which in course of time became Karbi (Bey, 2009, p.1). ‘Thekar’ is a process of offering to the deities for purification before eating or drinking either in private, social or on any ritual occasion. The adherents of the ‘ Thekar’ tradition came to be known as ...
The Anthropologist has long been observed that all human cultures have a recognizable set of beliefs and behaviors that can be called religious. Religions are collections of ideas, practices, values, norms, worldviews, and stories that are all embedded in cultures and not separable from them. It is impossible to understand a culture without considering its religious dimensions. In the livelihood and culture pattern of the Karbis, religious aspects deserve very special attention.