Cultural Pluralism among the Nicobarese: A Case Study of Pilpilow Village of Central Nicobar

The Nicobarese, one of the Mongoloid communities, are the permanent settlers of the Nicobar Islands spread over North to South in Bay of Bengal. They practice horticulture as mainstay of their economy and possess rich cultural heritage in terms of language, socio-cultural practices, economy, political organization, animistic beliefs, fetish worship, material culture, and folklore. During colonial rule, the Christianity have had tremendous impact on the Nicobarese society and started the process of acculturation in terms of changes in food habits, dress pattern, etiquette and manners, religious beliefs, and so on. There after the businessmen from Minicoy, Laccadives, and Maldives also spread the Islam in the Nicobar in general and Central Nicobar in particular. With the resettlement of Srilankan Tamils and people from different parts of India, mainly West Bengal, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu, the Nicobarese culture is exposed to distinct cultural traditions. Further the tragic tsunami in 2004, which took many lives, made great impact on their material culture; and many of them were rehabilitated in new locations. As a result a pluralistic culture has developed among the Nicobarese as majority of them converted to Christianity, Islam and other religious faiths. Despite this fact, still their animistic beliefs and cultural traditions are practiced at large during various ceremonial occasions. With this backdrop, the present paper attempts to highlight the cultural pluralism of Nicobarese society and their peaceful coexistence in the backdrop of present pan Indian communal scenario. Further it is also discussed how the Nicobarese still maintain their cultural traditions despite religious conversions, which is crucial to project their ethnic identity. As such the present study adopted a holistic perspective to understand the practice of Christianity, Islam and fusion ofNicobarese distinct cultural practices. INTRODUCTION The term 'cultural pluralism' was first used by J .S. Furnivall (1939) in his book Netherlands India: A Study of Plural Economy. Major finding of his study is that the different cultural groups lived in one common area without much social interaction and opined that lack of integration may destabilize the social order. This situation may be attributed to • Address for Communication: Assistant Professor, Department of Anthropology, Indira Gandhi National Tribal University (IGNTU), Amarkantak 484 886, Madhya Pradesh, India. The Oriental Anthropologist, Vol. 16, No. 1, 2016, Pages 51-68 © OICSR, Allahabad Corresponding Author E-mail : dvprasada@gmail.com