Doms of Banaras: A Socio-Cultural Study
Creators: name: Singh, Rana Abhyendra
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2022
Subjects: Dom Community, Banaras, Cremation, Socio-cultural , Psychological consciousness, intergroup dynamics, intergroup relation model.

description: <strong>Doms of Banaras: A Socio-Cultural Study</strong><br> Dissertation submitted to the Department of Sociology, South Asian University In partial fulfillment of the requirements for the award degree of MASTER OF ARTS IN SOCIOLOGY by STUDENT NAME – RANA ABHYENDRA SINGH<br> ENROLLMENT NO. – SAU/SOC(M)/2020/22 Supervisor: PROF. SASANKA PERERA<br> Department of Sociology<br> Faculty of Social Sciences<br> South Asian University, New Delhi 2022 <br> <strong>Declaration</strong> I declare that this dissertation titled “Doms of Banaras: A Socio-Cultural Study” ‘Submitted by RANA ABHYENDRA SINGH to the Department of Sociology, Faculty of Social Sciences, South Asian University, New Delhi, in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Master of Arts degree in Sociology is an original work and is free from plagiarized materials. <strong>Student Name</strong> <strong> Date</strong> RANA ABHYENDRA SINGH 10/05/2022 <strong>Acknowledgment</strong> Valuable cooperation and compassion of many scholars and great experiences have been received in completing the present study, to which it is considered a sacred duty to express gratitude. Firstly, I would like to express my gratitude to the informants involved in the study, who patiently cooperated with me in compiling the facts in the interview situation. I am especially grateful to Prof. Sasanka Perera, Dean, Faculty of Social Sciences, South Asian University, whose compassion and inspiration have contributed significantly to completing this research work. Dr. Ankur Datta, whose Research method Classes invigorated my passion for research. And I express my gratitude to Vishal Singh Bhadauriya, who has benefited me through his constructive suggestions at various stages of my research work. I am very grateful to Prof.Sasanka Perera.<sub>http://www.sau.int/faculty/faculty-profile.html?staff_id=21</sub> He has continuously provided valuable guidance and time from the beginning of the research work and its completion of the research work. And I also thank all my colleagues who gave me refreshments from time to time, and his/her compassion allowed me to fulfill this humongous<br> task of my dissertation. May Lord Buddha bless us with the almighty’s divine smile.
description: Introduction The modern city of Banaras has been historically known by many names, one of them being Mahashamshan, the great cremation ground. It has been intricately linked with the celebration of death. The Hindus believe it to be the ultimate pilgrimage (Teerth), where death is believed to be liberating in the religious and spiritual sense; hence they wish to spend their last days of life in Banaras, leading to their cremation on the traditional cremation sites (Ghats). Here the two Ghats, which are Manikarnika and Harishchandra Ghats, are the primary sites for the performance of the Hindu funeral rituals and involvement of the family and kin of the dead and require the assistance of various ritual specialists. These specialists are the locals who follow their traditional occupations based on their castes and provide their services. The cremation rituals involve such castes as Mahabrahmans (funeral priests), Nau (barbers), and the Doms (funeral attendants). In my proposed study, I will try to examine the socio-culture aspects of the Doms in Banaras. The Dom community is considered one of the lowest in the social hierarchy in India, intimately involved in Hindu cremation rituals in Banaras; as such, they are also segregated from the mainstream Hindu society with the notion of impurity. The inter-community dynamics of the Dom community with the other communities of Banaras is a significant spot to define the socio-cultural status of the Dom community; sometimes, these inter-community relations reflect the status of Doms in the social hierarchy. The Doms are one essential part of the business of death in Banaras. They primarily work at the Ghats and engage in their ancestral occupation of funeral attendants. The tradition dictates that the funeral can only proceed and be successful if the pyre is lit with a fire produced by a Dom. In this proposed research, an effort will be made to study the Socio-Cultural condition of the Dom community in Banaras and its periphery and culture, in the background of their ecological environment, and the larger social and cultural conditions in which the community inhabits. The notion of impurity degrades the Dom community in the social hierarchy. However, they hold a crucial position in the last rituals of the dead in the Hindus. In this proposed research study, I will discuss the behavior of these inter-community dynamics in the context of the socio-cultural study of the Dom community. Also, the Psychological consciousness of a particular group community is an important proposition for analyzing the whole intergroup dynamics; here, we present the figure of the intergroup relation model.