• Alaka Basumatary
• Dinanath Basumatary

With the advancement of human civilization different communities of the world, and hence their cultures, have come nearer to each other. Due to dynamic character of culture, this nearness of cultures has facilitated acculturation of one culture by another. The common phenomenon observed in the field of acculturation is that cultures of the indigenous people are suffered unrestrained changes in their cultures, in many cases, leading them to assimilation with neighbouring superior cultures. In the light of this prevailing trend of assimilation of tribal cultures with adjacent cultures, an attempt has been made to study the alterations accommodated in the indigenous Bodo culture of north east India, particularly in regard to their festivals. The Bodo culture, due to acculturation, is found to accommodate many alterations, including deviations, in various components of its culture, including their traditional festivals. Researchers have observed that the traditional religion of the Bodos, called Bathou, has even deviated from its original philosophy towards Hindu philosophy. Due to this turn, many alterations and accommodations have occurred in religious festivals of the Bodos. Besides, the seasonal festivals of the community have acquired a grave trend of losing their traditional characters by succumbing to the acculturative pressure from the neighbouring popular cultures. Apart from this, popular festivals have interloped among the Bodos and are spreading fast, threatening the traditional festivals to be subsided. Bodos now face a great challenge in retaining the distinctness of their culture by adopting appropriate measures to preserve the originality of their culture and festivals.

Acculturation, Bodos, Bwishagu, Domashi, Festivals, Garza, Kherāi, Seasonal, Traditional

"FESTIVALS OF THE BODOS: A DISCOURSE IN THE LIGHT OF ACCULTURATION", International Journal of Emerging Technologies and Innovative Research (www.jetir.org), ISSN:2349-5162, Vol.6, Issue 6, page no.293-303, June-2019, Available :http://www.jetir.org/papers/JETIR1906D91.pdf

"FESTIVALS OF THE BODOS: A DISCOURSE IN THE LIGHT OF ACCULTURATION", International Journal of Emerging Technologies and Innovative Research (www.jetir.org | UGC and issn Approved), ISSN:2349-5162, Vol.6, Issue 6, page no. pp293-303, June-2019, Available at : http://www.jetir.org/papers/JETIR1906D91.pdf