Sky Gazing through Rabha Folktales.

Looking at the sky in awe is a common feature of every religion and society. The cosmological objects are always fascinating to human eyes, which are reflected in the stories created about them. Cultural astronomy in our understanding refers to the relation between culture and astronomy. It includes how celestial observations and cosmological phenomena appear in human ideologies, behaviors, beliefs and customs. Every society has its own tales about these phenomena, which pass from generation to generation giving rise to an oral tradition. The tales which do not have a proper originator and pass orally from one generation to the other can be considered folktales. Broadly speaking, cultural astronomy includes the astronomical beliefs reflected in the folktales of different communities. Rabha is one of the prominent tribes of northeast India, mainly located in Assam and parts of Meghalaya. The distribution covers a portion of West Bengal as well. This paper focuses mainly on the Rabhas residing in Assam. Like other societies, Rabhas also have their own traditional way of observing the sky, which finds a place in their belief system and contributes to forming their world views and ideas around the cosmological world. This paper discusses how celestial observations appear in the Rabha folktales. It also focuses on different astronomical beliefs that they convey through folktales passing from one generation to the other. It further discusses how the Rabha society is connected with cosmic events through folktales and how the people relate these to their daily existence. These traditional beliefs reveal a close connection between the universe and the people. Through these folktales, it can also be observed how humans interact with their environment covering the entire system extending to the sky and beyond. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]