Traditional and Posttraditional: A Study of Agricultural Rituals in Relation to Technological Complexity among Rice Producers in Two Zones of West Bengal, India

Abstract

India, one of the largest countries in Asia, is predominantly an agricultural country, with practically two-thirds of its territory lying in the agrarian sector. According to the 2001 census, 74 percent of the population lives in the rural areas and more than 65 percent of the population is primarily dependent on cultivation (Census of India 2001). This fact highlights the central role that agriculture plays in Indian society and culture especially that of rice cultivation. This is easily demonstrated in rural West Bengal, a state in eastern India, where majority of its farming villages grow rice as their main crop. Rice is the main staple food of West Bengal—thus, it also permeates the material, social, and cultural spheres of Bengali culture, forming a trait complex in Bengali society (Bose 1953). Various cultural norms and values formed around rice and its cultivation because of its role in religious attainment and spiritual liberation and became the ubiquitous symbol for Bengali cultural expression. The present paper aims to document the impact of the adoption of agricultural technologies on the traditional agricultural and cultural practices of farmers in four West Bengal villages. This relationship is developed in two ways: first, by discussing the level of technological complexity in the villages; second, by discussing the impact of the various levels of technology adoption on the different agricultural rituals in the four villages.