http://irgu.unigoa.ac.in/drs/handle/unigoa/35 2026-07-16T21:33:28Z 2026-07-16T21:33:28Z Fernandes, E.S. Somayaji, G. http://irgu.unigoa.ac.in/drs/handle/unigoa/7898 2026-07-06T11:12:28Z 2025-01-01T00:00:00Z

Khazans: A confluence of culture, ecology, and human interaction in Goa Fernandes, E.S.; Somayaji, G. Khazans are Goa's low-lying 'reclaimed' estuarine wetlands, one of the region's ancient agro-aqua engineering system. This khazan ecosystem, which is home to a wide range of flora and fauna, has, historically, supported farming and fishing-related economic activities such as agriculture, primarily rice cultivation, salt production, and aquaculture. In Goa, religion plays a central role in everyday life. Hence, we observe a convergence of cultural and ecological elements in the various festivals and rituals. One such example is an age-old ritual that takes place on the (bandhs) embankments, which is an important component of the khazan landscape. 'Mange Thapani' is a ritual practiced wherein crocodiles are venerated within the khazan ecosystem of Goa. The study used participant observation and a semi-structured interview schedule to collect primary data from the selected study site located in Adulshem, Borim-Ponda, Goa. This paper seeks to explore how the 'Mange Thapani religious ritual' exemplifies the confluence of traditional ecological knowledge (TEK) building on Ostrom's Social Ecological Systems (SES) Framework, which refers to a cumulative body of indigenous knowledge passed down through generations about relationships between living beings and the environment, its economic usefulness, and religious tradition, thus, illustrating how nature and spirituality coexist harmoniously in Goan cultural life.

2025-01-01T00:00:00Z Tate, S. Somayaji, G. http://irgu.unigoa.ac.in/drs/handle/unigoa/7876 2026-06-08T08:47:24Z 2026-01-01T00:00:00Z

Migration, Identity and the Khare Goenkar Movement Tate, S.; Somayaji, G. Since 1947, India has witnessed large-scale internal migration across states. Goa, which was liberated from Portuguese colonial rule in 1961, has been receiving an unprecedented influx of migrants from across its borders, from Karnataka and other states. In the 1980s, after two decades of Goa's liberation, the ethnic consciousness of the people of Goa came to be consolidated into an ideology of nativism, due to which outsiders came to be seen as a threat to the Goan identity and well-being. A movement called Khare Goenkar (true Goan) emerged, aiming to rid Goa of outsiders from such spheres as education and employment. This article examines the enduring nexus between migration, identity and conflict in light of the Khare Goenkar movement, arguing that the movement was not an isolated act of public disorder but a manifestation of deep-rooted anxieties surrounding migration, belonging and identity.

2026-01-01T00:00:00Z Coelho, J.P. http://irgu.unigoa.ac.in/drs/handle/unigoa/7755 2026-01-05T07:07:47Z 2026-01-01T00:00:00Z

Discerning Religious Nationalism Among Tibetans in Exile in India (Chapter 31) Coelho, J.P. While nationalism, like nation, is an essentially contested concept, its elusive nature gets even more interesting when it occurs in exile. Though scholars like Said find exile to be a natural home for the birth of nationalism, the constraints of exile may impede the full expression of exile. This chapter examines the dialectics of sustaining nationalism, particularly religious nationalism, among the Tibetans in exile. In 1959, the spiritual and temporal Head of Tibet, the His Holiness the Fourteenth Dalai Lama Tenzin Gyatso, and thousands of Tibetans sought refuge in India following the Chinese annexation of Tibet in 1950. Given the predominant role of Tibetan Buddhism in determining the culture, polity as well as lifeworlds and public sphere of Tibet, it is only natural that religious nationalism would be the glue providing social cohesion to the disparate refugee population. While there are differing views on whether primordial identities like religion could be the organising axis of nations and nationalism, scholars like Dawa Norbu argue that the structure of third world nationalism includes traditional data like religion as well as egalitarian ideology like fraternity. This chapter seeks to discern the nature of this religious nationalism created and sustained in exile. On the basis of field data gathered from Tibetan settlements in Karnataka, Himachal Pradesh and Ladakh in India from November 2023 to May 2024, as well as secondary data, this chapter documents the pre-eminence of Tibetan Buddhism from the time of the formation of the Tibetan ethnie to the development of nationalism in exile. It also elucidates the challenges of sustaining nationalism, particularly religious nationalism in exile.

2026-01-01T00:00:00Z Somayaji, S. Somayaji, G. Coelho, J.P. http://irgu.unigoa.ac.in/drs/handle/unigoa/7410 2025-11-13T11:05:56Z 2025-01-01T00:00:00Z

The Plural Social Sphere: Insights from Contemporary Indian Society Somayaji, S.; Somayaji, G.; Coelho, J.P. This book reiterates pluralism as the basic feature of the Indian social sphere. It highlights challenges to the continuity of the plural fabric of India's society and culture. Acknowledging that socio-political concerns on women's issues do not always find adequate representation in social science texts, the book explores issues and policies related to gender. It locates the roots of feminist fundamentalism, studies the reactions to it, and brings forth the demands relating to new agendas and strategies for feminism. The authors also present empirical studies on issues faced by minority communities in India.

2025-01-01T00:00:00Z