The Land of Fourteen Gods

Tripura, the erstwhile princely state, nestles in the sub-tropical deciduous forest and sub-montane region of north-eastern India stemming from the splendour of its natural setting and its dazzling heritage. Criss-crossed by six principal hill ranges none punctuating the skies, this land of fourteen gods is buttressed by a number of rivers and rivulets for which the place got its name: tui (water) and pra (near). The verdant expanses and rich forest lands have been the central concern to people down the centuries to enjoy the plethora of delightful attractions in its cavalcade of historic palaces, rock-cut carvings, stone sculptures, Hindu and Buddhist shrines, wildlife sanctuaries and colourful tribal people of immense variability who blend in to the hills and valleys inhabiting the villages that are a tapestry of rich ethnic traditions. The reality all these reflected duality of mind since many of them do not live in the present. A confiderable population today lives in the past and dream of a future. Possible influx of heterogenous population may have been mending the values that the people have nurtured so far. The state with its unique physical landscape and varied human surface forms a tribal mosaic of immense hospitality in the lush green cover sitting in the lap of Bangladesh, a country lying adjacent as a friendly neighbour. With the only attachment of head and neck with adjoining states of Assam and Mizoram it encompasses a host of colorful tribal people who have carved out a special position in the whole of the northeast due to their traditional cultural affiliation and their social commitment in the culturally rooted traditional customs, culture and heritage.

Gautam Kumar Bera ( b.1958), graduated in Science with Honours in Anthropology, passed his Master's degree in Anthropology with specialization in Social and Cultural Anthropology securing First position in First Class, received his Ph.D. Degree in Anthropology, is currently attached to the Directorate of Census Operations under the Office of the Registrar General of India after serving in the Anthropological Survey of India for almost twenty three years. Presently he is conducting his Post Doctoral research on issues related to ethnicity. CA Associate, Current Anthropology (U.S.A), Assistant Editor, Journal of the Anthropological Survey of India (Kolkata), Book Review Editor, The Oriental Anthropologist (Allahabad), and Consulting Editor, Contemporary Who's Who, U.S.A He is the Life Member of the Indian Anthropological Society, Kolkata and the Oriental Institute of Cultural and Social Research, Allahabad. His important books and edited volumes include A Town in the Rural Milieu, Dimensions of Researches in Indian Anthropology, The Unrest Axle; Ethno-social Movements in Eastern India, Anthropological Perspectives in Sundarbans, Passage through Aboriginal India: Anthropological Profile of Verrier Elwin, The Wanderlust Anthropologist: Anthropological Profile of Nirmal Kumar Base, The Patriarch Pathfinder: Anthropological Profile of Rai Bahadur Sarat Chandra Roy, In the Lagoons of the Gangetic Delta, Echoes from the Hillocks, and Jhum Cultivation in Tripura . His forthcoming book is on Ethno-Social Movements in Central India.