Human Body, Folk Narratives and Rituals

The socio-cultural construction of human body differs from the biological construction, and the body is seen as an existential basis of human interaction within given social, cultural, political and environmental conditions. Human body is not only an organic object but also a cultural object and it is constantly being altered by natural and cultural process. Every folk society has its own traditional understanding of the concepts of 'body′, 'self′, 'soul′ and 'agency′ and several rituals are performed in order to heal, purify and transform the body. Rituals are one mode of cultural praxis through which bodies, knowledge, powers, agency and selves have been repositioned through practice. This study is an effort to understand the socio- cultural construction of human body with special reference to 'rituals′ that are performed in folk religious practices in Tamil Nadu, South India. How human body is culturally professed, purified, transformed and healed through rituals is the important subject matter of this paper.