The vernacular domain of toutary

In Kalahandi, the dominant way in which the state is perceived, experienced, and commented upon is through the vernacular domain of toutary. In the regional context of Odisha, it is more useful to undertake the mapping of such a vernacular domain rather than invoke theoretical domains such as political society to understand the emergent mode of state-fabrication and the resultant contours of state–society relationships. The perceptions and practices of state-fabrication in Kalahandi, including those in the mission mode deploying quotidian logistics, congeal into the vernacular domain of toutary. These descriptions and perceptions, and the domain of toutary perhaps cannot take the place of a conceptual or theoretical alternative to the formulations of political society. Popular narratives surrounding toutary as a domain and touters as social agents have analogical resonance with other domains of sociality such as that associated with the local deities.