The Calcified Sacred: Displaced Indexicality and the Erosion of Vernacular Environmentalism in the Folk Traditions of Rarh Bengal

This paper investigates the shifting religio-cultural landscape of Rarh Bengal, focusing on the eco-semiotic evolution of folk deities such as Dharmaraj, Manasa, and the Garam spirits. While traditional scholarship has primarily analyzed these cults through the lens of Sanskritization or philological evolution, this study identifies a significant research gap regarding the de-coupling of deity from ecology in the Anthropocene. Utilizing a stratified fieldwork sample of 45 individuals across nine villages in Burdwan, Bankura, and Birbhum, the research employs data triangulation to compare Ritual Ideals (the Signified) with Modern Realities (the Signifier). The findings reveal a state of Displaced Indexicality, where the material components of ritual—sacred clay, forest groves, and riverine hydrology—are being replaced by synthetic, urbanized substitutes like concrete and borewell water. Drawing upon the theoretical framework of Vernacular Environmentalism, the paper argues that the Museumification of Rarh’s traditions by State and local bodies strips these deities of their functional role as ecological guardians.