The Clash of Values: A Study on Cultural Conflict and Environmental Degradation in Kamala Markandaya’s Novel, The Coffer Dams

India has long been a lively and diverse blend of various races, languages, religions and cultures since ancient times. The word “tribe”, rooted in the Latin “tribua”, initially referred to a political entity and was eventually associated with social groups characterized by their geographical territory. The forest has served as their ancestral home for generations. The tribe resided in a secluded section of the forest and lived communally. Due to specific social and religious constraints, they hold a lower status in society, which is gradually diminishing thanks to constitutional provisions and progressive socialistic ideas. Numerous writers have extensively explored rural life and made references to tribal communities in their works. Many novels centre on the theme of conflicts between the East and the West. Kamala Markandaya’s novel The Coffer Dams (1969) addresses human displacement as a principal issue arising from dam construction. Often, state proposals for large-scale multi-purpose project clash with both nature and the forest communities that will be submerged. The forest is their mother and they revere it as a deity. Tribal authors can engage deeply with their own communities, whereas others can only grasp the superficial aspects of tribal existence. The Coffer Dams serves as an outstanding illustration of cultural conflict and colonialism, highlighting the tension between traditional customs and modernity, as well as the effects of colonial dominance on local communities. The novel juxtaposes traditional Indian lifestyles with the modern influences of colonialism. The Coffer Dams is a novel rooted in a rich socio-cultural context that illustrates the clash between the state authority and tribal groups, as well as the struggle between Western ideals and the traditional values of indigenous communities in a southern Indian locale. This research paper aims to emphasize the tribal beliefs and practices, customs and traditions, rites and rituals, celebrations and festivals, songs and dances as depicted in Kamala Markandaya’s The Coffer Dam.