Mapping Identity: Early Tribal and Hilly Ethnic Centers of Non-Brahmin Traditions in Central Travancore

Exploring the evolution of religion, spirituality, worship, and the formation of spiritual landscapes involves a structured academic approach that incorporates collective insights from history, anthropology, and ethnography. The history of spirituality and worship among South Indian village communities’ dates to the early prehistoric period. Clearly, religion serves as the most institutional discourse and structure that has historically intertwined aspects of spirituality, worship, and priesthood within any society. It is observed that the evolutionary processes of these substructures have been influenced by various factors, most commonly popular beliefs, fear, and hereditary traits. Many substructures have their origins in "cults" that are ethnographically older than most of the Semitic religious traditions. Cultural anthropology suggests that the evolution of such cultural traits can be attributed to anthropomorphism and the involvement of human imagination. Within popular culture, the term "cult" often acquires a wide range of sophistication and institutionalization, becoming an integral part of a larger superstructure. In smaller cultures, there is a centrifugal effect that determines the hierarchy of worship and shifts from parochial practices to either universal or Sanskritized models of worship. Sacred settlements and religious preferences in every society are shaped by a power-centered, hegemonic culture that has evolved through constant ethnic exchanges. This is viewed as a natural outcome of the reciprocal involvement of two categories, wherein processes such as universalization and parochialization are actively engaged. The adaptation, acceptance, and replacement of various religious approaches have led to a dynamic shift in spiritual preferences. Several prehistoric and ethnic communities residing in the hilly landscapes of Peninsular India maintain very primitive forms of worship, primarily characterized by ecological spirituality and animism. Due to the ecological impact of spirituality and their topographical isolation, these primordial practices tend to be static or semi-static in most areas. The purpose of this paper is to provide a theoretical and ethnographic examination of the early ethnic and hilly tribal centers of non-Brahmin worship in central Travancore Keywords: Spirituality, Community, Cult, Worship, Priesthood, Non-Brahmin, Ecological spirituality, Sacred Settlement.