Marginaliszed Tribal Women in Sundarbans: Tusu Puja and Related Social Sustainability

Sundarbans, the largest stretch of riverine mangrove forest, was declared a World Heritage site by UNESCO in 1987. Out of 4.5 million people, 5.56% belongs to the Scheduled tribe (ST) community in Sundarbans. During the British period, the Scheduled tribes people were the first migrant labour from various states of India. Munda, Santhal, Oraon, and Bhumij are the most prominent tribal communities in the Sundarbans region. Vulnerable economic position, social marginalisation, and extreme climatic changes force the tribal males to engage in various professions outside the Sundarbans, and then the females face more challenges to continue their livelihoods. Despite being the bearer of various indigenous skills, social marginalisation seems to be one of the major barriers to the socio-economic upliftment of tribal women. These marginalised groups continue their folk traditions and rituals like Tusu Puja, Karam, and so on. The objectives of the study are to explore the rituals related to traditional Tusu Puja and to identify links with social sustainability, if any. Data was collected by Semi-structured interviews, and after thematic analysis, it was found that traditional rituals related to Tusu Puja are linked to social sustainability.