International Journal of Social Science Research (IJSSR)

An Anthropological Study of the Feast of Merit Among the Koireng Tribe, Manipur

The feast of merit formed a central feature of traditional Naga practice, which conferred social status to a person. The significance of the feast of merit is that it brings honour to the donor during his lifetime and after death. Such feasts, though remarkable in the past, have lost their significance and practice with the advent of modernization, westernization, Christianity, and education. The essence of sharing as a prime component of the feast of merit in today's context would be just a story of the past for the younger generations. Christianity brought tremendous change in the mental attitude of the Koireng, especially in their life and culture. This paper brings to light ideas and perceptions of the world view of wealth and the nature of its utilization in the early Koireng society. The present work focuses on the nature of surplus distribution as manifested in community feasts given by wealthy men as the feast of merit. This paper also tries to add to the existing debates revolving around how colonialism and its agents have misunderstood the indigenous practices of offering feasts and food sharing as an extravaganza or unnecessary expenditure. This paper intends to bring examples from the global south and contribute to debunking the above arguments from a decolonisation point of view. The paper also shows how the feast of merit served as food re-distribution and was a means to gain recognition, prestige, and status in society, which can be construed as one of the main worldviews of the indigenous communities in South Asia.