CONTENTS List of Contributors . 9 1. Introduction . 11 — G. Lazar, Sarit K. Choudhury and K. Jose 2. Concept of Syncretism analysed from Cultural and Religious Perspectives . 25 — G. Lazar SVD 3. Syncretism in India: A Reality or a Utopia? . 37 — Vijoy S Sahay 4. Syncretism among the Muslims of Darjeeling Himalaya . 47 — Rajib Chatterjee 5. Hindu Symbolism in Rahim’s Poetry . 55 — Ravi Khangai 6. Religious Syncretism among the Meiteis of Manipur . 61 — Naorem Naokhomba Singh 7. Musical Syncretism: The Indian Context . 77 — Onkar Prasad 8. Anthropo-Historic Discussion on Syncretism in Language and Dressing Pattern among People of Central India. 83 — Neha Singh 9. Assam: A Socio-Religious Syncretistic Entity of North East India .99 — Ankit Kumar Gaur 10. Syncretism among the Tribes of North East India: A Socio- Historical Perspective . 107 — Kuntala Dowarah 11. Syncretism: Religious Dimensions among the Khasi of Meghalaya. 115 — D. Sun 12. Syncretism: Christianity and Traditional Belief System among the Nagas in Northeast India . 123 — Daili Neli 13. Language Shift and Maintenance: A Process of Linguistic Syncretism among the War Khasi of Meghalaya . 127 — Supratim Bhattacharya & Pushpita Purkayastha 14. Syncretism in Kinnaurese Religion, Custom, and belief . 135 — Sumitabha Chakraborty 15. Regional Variation in Syncretic Cultures across India. 147 — Avijit Sahay 16. Religious Syncretism and culture among Amri Karbi of Kamrup District, Assam . 159 — Pinky Barua 17. Cultural Syncretism: An Empirical Study on Hindu-Christian Community of Kalyani . 167 — Samita Manna, Reshmi Chakraborty, Aritra Ghosh 18. Syncretism in Religious and Cultural Dimension: A study of the Jaintias of Meghalaya . 181 — R.P. Athparia 19. Cultural Diversity and Religious Syncretism: A Sociological Study on Santal in Kalyani, Nadia, West Bengal . 209 — Aritra Ghosh, Rimi Sarkar and Samita Manna 20. Syncretism in Early Indian Society: A Case Study of Buddhism.225 — Agnik Bhattacharya 21. An Empirical Study on the Syncretistic Values among the Indian Population . 235 — Anupma Bharadwaj 22. Syncretism- A Religious Harmony in India . 241 — Srija Mandal 23. Syncretic Cultural Practices among the Halam of Tripura . 249 – Shajymon M.L, Gautam Kumar Bera 24. Influence of Different Religions on a Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Group: An Anthropological Exploration. 267 — Geetika Ranjan 25. Synthesis of Cultural Modernisation with Western Impact – A Sociological Review on India Society . 277 — Surojit Sen Gupta 26. Indigenous Beliefs and Practices of the Deoris of Assam . 289 — Arifur Zaman 27. Culture, Religious Change and Identity: A Case Study of the Muklom (Tangsa) of Arunachal Pradesh . 301 — Sunumi Changmi 28. Syncretism in an Urban Context of Assam: Cultural and Religious Dimensions . 311 — Ranga Ranjan Das 29. Looking into Indian Civilization through religious syncretism: A study on the process of blending religious belief of the Savar and Hinduism . 327 — Sampa Basu Index . 335 Present volume is the outcome of two days national seminar on SYNCRETISM IN INDIA: CULTURAL AND RELIGIOUS DIMENSIONS held at Guwahati in 2015 in which large number of social scientists across the disciplinary frames presented their papers linking with the issues and ideas concerning 'syncretism', a concept which has often been perceived in variegated ways by scholars of different disciplines. A number of articles could be found in this volume by anthropologists relating to syncretism that interprets the term as borrowing of cultural traits among two or more groups; more specifically, between Hindus and Muslims, or Hindus and Christian, or even between tribals and non-tribals, etc., based on empirical standpoints. However, one may like to ask, why this so happened in spite of the ever expanding knowledge base of the academic fraternity regarding this cultural phenomena. We can envisage that this volume brings in to focus multiple and contested realities of our time and also opens up space for further critical discourse revolved around the notion of 'syncretism' in a multi-cultural state like India.