Rangfrah

Rangfarah is the name chosen for a revivalist movement of Tangsa traditional spirituality. The intention is "to give an alternative form of religious belief to those who were neither following the Christian beliefs nor were following the traditional ways". "Rangfrah" meaning "god" in the Longchang dialect was given a form very similar to that of the "Shiva" of the Hindu religion and a worshiping house called "Rangshom Him" was built to place the Rangfrah and make arrangement for the followers to gather and offer their prayers.

In the dialects of other Tangsa communities, the term for "god" takes variants such as Rangwa, Rangkhothak etc. Traditionally, the Tangsas very rarely used to pray to god or practice any kind of religious rituals dedicated to the god. But, they generally used to invoke spirits of various things either to receive their benevolent influences or to protect themselves from their malevolent activities. The rituals were mostly invocations, offerings of some living things like, chicken etc., rice, rice-beer, eggs etc. wrapped in some leaves and placed at some specified locations according to the ritual that is meant for.

See also

• Arunachal Pradesh
• Tribal religions in India
• Donyi-Polo
• Jairampur
• Kharsang
• Tangsa

References

• Byomakesh Tripathy, Religious History Of Arunachal Pradesh, Rajiv Gandhi University. Gyan Publishing House, 2008,p. 372.