ARCHIVES
VOL. 11, ISSUE 2 (2025)
Birappa narrative: An anthropological reading of pastoral law in the kuruma of Telangana
Authors
Pavani Chittem
Abstract
This article examines the Birappa narrative of the Kuruma pastoralist
community of Telangana as a living system of customary law. It analyzes the
Birappa myth as both a religious and cultural narrative and a functioning legal
system with the assistance of Bronisław Malinowski's functional theory of law.
Storytelling, ritual enactment, and moral retribution are means by which
communities maintain the value of their norms in the absence of written laws
and structural hierarchies. Oggu Katha dramatizes and narrates the
Birappa story that maintains community order enshrined in mythical symbols and
ritualized narration and imparts lessons in ethics, social role control and so
forth. In Kuruma society, concepts of responsibility, family solidarity,
correct comportment are certainly a reflection of the story’s values in divine
retribution, mild punitive behavior, confrontation against tyrannical regime.
Affirming that the formal state law regime coexists with orature and custom is
not the only thesis advanced in the paper; the paper also locates this
indigenous system in the overall context of legal pluralism. Oggu Katha
enables governance of the community, mediation, and the formation of public
morality through performance and group memory.
Download
Pages:85-88
How to cite this article:
Pavani Chittem "Birappa narrative: An anthropological reading of pastoral law in the kuruma of Telangana". International Journal of Humanities and Social Science Research, Vol 11, Issue 2, 2025, Pages 85-88
Download Author Certificate
Please enter the email address corresponding to this article submission to download your certificate.