Voluntarism In Odisha: The Indigenous And Exogenous Traits

Research Article
Umakanta Mohapatra and Navneeta Ratha
DOI: 
http://dx.doi.org/10.24327/ijrsr.2018.0902.1629
Subject: 
science
KeyWords: 
Kalinga, vaishnavism, military voluntarism, cultural-fear, indigenous, exogenous, missionary, mahima, Bramho.
Abstract: 

The recent happenings about Voluntary sector in Odisha make us believe that this collective force has immense potency if assessed and partnered scientifically at micro level. Secondly, in the scanty and sporadic literature about voluntarism in Odisha, one comes across a school of thought that organized voluntarism in the State started under the influence of Christian Missionaries whereas the socio-cultural processes in course of Odishan history reveal visible trends of organized voluntarism. These two factors propelled the present authors to look into the position of voluntarism with its indigenous and exogenous traits within the broad socio-historic processes in this part of the Indian sub-continent. For the purpose, the archeological remains, linguistic conjectures and historical records have been referred to. Wide discussions have been held with the people from cross sections of the society having interest in the voluntary sector. Records available in Government record rooms have also been referred to. The logical corollaries from all these sources have been synchronized for a scientific understanding of the position of voluntary activities in Odisha. It is found that voluntarism is Odisha is indigenous and antique. Though exogenous influences have their own influence on Odishan voluntarism, yet the indigenous voluntarism has maintained its own trend up to the turn of 19th Century.