Intangible Cultural Heritage of the Nashya Sheikh Community of North Bengal: A Study on Some Agricultural Beliefs and Practices

Abstract

Cultural heritage is the legacy of physical artifacts and intangible attributes of a group or society that are inherited from past generations, maintained in the present and bestowed for the benefit of future generations. Cultural heritage is of two types: Tangible and Intangible. ‘Tangible Cultural Heritage’ refers to physical artifacts produced, maintained and transmitted intergenerational in a society. ‘Intangible Cultural Heritage’ indicates ‘the practices, representations, expressions, knowledge, skills – as well as the instruments, objects, artifacts and cultural spaces associated therewith that communities, groups and, in some cases, individuals recognize as part of their or a place’s Cultural Heritage’ Traditionally, the Nashya Sheikh Muslim community of North Bengal is believed in various Belief and Customs.. In this paper, an attempt will be made to we find out historical significance of some agricultural belief and practices of Nashya Sheikh community of North Bengal, prospect and problems facing this heritage and steps to be taken to preserve it.