Reconstructing the Buddhist Past from Folk Myths; a Study of Ganda Anti-Caste Community in Western Odisha.

This paper explores the historicization of myths, legends, and folktales within the Ganda community of Kurul and Malgodampada, Balangir, Odisha. Challenging the dominant historiographical exclusion of caste-oppressed communities, it examines how myths are not merely remnants of the past but serve as mediums for reconstructing history. Drawing from Ambedkar’s call for imagination in exhuming history, Vico’s insights on myth as social history, Russell’s synthesis of logic and mysticism, Carr and White’s criticism of dominant forms of historiography, this study interrogates how myths undergo logical scrutiny within communities to be articulated as ‘probable pasts.’ Through ethnographic data and semiotic analysis, it engages in Asad’s view on power’s role in defining ‘true speech.’ By tracing the discourses and practices around Bhima Buddha, Saat Bahin, and Bastarain Mata, among others, across Buddhist Tantric and Hindu narratives, the paper highlights myth’s role in anti-caste cultural praxis, reclaiming lost histories beyond narratives of mere ‘loss.’