Paper short abstract:

The idea of subterranean beings pervades both the rural and urban Bhutanese socialities. In this paper, I explore the underground cosmology among the rural people in central Bhutan and how it mirrors the socioeconomic fractality of the humans above.

Paper long abstract:

The explosion in the construction activities on the surface has led to the revival of the significance of what lies underneath the ground. The realm below is conceived as the unsoiled domain of the supernatural beings who in turn are considered not only as the original but fortune-giving owners of the land to the extent that without their prior permission, Bhutanese refrain from any action that would inflict harm on them or desacralize their abodes. Such conceptions are expressed through obligatory rituals, which are all oriented towards seeking their approval and, by extension antecede the laying of the cornerstone. Drawing on my fieldwork in Zhemgang, Bhutan, this paper will examine the values of subterranean beings in general and serpent beings (naga) in particular in the context of rural villages where they are sought for wealth and ritually cajoled to be domiciled in a small structure constructed next to their houses. In doing so, I explore various classes of serpent beings with uneven powers and attributes, and their relations and values to the people who worship them. Against the backdrop of hallowed intimacy, I ask why the nagas that are deemed to be wealthy are wooable only by the rich people while the poor nagas can be ignored, avoided and chased away from their environs? Finally, by focusing on the idea of wealthy and indigent nagas, I will analyse how the subterranean beings occupying the underground spaces reflect and perpetuate the socioeconomic fractality of the humans above.