The Philosophy of Rain Rituals

A Comparative Study of Practices in India and Northern Iran

Abstract

Across rain-dependent agrarian societies, rituals for invoking rainfall are far more than vestiges of magical belief or mere folklore; they are living, adaptive social technologies—embodying philosophical frameworks through which communities negotiate agricultural unpredictability and ecological vulnerability. This article offers an integrated comparative analysis of rain rituals as practiced in India and Northern Iran (Mazandaran Province). Drawing from classical and contemporary anthropological theory, original fieldwork, ethnographic interviews, and newly translated local oral poetry, it explores key critical themes: gendered participation, childhood initiation, oral transmission, ecological relations, and ritual innovation under modernity. The discussion foregrounds the proactive agency of women and children, the evolving role of memory, and the ethical dimensions by which communities establish resilience and cosmological meaning. Employing the theoretical perspectives of Durkheim, Eliade, Lévi-Strauss, Douglas, Turner, Kapferer, and Seligman, the article argues for an understanding of ritual as both a site of cultural continuity and adaptation, as well as a medium for contesting social marginalization and re-envisioning environmental ethics. The case studies illuminate the broader significance of ritual not only in local worldviews but as part of emerging dialogues in the climate humanities concerning tradition’s ambiguous future, agency, and ethical response to environmental change.