Description
The bright stars of Orion and Taurus, with the shimmering Pleiades cluster (M45) at their heart, create one of the most stunning and easily spotted patterns in the Northern Hemisphere's winter sky. But these stars are far more than just points of light; for countless ancient and indigenous cultures around the globe, they held deep meaning, woven into their myths, traditions, and understanding of the world. How people saw these stars differed greatly, shaped by their own unique beliefs, environments, and ways of life. In India, this part of the sky is especially significant, known in Vedic traditions as the lunar mansion Kṛttikā (the Pleiades) and its neighbouring constellations. This study focuses specifically on the people of Mizoram in Northeast India. As a Tibeto-Burman community with a rich and distinct heritage, Mizoram offers a valuable perspective that hasn't been widely studied yet. We explore how Mizo stories, folklore, and everyday knowledge interpret Orion, Taurus, and the Pleiades – looking at how they were used for finding direction, timing planting and harvests, and explaining the cosmos. This work shines a light on the amazing variety of ways Indians have understood the night sky, showing Mizoram's cultural astronomy as a key piece in understanding humanity's deep and varied connection to the stars.
Keywords : Mizo Ethnoastronomy; Orion-Taurus-Pleiades Complex; Northeast India; Celestial Interpretation; Indian Astronomical Diversity.
