Nicobarese

The Nicobarese religion is the traditional animism of the people of the Nicobar Islands, a chain in the Bay of Bengal north of Sumatra. They believe in spirits, ghosts and the soul: when a person dies the soul leaves the body and becomes a ghost. Spirits are blamed for every misfortune, and shamans are called in to deal with the bad ones.

Painted sculptures carry the myth of Nicobarese origins and represent the spirits of living beings, natural elements and even everyday objects. In the houses, the spirits of the family's ancestors live in the sculptures.

The Danish East India Company began European colonisation of the islands in 1754. Moravian missionaries from Tranquebar who tried to settle on Nancowry died in great numbers of disease.