SARHUL Fe s t i v a l o f t h e M u n d a s
ANUPAM PURTY
SARHUL Festi va l o f the M unda s
The Munda drums.
SARHUL Festi va l o f the M undas
A compilation by
Anupam Purty Project guide: Shilpa Das
Disclaimer:
Sarhul: Festival of the Mundas Author: Anupam Purty
in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or by any information storage and retrieval system, without written permission from the author, except for the inclusion of
First Edition, 2012
Designed at: Paldi, Ahmedabad- 380 007
Contents
Preface 01 03 05 08 13 14 14 16 20 22 23 25 28 31
Preface
assignment, I never imagined that I would be doing promotional posters for the festival of ‘Sarhul’, which is widely celebrated with enthusiasm and vigour by the tribals on the festival, I discovered that it was incomplete without Belonging to the aforementioned tribe; I was astonished that
the Scheduled Tribes of India which entitled me to some me an opportunity to immerse myself in an endeavor to
It was a launchpad for me and after that I read and referred prior attempts at documenting the Munda tribe and cultures I found that they are pertinent to only the people who have
After an exhaustive year of unending research, I found proved to be so vast that I had to leave out some of the
didn’t allow me to gather all the necessary visuals on ground through
This publication would not have been possible if I didn’t have Shilpa Das Munda has played an important role in doing all the travelling and research
- Anupam Purty
Introduction
so-called aborigines of India is one of those obscure tracts
written records to enlighten us and yet these are the people whose remote ancestors were masters of Indian soil, whose doings and sufferings, whose joys and sorrows once made of historical traditions regarding the antiquities of these Few, if any, chapters are allocated to these people in the
The Kolarian aborigines of India are said to be the earliest dwellers of this subcontinent, and the Munda tribe a typical representative of them; who now inhabit the highlands originally lived in the hilly regions along the Aravalli and
Mundas, immigrated into India from the now submerged
The earliest glimpses we catch of the ancient Mundas in the light of tradition reveal them as leading a pastoral existence
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Munda lands according to their oral tradition.
established their own villages , just as we see their latter day descendants doing even so now in the south-eastern parts of the Ranchi District of
Munda dominated areas at present.
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Story of Creation
to the ‘Sources of Time’, and solve the eternal mystery of creation, have originated the many crude cosmogonic myths of the earliest tribes of India, Australia, Africa,
cosmogonic legends are the outcome of man’s ambitious Whatever be the historical value of these cosmogonic myths of early man, it is certain that the creative fancy of man has had a hand, more or less exclusive, in weaving these legends
The Mundas, though not rich in traditions regarding their prehistoric migrations, still recount a few legends which may
The most valuable of Mundari mythical legends opens with the creation of the earth, and runs as follows: Sing-Bonga, the Great Spirit, brooded over the waters and Hai Horo’ or tortoise, a ‘Karakom’ or crab and a ‘Lendad
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from the deep, and with this clay, Sing-Bonga made this beautiful land of
Hodo’- the men, as the Mundas
are other stories also which concern themselves with creation but this is the
The crab, the earthworm and the tortoise infront of the Almighty formless spiritSing Bonga. An artist’s interpretation of the creation story.
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Gods and Deities
The religious beliefs of a Munda is altogether different from society itself is heaven and being ousted from the society assumes the form of a spirit, the spirit whom the Mundas Umbul Ader the ancestral spirits are greatly revered and worshipped by
watch on them and none of their actions should anger their Apart from the above mentioned ancestral spirits, the Mundas also believe that the earth has other invisible spirits
–Sing-Bonga (literally and in reality the Great Spirit) – is
the Munda when, before every meal, he puts down on the
The second class of spirits are the presiding spirits of the village- the ‘Hatu Bongako
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Sarnas In some Munda villages, only a small clump of ancient trees now represents
The third class of spirits are the spirits of the household- the ‘Ora Bongako’ head of every Munda family worships these household spirits in the ‘Ading’ gods and the household gods are considered as Manating Bongako of the the religious scholars and preachers that the Mundas are worshippers of malevolent deities whose business is to bring drought, disease, and death might have arisen from confounding these two classes of deities who are Banating Bongako’ or spirits who require to be appeased earth bound spirit of some deceased member of a family haunts his old
Buru Bonga’ (the spirit of the hills) and the ‘Ikir Bonga
good, but when an individual Munda, family or a village offend them, these spirits are roused to mysterious activities and have then to be propitiated by the village Pahan.
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The Sarna.
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Traditional Dresses Attire worn during social functions and festivals (relatively modern dress).
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The traditional dress of the Mundas, before the days of modern dhoti.
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Dress worn by the Munda women on a daily basis in and around the house.
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Dress worn by the Munda women on a daily basis in and around the house. this dress is older and more prevalant among young girls.
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Songol Paria(name of the saree) was given as the bridal saree by the groom’s mother, worn usually in marraige ceremonies.
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Festivals
The purpose behind the rituals observed during festivals is to renew the relationship between the creator and the creation, and to preserve , promote and continue it such occasions, for the time being, the tribesman stops his regular day-to-day life as he reviews and evaluates his
differently, the culmination of one community observance ground, on the last day of the festival has both; the farewell song of the passing and the welcome song for the coming
usually consists of ‘erasing’ of the dance ground, signifying depending on the locality, the routine is roughly the same Baa/Baha (Sarhul), Karam, Mage, and Sohrai Apart from these major festivals there are Buru, local
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SARHUL: The Festival of Nature
Baha/baa
By extension, Sarhul is the welcoming of nature in its new
use them in any way before the village priest or Pahan has his home, puts a new cowdung plaster, buys new clothes, and renews his relations by visiting relatives on this very
The Sarhul Story in Brief Bindi, the only daughter of Mother Earth, one day did
After a long search news came that Bindi was with the God of Death that Bindi was the only daughter of Mother Earth
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Mother nature with her daughter Bindi after she returns back from the underworld. An artist’s interpretation of the Sarhul story.
that case and the whole creation would come to an end, the God of Death -
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Procedure: Phagun (the second lunar month) in Bengal and lasts till the full moon of Vaishakh or the full moon day of the month with minor differences - the festival is
earth was created after having been brought to the surface from underneath
village Pahan, along with his assistants, goes to the village's sacred grove and sweeps the place of worship, which is normally next to a big Sal tree
feet are washed, and the villagers escort the priest to his house, and then the village dance ground and a programme of song and dance ensues lasting The second day by noon people go for bathing and they clean and all together leave for the sarna/jaher, the "sacred grove" along with the materials required for the ceremony - a new winnowing fan, unboiled rice,
places, the Pahan instructs his assistants to respectfully bring a few branches the village, the Pahan announces their assessment of the rains in the coming
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Pahan offering prayers at the sarna.
All rituals have the earth as their focus as she is the primary source of survival and security for the tribesmen, whether it is the seed sowing the prayer words used by the Pahan and his associates is approximately as follows*:
Four corners, ten directions, The earth extending far,
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Plants and trees, animals and birds, They are all your creation, They are all supported by you, Today, on this day of Sarhul, Today, on this day of festivity, We, your children, we, your off-spring, We invite you, we call upon you, A cup of rice beer,
The hill spirits of the hill, The forest spirits of the forest, The water spirits of the deep, Who protect our wealth, Who give success at hunt,
The village spirits of the village, The house spirit of the house, The path you made, the road you showed,
A cup of rice beer,
You who have come here,
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You who have arrived here, We sitting with you, We seated with you, To you gods, to you goddesses, We offer a prayer,
May they grow day by day,
Jealousy among us, Anger and greed among us,
whichever direction they may come from, From you gods, From you goddesses, We expect these things, Johar! Johar! Johar! Johar and with this begins - with the initiative of the priest - the sequence of song
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village youth get together at the dance ground- Akhra, on the fourth day in the name of "erasing" the dance ground and the programme of music and dance is resumed which goes on, depending on the staying power of the
Explanation of the Symbolism: The entire ritual process has the potential of a successful repetition of the
longevity it is said, "thousand years standing, thousand years lying, thousand
The Sal tree
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fragrant atmosphere, ‘bathing’ it, clothing it, beautifying it, offering it food
People greeting each other with Johar.
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Dance and Songs
All the distinct Mundari religious festivals have each of Mundari songs and dances are the Mage or Jarga, the Jadura, the Japi and the Lahsua or Karam and songs begin from after the Sohrai festival in Kartik Kolom Sing Bonga and the Mage festivals in Aghan or Poos The songs and dances of the last fortnight or so are specially festival in Chait
the Mundas have a cycle of dances and songs all the year
different postures of the body in dancing, into two classes – the Tingu Susun-ko (standing dances) and the Ungud Susun-ko into the Nir Susun (running dance) and the Tingu Susun
which the dancers move at a more moderate speed; in a circle in the former, and in a straight line in the latter, are
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Tingu susun-ko (standing dances)
Nir susun-ko
Tingu susun-ko
(running dances)
proper
Jadur
Gena and Japi
Ungud susun-ko (stooping dances)
Lahsua
In some of the dances, we have pantomimic representations of agricultural Arandi Susun-ko) is the Dom-kach religious exultation or the pleasure of the performance alone that prompts
How to dance
1. Jadur dance steps.
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2. Gena dance steps.
3. Japi dance steps. Short tap on the ground.
4. Lahsua dance steps.
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Sarhul: In the Present Context
Being the most important festival for a Munda, Sarhul holds
Ever since the early days, on the occasion of Sarhul, Mundas from one village used to go to their neighbouring ground for a couple of hours and move on to the next
the previous year, the Mundas restrengthen their unity
laundering, land grabbing ‘Dikus’- exploiters of the present, the Mundas’ unity has been tested time and again, and it
the Santhals nowadays celebrate ‘Collective Sarhul’ where tribals from all over the city come down to one place to seems to be dancing on the tunes of Dhulki, Mandar and Nagara, the streets are thronged with dancers and musicians, attired in their traditional dresses, all going to Siramtoli,
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The Akhra at the Tribal and Regional Languages Department in Ranchi which also has a Sarna.
proverb- ‘Senge susun, Kajige durang Although being a tribal festival, Sarhul is not restricted to a particular section of the Indian society since people from other community- the parts of the region with similar dance procession being held in the towns
With so many people getting together at one place to share joy, a Munda him, he gets the assurance that his honest spirit, his straightforward nature his ancestors’ teaching of being true to oneself and protect his home— the
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Glossary
italics and
A Ading— sacred place inside a Munda house for worship Akhara— a community dance ground Arandi— marriage
B Baa/ Baha Bonga— a spirit Banating Bongako— earth-bound malevolent spirits of persons who died a violent or unnatural death and have to be propitiated
D Dhuki Dom-kach— a form of dance, practised during marriages
G Gena— a form of dance, danced usually during the festival of Sarhul
H Hai Hatu Bongako— village spirits
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Hodo— men Horo— a tortoise
J Jadura— a form of dance, danced usually during the festival of Sarhul Johar— Greetings Jaher— Portion of the village jungles reserved for worshipping of the Japi particular season for this dance Jarga— another name for Mage
K Karakom— a crab Karam
L Lahsua— form of dance famous in the present western Munda areas (Torpa, Simdega) Lendad— an earthworm
M Mage Mandar Manating Bongako worshipped
N Nagara— a big semi-spherical drum Nir Susun— Dance in which the steps are fast and the dancers appear to be
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O Ora Bongako— household spirits
P Pahan— the village priest/ any person who presides over sacred rituals
S Sarna— Portion of the village jungles reserved for worshipping of the Jaher Senge susun, kajige durang Sohrai
T Tingu susunko stand)
U Umbul Ader bring in Ungud susunko
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Bibliography The Mundas and their Country. Ba(ha) Bonga/ Sarhul Mantra Adidharam Adidharam edition).
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Graphic Design at the National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad. His interests are illustration, poster design, typography and branding. He is very passionate about the history of the Munda tribe and its culture, to which he himself belongs. He, along with his cousin and friend Gunjal Ikir Munda work together on spreading awareness about the indegenous people of Jharkhand and its rich culture among the youth. This publication is their small attempt in this direction.