Ex- Guest Faculty

Anthropology

Tata Institute of Social Science

Guwahati  Assam, India 

The religious practice of Oraon Tea Tribe has experienced remarkable changes in course of time in tea plantation environment. Oraon have their own God and Goddess and Supreme Being is termed as Thankur, regard as giver of life, crops and other important aspect of life. During colonial period, the spread of Christianity among Oraon and other tea tribe community brought under the influence of missionaries priest to their migration to Assam. The coming of Christianity has changed the foundation of Oraon and other tea tribe community. During the post-colonial period, the life of tea tribe community has witnessed a drastic change in their social and religious life.

Gaaram puja: During the month of Phagun and Chaitra around the same time as Holi, gaaram puja takes place in tea tribe community. This is the community worship of local spirit and each locality have their own Gaaram site. It’s a belief among Tea Tribe community that Gaaram protects their cows, goats, poultry and their children.

Darha Deshawali:  Darha protects the village people from evil spirit. Darha is the male deity and deshawali is the female deity. They represent the power of Shiv and Parvati and its sacred area is situated within the territory of the village.

Danda Katna: Danda katna is one of the sacred rituals among Oraon. It has its own importance among Oraon. It is performed in the courtyard of the house, family initiating any ceremony they first perform the danda katna ritual which is regarded as sacred for success of any ceremony. 

Karam Puja: Karma is celebrated on Sukhal Paksh in Ekadashi on month of August. Karam gossiyaan is worship during this festival. It is the most prominent festival after the monsoon. In this festival people take blessing from the Karam gossaiyaan for the welfare of the community. After the Karma festival the initiation of the marriage among the boys and the girls can take place.

Khuti Puja: Khuti puja is performed during the month of Fagun. This ritual is performed by the pahan(priest) in a field. This ritual is performed during day time. These ritual performed within 12- 20 years and it is performed only once by the family members and it is mandatory that this ritual have to be performed within a period of 12- 20 years.

Ban Giri:  This ritual is performed before sowing of the seeds. In the ritual lentils, seeds, betel nut and leaf, flowers are important. The pahan(priest) perform the ritual in the name of ancestors for successful harvesting.

Tushu Puja: It is an important festival of tea garden workers of Assam. They worship Goddess Tushu Devi. As per as folk legends, Tushu was daughter of king Kurmi of Gujrat. Tushu Devi is beloved Goddess of Tea Tribe community which symbolizes Sacrifice, Virtue, love and kindness.

Festivals of Oraon Tea Tribe Community

Festivals like Sarhul, Sahari Parab and art forms like Jhumur Dance, Tushu songs etc are identified as the cultural expression of entire tea tribe community. Hindu religious practices permeated into the religious life of Oraon Tea Tribe and other Tea Tribe community through the process of acculturation. The folk songs like Karam songs, Tushu songs and group dance like Jhumur dance which are performed in the course of celebrations gradually became a common cultural tradition of entire tea tribe community. Every year Baiji dance is performed during Durga puja and Kali puja for the entertainment of the community.

Khaliyani Puja: During the month of Aghan after harvesting and when the first grain is brought to the house than it is worshipped in the name of the god and goddess. The pahan arrange the khara puja. In the morning pahan along with some village people goes in search of chicken for sacrifice in the ritual and clean the place with cowdung and water where the rituals would be performed. Arwa rice, knife, vessel of water, oil and vermilion placed in the clean area. The pahan will clean the chicken and prepare a dish with it and sacrifice in the name of god.

Harbora: It is a death ritual to remember the deceased person of the family and worship for the soul to rest in peace.

Sarhul: Among Oraon community Sarhul is one of the prominent festival. Oraon believes in worship of nature and mother earth and sun. The sun is the epitome of power according to their belief and therefore they worship sun and earth in the form of Sarhul festival. For Sarhul the Sarna believers used to belief that mother earth is unmarried women and therefore people do not eat the first blossom fruit or any nature’s creation and they belief that to eat those fruit will be not good for the people. During Sarhul the dried flowers are offered to god.  For Oraon saal tree is the temple for them where Sarna Goddess exist there and therefore Oraon worship the saal tree.

Bhela Phara:  This ritual is done after sowing of the seeds. This ritual is done by pahan in the respective house who wants to perform the ritual. The family member cut the branches of bhela tree for this purpose. Pahan set fire with bhela tree branch and on the fire he puts egg and rice and all the family members pray and take blessings. This ritual is performed for the surplus production of the grains and with a belief that insect will not destroy the grains that they have sown and god will protect their grains from all insects.

Bor Pahari Puja:  Borpahari puja is also known as ‘dangripuja’or ‘bali puja’ and it is performed in the jungle within the boundary of a house.  This is celebrated in any month of a year. In the morning pahan will come to the house where ritual is to be performed and after that pahan will apply rice powder on his both arm. A goat will be sacrificed in the name of male member in the family and females cannot be present in this ritual. After completing the ritual food is offered to the village people and pahan is offered with new clothes and a brass metal pot and this ritual is performed for the welfare of the family.

Devthan:  Devthan is celebrated in the Kartik month of Sukal Paksh in ninth day of the month. In this occasion the dieties are worshipped. In this occasion Oroan gather together and perform the rituals and in some places fair is organized. In this time sweet potato is seasonal fruit which the people enjoy. The guests are welcomed in the festival and share their joy with each other.

Achari: This ritual is performed during the month of Jeth. The head of the family perform this ritual. In this ritual goat is sacrificed in the name of Dharmesh God. This ritual is performed in the courtyard of the house and ritual is performed for the wellbeing of the family members and the entire village.

Marriage Rituals Among Oraon Tea Tribe Community

Boitha Khana: in this ritual the elders shower blessings to bride and the groom for the better future with songs on their marriage day.

Natua:  There is custom named Natua where Natua would dress like a King in the marriage. The Natua perform dance holding sword in one hand and shield in the other hand. Such dance performance are rarely seen among the Tea Tribe Community.

In maintaining social solidity and structure religion plays a very important role among Oraon. Religion is an inherent part for the constitution of the society and helps in controlling the social behavior of the society. The nature of social relation and the communication is greatly influenced by religious activities. Among Oraon social position of the individual in a society is primarily determined by role performances in certain religious ceremonies. The religious festival celebrated by Oraon are divided into two groups, some festivals are traditional while others are of regional tradition adopted by them. In socio-religious life of Oraon the religious belief and superstition plays a critical role and they also belief in evil spirit and ghost.  The people believes that some person have extra-ordinary power to tame the evil spirit and ghost. The priest plays a very important role in socio-religious life of Oraon and is generally known as ‘pahan’. Traditionally Oraon belief that any outbreak of plague is due to the discontentment of spirits and in such cases the priest sacrifice animal to propitiate the concerned spirit. Oraon accord great importance in propitiating ancestors and belief that well-being of the family depends on the wishes of the ancestors. In family rituals eldest male person perform the rituals and female are prohibited to perform the rituals. Oraon perform various agricultural rituals for the better production of paddy. The wish of mankind to germinate seeds in the body of Mother Earth is symbolically expressed by the Oraon through the rituals of Karam festival. Apart from traditional activities Oraon perform Laxmi Puja, Bihu and Holi. The importance of performing Kali puja plays a very important role in socio-religious life of Oraon. There are different rites which are performed in three phases of life- birth, marriage and death and this is known as rites of passage which provide a proper understanding of society and culture of Oraon

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