Oraons: The Gotra System (Part-I) In the social structure of the Oraon tribe, the Gotra or Totem system plays very important role.

Among the Oraons, the Gotra system is believed to directly relate to the Great Almighty Lord Dharmesh’s desire to keep the social structure of the tribe pious.

Accordingly, the Gotra means that every single family in the Oraon tribe trace their roots to their ancestors’ respective families, each of these families further traced their roots to their unique Gotra. Each of these unique Gotra simply means that families belonging to the same Gotra do trace their roots to the same family of their unique Gotra. In other words these families are related in the manner equivalent to siblings, tracing back to same roots of single family.

The Gotra System plays a very important role in the matrimonial alliances among the families belonging to the Oroan tribe. It is believed that youngsters belonging to same Gotra are considered to be siblings; hence the marriage in the same Gotra was firmly avoided among the Oraon families. But with the increasing, all pervading and growing influence of and among the Oraon tribes, the Gotra system is losing its significance in the recent years, especially in the forging of the matrimonial alliances.

The important Gotras / Totem of the Oraon tribes are as under: • Aadho : Ox • Alla : Dog • Angal Topo : A type of tree • Amri : Juice extracted from rice • Aind : A snake like fish • Ekka : Tortoise • Argo : Mouse • Oregora : Kite • Oruga : Rat living in agriculture land • Kanda : Root • Kinda : Coconut • Kinduaar : A fish • Kish : Pig • Kishpotta : Tree (Kasayi) (Earlier related to pig) • Kujur : Fruit • Kundri : Vegetable • Kusua : Fish • Keoonda : Fruit • Kane : Fish • Kendi : Tree • Kerketta : Sparrow • Kaithi : Vegetable • Kokro : Chicken Cock • Kosuaar : Fish • Khalkho : Fish • Khakha : Crow • Kheksha : Vegetable • Khes : Rice (Dhaan) • Khoiya : Wild Dog Garwa : Bird (Saras)

Oraons: The Gotra System (Part-II)

The important Gotras / Totem of the Oraon tribes are as under:

• Gadi : Monkey • Gidhi : Vulture • Gisileeh : Bird • Gende : Duck • Godo : Crocodile • Gondarari : Tree • Chilgo : Fox • Chindra : Squirrel (Gilhari) • Jubbi : Source of water • Toppo : Bird with long tail • Tirkey : Small Mouse • Tigga : Monkey • Tirkuaar : Bird • Tirru : Fish • Dhehua : Bird • Panna : Iron • Pusra : Tree (Kusum) • Putri : Tree • Barwa : Wild Dog • Bakula : Bird • Bakhla : Grass • Bando : Wild Cat • Bara : Tree • Vaasaa : Tree • Biaah : Fish • Bekh : Salt • Baandh : Dam to stop river water • Madgi : Tree (Mahua) • Minj : Fish • Manjuniyaar : Creeper • Sanda : Fox • Rori : Tree • Lita : Fish • Lakra : Cheetah • Linda : Fish • Saal : Fish • Halmaan : Big Monkeys

Among the Oraon Tribe, the Gotra is generally the living beings that surrounded our forefathers and each of the families trace their roots to these totems. It is also believed that these auspicious living beings helped our ancestors’ families to come out of the difficult times and as a result the entire generations of the families of a certain Gotra are indebted to them, since time immemorial. The Oraon families accorded a very high respectable position to the above mentioned living beings and non-living beings mentioned above. The hunting of these living beings and / or the cutting of trees / plants are strictly prohibited among the people belonging to the respective Gotra. According to the popular Oraons’ , each of these Gotra / Totem has wonderful positive energy to help its family members in the time of need. Each of these Gotra has legendary story going back to the ancient times, where they had helped their families to overcome hard times. During theJatra festivity, many a time the Oraon families carry the flags bearing the symbols of their respective Gotra. The Oraons believe that their ancestors are always live around and help them in the time of the need.

Oraons & Sarna (Part-I) One of best kept secret about the society is that they have their own religion called Sarna Dharam, majority population of the adivasi community belonging to major tribes of , including, Munda, Oraon, Santhal, Ho, Kharia, etc., numbering in excess of few crores by head count belonging to Jharkhand, follow the most egalitarian and natural religion on earth.

Oraon tribe followed Sarna Dharam, where Sarna means sacred grove. Their religion is based on the oral traditions passed from generation-to-generation. The religion is deeply ingrained in their culture and traditions, respecting the superiority of our natural world and its power. It strongly in one , the Supreme Being, the Great Spirit, the Great One, the Creator, the Mighty Spirit, the one who rules over the entire universe, known as Dharmesh. They strongly believe in Lord Dharmesh’s appearance in Sal trees.

According to Oraon's philosophy, the lord Dharmesh is the most powerful and most important . He is responsible for the creation of our universe including our ancestors besides acting as our protector. Infact the whole world (Universe) is regulated by a superpower that is Dharmesh in Kurukh which simply means the almighty, he is also called Mahaedeo. The great one Dharmesh’s purity demands that he be offered only of things that are white. Hence he is given sacrifices of white goats, white fowls, white gulainchi flowers, white cloth, sugar, milk, etc. White is the sacred colour of Oraon tribe, in fact it is true for most adivasi.

Among the many important , the Chala-pacho Devi (Sarna Devi) is among the most important and most respected deity. The Gram Devi Chala- Pachho is a caring Old age lady with beautifully flowing white hair. It is believed that the Sal tree is the holy abode of the Sarna Devi, the mother that protects and nurtures the Oraon tribe and others. On the occasion of Sarhul festival, the Pahan conducts special puja of the Devi. According to Sarna Dharam, the Devi lives in the wooden soop of Pahan kept at Chala-Kutti place, the auspicious place at Pahan’s home. At Kutti place, one stick made up of Saal wood or Bamboo Wood is fixed on the ground, on this respected wooden soop called Sarna-Soop, the Sarna-Devi resides.

Oraons perform under the Sal trees at a place called ‘Sarna Sthal’, it is also known as ‘Jaher’ (sacred grove); it resembles a small forest patch. In Oraons’ villages, one can easily find the sacred religious place the ‘Sarna Sthal’ that has holy Sal trees and other trees planted at the site. Sometimes the Jaher are located inside the nearby forest area and not in the village.

This Sarna Sthal (Jaher) is a common religious place for the whole village and almost all the important socio-religious ceremonies of the village take place at this place only. These ceremonies are performed by the whole village community at a public gathering with the active participation of village priests known as ‘Pahan’. The chief assistant of village priest is called ‘Pujaar’ or ‘Panbhara’.

Oraons & Sarna Religion (Part-II)

The Sarna people do not have a written code of moral law. Their idea of right and wrong comes from their tradition.

Tradition is their measure of truth. Their way to salvation is the tribe. Oraon tribe is primarily skilled agriculturists, most of the revolved around getting good harvest and well being of their domestic animals. Thus the round of rituals connected with the agricultural cycle, along with life-cycle rituals for birth, marriage and death, it involves offering prayers to the spirits and to the deceased ancestors, with the active assistance of the Pahan.

It is true that the Oraons believe that their lives are greatly influenced by the natural surroundings, - , forces, spirits and many unknown and mysterious forces, including the of their deceased ancestors, who look after their tribe’s interests. Surrounded by the natural world, it is instinctive for adivasi to name their benevolent gods and goddesses on the forests, hills, sun, water, rains, fires, light, etc. The gods and goddess are independent of the material world but he has dominion over the entire universe. They are omniscient, omnipresent, eternal, and compassionate; they always try to help out the humanity. The religion of Oraon is based on their belief in nature and its supernatural power. They have Nature Deities and the Spirits, both divided into broad categories of Benevolent and Malevolent. According to the belief of the Oraon community, the world is inhabited by numerous spiritual beings of different kind; and the Oraons consider themselves as living and doing everything in close association with these supernatural beings.

The ancestors’ spirits called Pitar (Benevolent) and the Iatar (Malevolent), who are also worshipped. According to Oraons’ religious belief, their dead – ancestors’ souls (atma or aikh or naad) reside inPatal Lok, below the earth’s surface. Newly deceased persons’ souls do not want to leave their homes and want to stay close to their family members. Therefore, the Oraons pray to their deceased family member’s to join the family of Pitar (Pach-Balar) at Patal Lok or else it may unite with the family ofIatar and create troubled for not only the immediate family but also the other denizens of the village.

The highly respected Chandi Devi is only worshipped by unmarried male youngsters for achieving success in hunting expeditions. For married male folks, the worshipping of goddess is strictly prohibitated. Among the nature gods, the important one is the Pahaar Raja (Paat-Naad) is considered to be the lord of all the naad belonging to a village; he keeps all these deceased’s souls under his control. It is believed that he resides in nearest mountain situated near the village and protects all the villagers from the diseases, natural calamities, etc. Another nature god is the tree named ‘Mui-Chitkha’, also known as Hazi- Peepar or Baindaa Peepar. It is generally found in almost all the Oraon villages. According to Oraons’ believe, this tree is directly linked to the clouds in the sky, responsible for the rainfall. The village women folks forming a group perform the special puja as per traditions, praying for the rainfalls; the wish is generally granted within couple of days. Oraons & Sarna Religion (Part-III) The Gotras system of Oraon is based on natural totem systems and it is one of the most important social institutions of Oraon tribe.

Gotra system directly influences the marriage and it is believed to be based on Lord Dharmesh’s directions. Gotra in simple words mean a vast family line that can trace back their heredity source to an ancestral foundation of a single family. As the ancestry can be traced to single family, it is believed that Oraon individuals belonging to the same Gotra, they trace their roots to the same family, hence they are considered to be blood relative and the marriage within the same Gotra is strictly prohibitated as it is a basic foundation stone of a tribe.

These Gotras have been derived from the names of animals, the plants and other living things that have helped their families at the time of distress. Every Gotra or a Totem has their own folk-tales and as a mark of respect these animals, plants, etc. are worshipped and are never ever hurt by these families. Few of the important Gotra are: Aind (a fish), Ekka (tortoise), Oregora (Kite), Kujur (a fruit), Kerketta (sparrow), Khalkho (a fish), Khakha (crow), Gadi (Monkey), Toppo (a bird), Barwa (a wild dog), Bakhla (a grass), Minz (a fish), Lakra (Cheetah), Linda (a fish), Bara (a tree), etc.

The majority of the Oraon tribe’s festivals trace their origin in their hunting and the agricultural based economy. These festivals are celebrated in typical adivasi style; they participate in the usual round of traditional kurukh songs, community dancing, harian drinks (rice-beer), feasting, etc.

In the Fagu festival, the Goddess Chandi is worshipped, she is thanked for providing food and other items to the tribe from the forest. It is celebrated during February – March and young oraon participate in the two days long celebrations that include bonfire, dancing, hunting (Fagu-Sendra), etc.

The Sarhul or Khaddi festival is celebrated in March-April every year and it is considered to be the most important festival of Oraons. The Sarhul is also known as Khekhel-Benja, the term Khekhel-Benjameans holy Earth’s marriage with the lord Sun. In traditional Oraon farming community, the marriage of the Sun’s beneficial rays and the Earth’s immense fertility is celebrated. It is the most important festival of Oraon and they the Mother Nature for showering its blessings onto humanity.

One of the important Sarhul songs goes like this: (Kurukh Song) Tela Dasba Gosain, Makka Dasba, Gosain Saareim! Haiyere Khaddi Manout, Hoiyere Fagu Manout, Gosain Saareim.

(English Translation) O God of Keandu Tree, O God of Saal Tree, Fagu God, Sarhul God! O It is Sarhul, O It is Fagu, Fagu God, Sarhul God, Come on, let us celebrate together!

It is a festival of welcoming of new flowers, fresh fruits and other natural produces made available to us. In the ancient times, the Oraon villagers never used to pick new seeds, flowers, fruits, roots, etc. from the forest area for their consumption till the conclusion of Sarhul festival in the village. They believe that it has direct bearing on availability of their food items for them. Oraons & Sarna Religion (Part-IV)

In the month of June-July, the Hariyari Parv is celebrated. In this festival, Pitar, ancestors of Khunt, gods and goddesses are worshipped for increasing the agricultural productivity.

Only after the completion of this festival, the Oraon farmers sow the seeds of food grains like Dhaan, Gondali, Maruwa, or even Kapas. They thank their ancestors for filling our agricultural field with lush green vegetations.

In the month of August, the Kadlota festival is celebrated to protect their agricultural plants from any kind of calamity. In this, the village god and goddesses are worshipped.

Also in the month of August or September, the festival Karma is celebrated, which is as important as the Sarhulfestival. The Karam God is worshipped and this Karam Devta Puja is principally performed by women-folks to make him happy. It is obvious from the numerous Karam festival songs that the sisters pray for the and well-being of their brothers.

Accompanied by the singing of the Karam songs the rituals are performed, (Kurukh Song) Saton Bhaiya Re Saton Karam Garaiye, Saton Bahin Seva Karaiye Koyencha Mein Phool Haath Mein Sindura, Chala Jahu Karam Ka Seva.

The Karam God bestows wealth and happiness and keeps away the bad luck far away from the praying Oraon tribe folks.

On the 12th day of Karam festival, the Jitiya Festival is celebrated, it generally falls in the month of August or September. It is celebrated by the mothers who seek blessings for the safety of the children and their bright future. The mothers follow the difficult fasting and Vrata for the same. In the night of the Jitiya, every family celebrates it with a dinner feast of food and the traditional drink Harian. To pray for the safety and augmentation of domestic farm animals’ wealth of the Oraon families, especially the cattle, Sohrai festival is celebrated in the month of October or November each year by the whole family. These cattle are treated with extra special care and the respect on this day. Each house of the village is lighted with Diyas to celebrate the occasion; the celebration has uncanny resemblance to the Deepawali, one of the important festivals of .

Khara-Puja or Kharihani is last festival to be celebrated in the yearlong celebration by the Oraons. They worship the Naad, ancestors of Khunt, and other spirits to thanks them for the good harvest that has taken place in our agricultural farms. Only after the completion of our Khara-Puja, the Oraon farmers commence the work of cutting, thrashing and sorting of the crop- produces.

The world of any adivasi group is stamped with sacredness, religiosity and reverence for nature; it is also true for Oraon tribe. It is obvious that this eco- came from their hearts. This is the view of the Sarna adivasi people as well. They are totally involved in the world, they communicate with the spirituality that surrounds them. They love nature; they communicate with it and are attached to it. Nature is their way to the supernatural. Otherwise, it is obvious that natural not based on books and exclusive revelations are much more immersed in nature. But they strongly believe that the happenings in their lives, whether they are good-times or the bad-times and natural happenings are not solely dictated by the god almighty or other superior forces. They believe that a man or a woman is perfectly capable of making their own destiny with their relentless hard work and perseverance.

Oraons: Political & Social Institutions (Part-I) It is established historical fact that during the ancient and medieval era, Jharkhand was notionally part of the 'unknown frontier' that remained unconquered and unexplored by the mainland rulers.

Living in isolation, unconquered over many centuries, our ’ ancestor developed our territory into independent, self-governing and the first nations of . Our traditional legal system governed our country and the society.

In an Oraon village, a village headman (Mukhiya) and the village-priest (Pahan) served as a secular head and religious head of the village respectively. The Pahan conducted all types of religious and social ceremonies in the villages; whereas Mukhiya used to look after the day-to-day administrative needs of the village. Villagers in concurrence used to elect both of them for a fixed tenure of few years, to enable them to perform their duties smoothly with the help of other members of village council.

Each of the Oraon villages in a region were loosely formed a part of a greater confederation, so that they could help each other and jointly protect themselves, called Parha organization. The Parha is a confederacy of a number of neighbouring villages with a central organization called Parha Panch. It was kind of a democratic institution consisting of village headman of each of the member villages. Then the village councils of member villages of a Parha Panch used to elects its own Parha Raja. The Parha Raja was not a dictator, the members of the Parha Panchayats used to assist Parha Raja in performing his duties. On every Jatra the meetings of theParha Panch was held and sometimes it used to meet when some kind of emergency case had to be decided.

In each of Oraon Parha Panch, the residents used to choose few villages to perform their assigned duties. The selected villages are given names’ denoting their duties, one of the villages was called the Raja village, second one was called the Dewan village, third one was called Panrey village, fourth one was called Kotwar village, and so on; the remaining villages were called Praja village.

Every village of the Parha had its own distinctive flag and other badges; any other villages could not use them unless ceremonially presented by the village that had the exclusive right over them. The Village council acted as the lowest level Panchayat and the Parha Council acted as a highest body for the resolving the disputes and dispensing justice. Only Parha Panch could sentence a guilty person to be outcaste and a reformed person to readmit back to the community fold. Each village used to co-operate in pursuit of the common objects of the federation. The primary functions of Parha Panch were to uphold the traditional law and order in the allied villages and to protect the member villages.

In a Parha council, the member villages used to participate jointly in their battles, hunting, and numerous social functions including the community feasts, social music and dance events.

We also used to have Inter-Parha groupings. Almost every Parha used to have ‘Dudh-bhaya’ villages, these villages though belonging to different Parha, entered into ceremonial alliances with another Parha. Each of theseDudh- bhaya villages had their share of recognized duties and privileges with respect to other Parha of which it isDudh-bhaya, whether it was peacetime or the wartime. Oraons: Political & Social Institutions (Part-II) Dhankothis (or Grain-golas) was an old Oraon tribe institution that disappeared into thin air.

It had deep roots in the Adivasi economy and formed an important aspect of Adivasiculture. The Village Council used to run these. For Dhankothis, each cultivator contributed a small quantity of paddy per acre of land towards their share capital of Dhankothi, where they stored food-items, for rainy days and other exigencies. One institution that has survived the ravage of time is weekly Bazaar or Haat, in these weekly markets, the people from the neighbouring villages within a radius of 5 to 10 miles, assemble to participate in all kinds buying and selling activities, few items were bartered too. Weekly Haat was more like a modern day club or a shopping mall, where people meet their friends, eat, drink, and make merry.

Every Adivasis living in nearby village eagerly looked forward to these weekly Haat, almost everyone used to turn in their best attire with special preparation like washing, cleaning and dressing them. No doubt, more often than not, even the marriages were negotiated and the cupid used to find its naive victims in these weekly Haat, buzzing with boundless energy, unbridled laughter of innocent Adivasis.

According to our age-old traditions, the marriages have to take place in the season in which people do not have much agricultural work. It takes place between January and April. Besides having leisure from agricultural pursuits, the house are also full of food-grains and it is easy to invite a large number of people on this occasion of marriage feast.

In the ‘lota-panni’ ceremony that precedes marriage, the boy’s guardians have to make substantial presents to the girls and her family, for the respect that they accord to bride who is joining their family post marriage. The bride price has to be given and this is known as ‘Dali-Dhiba’.

Marriage is considered an joyous occasion for the exchange of gifts not only between the couples but also between the families in which marriage is taking place and the kin group of which it is part. When one gets an invitation to attend the marriage of his relative or friends it is the usual practice to take two pots containing four seers of rice beer, some rice, pulses and vegetables.

It is customary for married girls in a village to receive gifts from their parents- in-law on the occasions of Karma, Sarhul and other festivals. On festivals, the gifts are exchanged between friends who form pacts of friendship such as Sahiya, etc. Even at the time of funerals, to help the grieving family, the community used to bring whatever they could afford to help the deceased’s family to help them in their time of grieving.

The Jharkhand was never an exclusive abode of an Oraon tribe, for many centuries, many different types of Tribes shared their home at Jharkhand without ever indulging in blood-spattered war with each other. Amidst extended period as sovereign units and their peaceful existence during these few thousand years, almost each tribe residing inJharkhand developed their unique language, art and culture. But these different Adivasi tribes shared a common thread, likes their unwavering worshipping of their nature gods and their forefathers’ religion, also known as Sarna religion. Oraons: Political & Social Institutions (Part-III) The houses in the villages were built mostly of wood, bamboos and leaves of trees.

In fact, the vast majority of houses are built of mud and the roofs are tiled. On the walls of some of these houses, it is common to find drawings of human beings, horses, elephants and men riding horses, a row of men dancing, etc. Most people keep their clothes and other possessions in a bamboo basket called ‘harka’. Most of the people lived in spacious houses. Almost all the houses have a courtyard and a verandah on all sides. In our houses, one can find a trident and a religious Sarna flag fixed at the courtyard. Most of the houses had separate sheds for cattle located in one corner of the house. The cattle had separate doors built especially for them. Each room of the house is smeared daily with white soil and cow dung to keep it clean.

In almost every Oraons’ villages, one can easily find one or more Akhra (dancing place). Often in each tola of a village, one can find a separate Akhra. We have rich collection of song and related dance traditions; these vary according to the seasons and occasions. In these joyous community festivities, dominated by songs and dance routines, everyone in the village, come together to participate at these akhra, irrespective of their age, gender, and economic status.

One more Oraons’ institution called Dhumkuria were kind of bachelors’ dormitories that worked as a kind of finishing school for the younger generation of Oraon in a village. It has completely disappeared, as it came under vicious attack led by negative propaganda by the people who wanted to attack our society.

We are happy-go-lucky type of race, always finding an excuse to throw a community feasts. These feasts and festivals are expression of their joy over a good harvest or a happy event in his village. Among most of theAdivasis, beef and pork were considered a taboo, but mutton, goat-meat, fowl, and few other birds were considered delicacies.

The ‘Hanria’ drink has an important place in the social system of the Oraons. Whenever a feast is to be given on the birth of a child, marriage or in connection with the funeral, large stocks of Hanria is very important item. It is a cheap drink and in the past it used to add valuable vitamin to our diet. This traditional drink Hanria is prepared by using simple fermentation process and ingredients like rice or mahua, etc; it is low in alcohol content and only after consuming large quantities can one become intoxicated. This popular drink can be easily prepared in the home by means of a very simple fermentation process.

Off-late we have seen that rightly or wrongly the whole Adivasi community have been painted as bunch of ‘drunkard’; the young Adivasis have the added responsibility to erase the irreparable harm done by such judgemental