13 Chapter 8.Pdf

'Man makes religion, religion does not make man' said Karl Marx in 1843. Religious behaviour has always held a great mystery and concern for the ethnologists and especially when it impinges on social activity area. The main point here is to understand various ways in which the 'religious behavious involves or is involved by other aspects of social existence’ (Clammer, 1983:79). In using Radhakrishnan's (1939:21) words 'Religion is not so much a revelation to be attained by us in faith, as an effort to unveil the deepest layers of man's being and get into enduring contact with them'. The Son Kolis are very partial towards religion. Their life even today is supported by and moulded to stand on a firm footing by rituals and beliefs. Here we shall examine in some detail the role of belief systems, rituals and ceremonies of Son Kolis as adaptive strategies to their environment. Thus the main interest here is not in the origin of religion, but to try and understand 'the historical, structural, casual or functional relationships which exist between the particular religion or defined aspect of it, and the relevant aspect of the social organisation'(Clammer, 1983:87). This helps to comprehend the totality of behaviour. The Son Kolis exist on the narrow boundary of animism and Hinduism. Though included in the fold of Hinduism,they can be comfortably placed at a 'non-sanskritic'{Babb, 1970:137-48) level. I.e. centered around non-brahmanic priesthood and regional lore and usage. aia. Apart from a number of vedic deities, numerous non-vedic elements play an important role in the lives of the Son Kolis. They have belief in kuldevatas, vira (hero worship), gramdevatas (village gods), spirits and magic, and are very superstitious. The kuldevatas could be male or female as is the case here. Many scholars believe that they are mostly females. The worship of kuldevata today has been adopted by higher classes from the sudras and the lower classes among whom they considered to be the principal house gods (Joshi, 1890:202). The kuldevatas of the Son Kolis are the god Khandoba and the goddess Ekvira. The lives of the Son Kolis revolve around them. Not a single step is taken without their permission. This is sought by breaking a coconut and giving it to them as maan. These principal deities alter in form to correspond to the various contexts of life. 'In some contexts particular deities are seen as discreet entities, and under other circumstances, deities merge with one another and their characters blend' (Clammer, 1983:87). The Son Kolis are basically Saivite,but now the worship of Krsna and Rama also play an important role in their lives. They also have a love for pilgrimage and visit Benares, Nasik, Tuljapur, Jejuri, Lonavala, Pandharpur, Shirdi, etc. The proof of these journeys undertaken hangs in the form of pictures of these places at the entrance to the house along with those of Bhavani, Hanuman, Saibaba, Santoshimata and, at times, even the deified saints. Along with this they have also adopted the common fasts Fij 8 >1. F\q .8.0-, ViV, and festivals of the Hindus and they usually ask a brahmin to officiate as a priest. Even so the basic essence of their religion remains animistic and the development of the mother goddess and male deity retains its prominence. In the devqhar (room of the gods. Fig.8.1) of the Son Kolis the most prominent of all are the silver plaques that portray their main deity, i.e. Vira, Ekvira and Khandoba. These silver plaques, in a more defined form, recall the seals and amulets of the Indus Valley Civilization. Miniatures of such seals are even today used by most religions and communities all over the world in the form of armlets, amulets and even pendants which are supposed to protect the person from the evil spirit. The worship of Vira , Ekvira and Khandoba represents the three steps in the evolution of religion from spirit worship to that of mother goddess and finally the male deity. We shall now take into account how the adaptative function of religion among the Son Kolis, in satisfying the desire for attainment of goals, provides them with a moet important basis for social, economical and political stability. VIR OR IRA: The worship of Vira or Ira amongst the Son Kolis symbolizes the first step in the evolution of religion, namely ancestor worship/hero worship. Vir is a term adopted in Marathi from Sankrit,and in both languages means a hero. The wonderous cycle and mystery of birth, ripening youth and death of all forms of existence on earth has so deeply concerned mankind since early times that it has led him to conjure and build up various supports. One of them is worshiping that what one could not define, and one of the first form of reverence was directed towards the worship of the dead, or ancestor worship. As Herbert Spencer acknowledged, 'ancestor worship (in its broadest sence) is the root of all religion.'(Spencer,1893). Death holds untold fears and some measures have to be taken to offer some security to the living relatives. This dread intensifies when the deceased is in his prime and thus has failed to fulfil the duties for which he was born,viz. marriage and perpetuation. Thus Hero worship or the worship of Ira or Vira was "especially true of those who died in a particular way (accident) ... No amount of love for a living individual will, if he or she has died from any such cause, prevent the living from talking urgent measures to rid themselves of the malevolent influences likely to be exerted by these departed souls."(Anderson,1950: 12). This is but one explanation. Another reason ascribed is the heroic act. 'The emotions behind the heroic act are, firstly, integrity, loyalty to a cause or to mother earth, self sacrifice and daring, all these to an exceptional and spectacular degree ... memorials to them, therefore, had been a fairly consistent practice.'(Soundarajan,19 82:59). According to the Son Kolis, Ira represents sysmbolically the memory of family members who were lost tragically at sea, or died unnatural deaths, or as bachelors. Such memorial stones are found also amongst the sailors and fishing communities along the coastal regions of Kutch and Saurashtra. When a sailor died 'an unnatural death due to cyclone, or shipwreck, his relatives installed a memorial stone in which a ship with a sailor or sailors is depicted'(Jain, 1982:85). In recent years, more often a horse rider is portrayed. It could also be that by braving the sea he showed his courge (virya) in his duty (fishing) and had thus immediate access to god. The horse rider also suggests a warrior (Sonthiemer, 1982:274). Thus this is more of a family affair. And by keeping memorial stones and plaques and offering prayers and yearly appeasement to the Ira the Son Kolis : (i) keep alive the memory of the dead; (ii) offer security to the living relatives; and (iii) appease the spirits of the dead, lest their shades may cause evil spells. There is a belief amongst the Son Kolis that if one regularly worships the Ira, the Ira rewards him with a good catch of fish. And even as the individuals and names are forgotten, the memory of the Ira is remembered and revered in its symbolic form. "We constantly hear that the departed, the fathers, the ancestors, the heros,are admitted to the society of the gods, they are often called half gods, they may at times claim even a certain equality with the gods. But the gods are always there before them, and even when their individual names are forgotten, there is a general concept of deity to which the ancestral spirits aspire."(Muller, :123) . These symbolic representations are either in the form of sticks or blocks of wood, and dried coconut. These symbols of Vira (Fig.8.2) are never in the devghar . They accupy a corner of the room away from the devghar. According to Rajlakshmi (1962:4) the sticks are an embodiment of the male ancestors who passed away 'in war or accidents in sea'. These sticks are of sag (teak) and may vary from 10 cm to 16 cm in length. They are rather crude in appearance.A tiny brass cow-bell is tied to every stick at the top by a thin chain of either silver or iron. The sticks are fixed on a wooden plank in the holes carved thereon, and this wooden plank is hung against a wall or kept on any high platform. She further goes on to say that there is always a full coconut (without the fibers removed) placed along with the virs. These are believed by some Kolis to symbolize Vetal,the sea god. At times strips of cloth are tied to the tops of the sticks, And the fluttering of its ends denotes that the spirits are restless as does the tinkling of the bells. The coconut and the sticks are normally dusted with bhandar (termuric powder). Thus a kinship pattern can be observed between Ira, Vetal and Khandoba (the association of Khandoba, Vetal and bhandar will be seen later in this chapter). In short,we could say that heros are somehow associated with battle, whether it be on land or at sea. And Vetal is none other than the protector at sea,as the sea god and also as the leader of the spirits and bhutas (ghosts) and an associate of Mahadev (Kosambi, 1962) Women, who died when being pregnant, are also at times worshipped,but anointed with Sindoor (Vermillion) and green bangles.

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