International Journal of Management (IJM) Volume 11, Issue 11, November 2020, pp. 393-396. Article ID: IJM_11_11_038 Available online at http://iaeme.com/Home/issue/IJM?Volume=11&Issue=11 Journal Impact Factor (2020): 10.1471 (Calculated by GISI) www.jifactor.com ISSN Print: 0976-6502 and ISSN Online: 0976-6510 DOI: 10.34218/IJM.11.11.2020.038 © IAEME Publication Scopus Indexed BURIAL SYSTEM OF THE MISINGS IN MAJULI Punterappun Pegu Majuli, Assam, India ABSTRACT Death is the end of life of any living being. It is the losing of consciousness in this living world. Each culture has its own beliefs about the meaning and purpose of life and to what happens after death. The concept of death is important to human history because it has marked its influence in the importance of living and the ideas of rebirth, Death is involved with various funeral practices, which in turn reflects a wide spread of beliefs and values. The paper is an attempt to study the burial practice of the Misings of Majuli Island and the rituals and beliefs involved with it. Keywords: death, life, human, funeral, beliefs, values, Misings, Majuli, burial. Cite this Article: Punterappun Pegu, Burial system of the Misings in Majuli, International Journal of Management, 11 (11), 2020, pp. 393-396. http://iaeme.com/Home/issue/IJM?Volume=11&Issue=11 1. INTRODUCTION Funeral practices are profoundly ingrained in culture and around the globe it is hugely varied to traditions and reflects a wide variety of beliefs and values. Funeral practices are deep-rooted in culture in and around the world and every culture has its own variations of practice that reflects a particular tradition and belief to honor the dead. Death is a natural phenomenon occurring to every life form of the earth. One born; every living has to die. It is leaving of the conscious world by the spirit and end of life. It is followed by disposal of the dead bodies and funeral rites and practices of funeral rites after the body is disposed. The disposal of human corpse and its practices is deeply considered a religious part of every culture and civilization. Every culture involves different death rituals; however the burial of the corpse is one of the most practiced around the world. The Misings are the second largest indigenous tribe of North-east India and is one community amongst those to observe the burial practices. They ethnically belonged to the Tibeto- Burmese group of mongoloid stock and originally they belong to the same group of tribe comprised of Nyshi, Monyongs, Pa:dams and Pasis, etc. who are found in the district of Siyang and Subanshiri of present Arunachal Pradesh. They migrated down to the plains in search of better economic and social life. The religious beliefs and practices of the Misings are mostly related to worshipping of spirits, nature and ancestor worship. To appease them they http://iaeme.com/Home/journal/IJM 393 [email protected] Punterappun Pegu perform various rituals called ‘uyu’. Thus death rituals are deeply integrated in their traditions and beliefs. Burial is the method of final disposition wherein a dead person or non-human, animal is placed into the ground, sometimes with objects. This is usually done by digging a pit or a trench, and placing the deceased and covering it over with mud. Burial is often seen as indicating respect towards the dead. It has also been used to prevent the odor of the decay of the dead body and to give the family members closure and prevent them from seeing their loved one’s decay. In many cultures it has been seen as a necessary step for the deceased to enter the afterlife or to give back the circle of life. A funeral is a ceremony that accompanies the final disposition of the body. Humans are not the only species which bury their dead. The practice has been observed also in chimpanzees, elephants and possibly dogs. Integrated in their traditions and beliefs (en.m.wikipedia.org>wiki>Burial). After a man dies, the body is buried which is followed by the funeral rites. The rituals involving are different for different tradition all around the globe. 2. OBJECTIVES The objective of the paper is to have a detailed study of the burial practices of the Misings in Majuli and the rituals and practices involved in performing it. 3. METHODOLOGY The study is based on both primary and secondary sources. Primary sources includes, interviews and observations. Secondary sources consist of books, journals, and magazines. 4. DISCUSSION The Mising community mostly resides in villages by the river banks of the Brahmaputra. The villages are divided in mostly into groups. When death occurs in the community the news of the death is announced in a unique way. The person carrying the traditional drum of the community climbs up to the roof of the ‘chang ghar’or stilt house,(traditional house of the Misings) beats the drum in a specific interval facing all the sides of the villages. The announcement reaches to all the people of the villages and the people come up to visit the grieved family. The whole family woos in losing their beloved. The process of burial is preceded with bathing of the dead with warm water, haldi and oil. After bathing, the dead person’s body is clothed (new clothes)in a reverse way. The hair is oiled with scented oil and combed and a cap or a turban (called as ‘paguri’ ) was also made to wore, in case the person wore before. A mat made of bamboo is covered with five pieces of white cloth, called ‘pvtbung’, in Mising, on top of which the body is laid very carefully. To cover the body minimum of five more pieces of white cloths is used. The body is then, packed up in the mat just with the head visible. The villagers prepare the ‘changi’ a bamboo bier (used to carry the corpse). The ‘changi is made by laying two hollow bamboo tubes parallel to each other, on which 5 bamboo sticks are placed horizontally with knots. The knots tied on the bamboos are tied in anticlockwise direction although in their day to day lives knots are tied in clockwise direction. The corpse is carried out with the help of the ‘changi’ from inside the kitchen and kept in the courtyard placing the head toward the west, along with fire burning and incense sticks and waits for people and faraway relatives to come and visit the dead for the last time. The villager and the family members bow down to pray for the departed soul’s eternal peace. The villagers willingly donate some amount of money including betel nuts and betel vine leaf in a way to help the family in performing the last rituals. Meanwhile a wooden coffin known as “roonkook” is prepared simultaneously. Amongst the Misings of Majuli, the dead body is not carried away soon, it is observed and kept for some time, by thus waiting for the far away relatives to see the dead for the last time. http://iaeme.com/Home/journal/IJM 394 [email protected] Burial system of the Misings in Majuli The cemetery of the Misings is known as ‘Aago-Golung’. After prayer, the body is fully rolled up in the bamboo mat and is taken to the graveyard. Placed on top of the changi, the corpse is carried by four persons, either the deceased persons son or close members of the family to the grave. It is followed by all family members and the villagers led by the eldest son or a next of kin carrying a fire torch ahead. In the burial ground, a grave of around 3feet wide, 6 feet long and 5feet deep is dug facing in east-west direction. After the preparation of the grave, the dead is carried around the grave with hymn chanting in anticlockwise direction for 5 times. It is believed that this will prevent the spirits of other men from interfering in repose of the deceased. After this the deceased is placed in the ‘roonkook’ along with the bamboo mat. The knots from the mat are loosening up. The roonkook is very carefully lowered into the grave with the head facing west. After that a piece of wood called ‘golon’ is thrown into the grave followed by throwing in of mud over the grave by family members using their left hand. The villagers help in covering up the rest of the grave. After the grave is filled it is covered in white linen and the four corners of the sheets is stretched and fixed with the help of small bamboo nails. The grave is fenced with a bamboo fence surrounding it in a circle to keep wild animals away from it. Sometimes the belongings of the deceased are left along in the graveyard. A lamp is lit on the grave in a bamboo stick and after a small prayer the people return to their homes. While entering the homes, the persons coming back from the graveyard enters by crossing the fire as it is believed that evil spirits may accompany them back from the burial ground and as it is believed spirits cannot cross fire. The villagers visiting the grave take a bath before entering their homes and purify themselves by holy water or santipani (a mixture of tulsi leaves, grass and oil in some water). The utensils used in the rituals of the dead along with knives, swords and spades are not used and kept aside until the day of ‘Tiloni’(performed on the 3rd day after the dead).