Culture

Festivals, Sarna and the akhra β€” where the language lives

Mundari is not only spoken, it is also sung and danced. πž“›πž“Ÿπž“›πž“Ÿπž“¨ Susun means song, πž“‘πž“Ÿπž“£πž“•πž“” duraΕ‹ means dance, and the πž“•πž“’πž“žπž“£πž“• akhra in the middle of the village is the open ground where the whole village gathers on festival nights.

Community members with sal flowers at the Sarhul festival
Sarhul β€” the festival of flowers, when new sal blossoms are offered at the Sarna grove.

Sarna and Singbonga

The traditional religion of the Munda community is Sarna β€” its centre is the sacred grove of trees near the village (the sarna / jaher), not a temple building. The village priest, the πž“‘πž“•πž“žπž“•πž“¨ Pahan, worships the village deities (πž“žπž“•πž“πž“Ÿ πž“—πž“πž“”πž“¦πž“•πž“’πž“ Hatu BoΕ‹gako) and the spirits of the ancestors. The supreme deity is πž“›πž“šπž“”πž“—πž“πž“”πž“¦πž“• Singbonga β€” the Sun god.

A translation warning: πž“—πž“πž“”πž“¦πž“• boΕ‹ga means deity / spirit / power β€” do not simply replace it with the monotheistic word β€œGod”, and never call a Sarna grove a β€œtemple”.

πž“›πž“•πž“£πž“žπž“Ÿπž“’Sarhul / Baha Parab

March–April Β· the festival of flowers

New sal flowers are offered at the Sarna grove; the new year and spring are welcomed.

πž“’πž“•πž“£πž“•πž“§Karam

August–September

Unmarried young people bring a Karam branch and sing and dance all night, wishing prosperity for the village.

πž“§πž“•πž“¦πž“€Mage Parab

Paush full moon Β· January–February

A festival of remembering and honouring the ancestors.

πž“›πž“πž“žπž“£πž“•πž“šSohrai

October–November

Lamps are lit, the cattle shed is washed and decorated, and rice-beer (πž“šπž“’πž“š ili) is sprinkled.

πž“‘πž“žπž“•πž“¦πž“ŸPhagu

February–March

A festival of communal hunting and colours β€” its time falls around Holi.

Remembering the Ulgulan

1899–1900 Β· Birsa Munda

Birsa Munda's great uprising (the Ulgulan) still lives on in the language and its songs; it was because of it that the Chotanagpur Tenancy Act, 1908 was made. The Mundari place-name endings β€” -πž“žπž“•πž“πž“Ÿ, -πž“—πž“€πž“£πž“•, -πž“¦πž“Ÿπž“πž“Ÿ, -πž“πž“£πž“• -hatu, -bera, -gutu, -ora β€” still mark the old Mundari land on the maps of Jharkhand today.

Dense sal forest β€” sacred nature like a Sarna grove
The sal forest β€” the sacred nature of the Sarna groves, from which Mundari's nature words stay alive.
View of a Munda village, houses and courtyard
The πž“žπž“•πž“πž“Ÿ hatu (village) β€” where khuntkatti (the hereditary land rights of the original settlers) and the Munda–Manki system still run the village.