Situated much away from the main land are the heart of the sea, the islands have very rich flora and fauna. The tribal people exploit these natural resources of food from the forest, the beach and the sea. They do not have the knowledge of any metal use and textile. Traditionally they decorate their body with indigenous paints, cowries, shells of various sea oysters.

Economic Pursuit:

Lifestyle: These people did not know to produce fire but did preserve fire obtained from natural sources. They learnt the method of producing fire by friction of wood (drilling from the people of Mayanmar). Now a days they have started using match boxes obtained from the government sources bun not plentily available.

Village or Habitation:

Marriage:

People who live with nature develop a kind of relationship with it, beyond the physical reality. The nature is animated. The hill peaks, streams and trees not only have life but also are the abode of supernatural powers in the form of god and goddess. The tribal and neighboring non-tribal people, who are less benefited by the technological facilities, keep more faith in nature. For these reasons they seek blessings of the supernatural powers, delivered to the needy by some mediating persons. These individuals are believed to have acquired special powers, either through rigorous learning or divine authorization at certain times. To science-dependent communities, this practice is known as Occultism. These practices are on the border of religion and magic.

The present report is based on such practices in a village of the Bhuiyan tribe, near the district town Keonjhar in Orissa, India. The Bhuiyan is one of the major tribes of Orissa and occupy an expansive area, both on the hills and in the plains. Although they have their own system of beliefs and modes of propitiation, those living near the non-tribal habitation have inducted many Hindu gods and goddess. It can also be argued otherwise, that many tribal rituals and beliefs have been incorporated into Hindu religion. Thus, 'Mangala' is a goddess propitiated by the Hindu, as the benevolent divine power. This 'Mangala' goddess appears through a Bhuiyan pious woman to do benefit to the persons who repose faith on the goddess with deep devotion. To the people it is not magic but kindness of the supernatural's divine power.

An elderly woman received a divine power in her dream. Goddess 'Mangala' asked the lady to attend to various problems of people by invoking Her blessings. She resides in a 'Neem' (Azadiachta) tree near by. The lady woke up and searched for the tree. She found a small sapling and identified as per indication. This 'neem' tree has now grown to height and the villagers have erected a small room, under it for worship and other activities.

The woman occasionally invokes 'Mangala' and sinks into trance. She maintains austerity and is assisted by some devoted persons. Persons, (not only of Bhuiyan tribe community but others also) seeking relief from their problems come to the woman for getting an answer or suggestion. What she tells, are the words of the goddess, spoken through her. She represents Mangala and as a result, is addressed as "Maa" or Mother.

The temple of Mangala has come up with the help of the Hindus of the area.The Brahman priest carries on regular worship. During the statewide observation of 'Pana Sankrati' (mid-April), Mangala is worshipped in a grand way with three-days 'yangna' or lighting holy fire. Seven earthen pots, decorated and filled with water, are installed and worshipped. The whole area becomes festive. Many younger persons, who maintain austerity for the period, may get divine power. After immersion of the pots at the end of the festival, the trance condition is over. But the "Maa" (Mother) eternizes the power.

Some of the Problems for which the people come to Maa:

• Seeking cure from chronic illness

• Relieves from severe burn or injury

• Relief from chicken pox

• For getting a child by a couple

• For getting a son after successive daughters

• For successful wedlock of daughter

• Success in examination or interview for job

• Escape from mental agony and social problems

• Rescue from effects of witchcraft by the enemy.

Beside these, many people seek the help of Maa for many complex problems.

Curative Action:

The power-posed woman (Maa) listens to the miseries of the persons and acts accordingly, by invoking the goddess Mangala. The prescriptions have specificity and generalized actions. Tuesdays are very auspicious for initiating actions.

In case of medical problems, she herself performs puja (worship) and also asks the person to observe some practice. In these cases, she plucks some leaves of the sacred 'neem' and asks the victim to use it either in extract or paste from to be consumed or applied on burn/ pox affected surface. In other cases, the Maa will propitiate in their names with 7 betel nuts, vermilion and uncooked rice, candling a lamp in he temple. The affected person is also advised to offer edible materials to Mangala.

	An interesting observation during my work was that a young couple came to Maa for offering gratitude after giving birth to a baby removing the social disruption of barrenness.

Similarly, many persons have got positive results, which has increased their faith in the action of the supernatural power through this medium of 'Maa'.

In the absence of scientific or rational ways of curing or solving problems of wide range, the Bhuiyan and non-tribal rural people, fall back upon the divine unseen power as remedial measure. The boundary between ethnic group becomes obscure, when people are in distress.

News Paper Clippings

26th December 2004. It was the turn of the sea to jump; a great spectacle of deluge after a night long dance to the tune of Christmas. So much life in the previous day sucked into the waves never to return. Impossible it was to escape a mass of water as high as a palm tree rushing at a speed of 700 Kmph. This is Tsunami a japanese name for harbour waves. These waves were triggered by an earth quake of an intensity about 9 on the Richter scale which occurred at 6.29 AM of 26th December 2004 off the coast of Aceh province on the nothern Indonesian island of Sumatra. These waves moved North into the Andaman islands. This earth quake is said to be the fifth largest earth quake since 1900.

This earthquake globalised the disaster. Tsunami struck Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia, SriLanka, India, Maldives, of South Asia, reached Somalia, Kenya, Tanzania and Seychelles of eastern Africa and made the west coast of South and North America feel its effect. Scientists say the earthquake has shaken the planet Earth, made it wobble on its axis. They suspect the islands of the south west coast of Sumatra might have moved to the south west. They are afraid that the map of Asia might have changed. Tsunami is nothing new in Nature. It has been occurring and will be occurring. The scientists fear 'an erupting volcano in Spain's Canary islands could unleash a mega Tsunami larger than any in recorded history'. If it occurs, 'a wall of water upto 55 yards high would crash into the Atlantic sea board of the USA flattening everything in its path'- predict British and US academics.

Tracing the Terror Of Tsunami

Dec. 26. The unprecedented tsunami strike in South Asia worked like a monster suction pump taking in everyone and everything in its path that spanned at least 4,000 km.

Expert Speak:

CHENNAI Dec. 26. - The tsunami that hit the coastal districts of South India is a rare phenomenon created in

Dec. 28. North and South America felt tsunami's effect today as it moved eastwards over North and South Pacific Ocean.
It moved exactly in the opposite direction from Sumatra, through the Indian Ocean, to crash into the eastern coasts of Africa, with water rising over 10 feet.
Tsunami also struck the coasts of Cocos Island, Kenya, Mauritius, Reunion and Seychelles. It crossed into the Pacific Ocean and was recorded along the west coast of South and North America," US Geological Survey's web update said. This overtakes the 1960 Chile tsunami, in terms of making its presence felt right around the world.
As the tsunami reached new areas, the worst affected is Somalia, 6,000 km west of Sumatra. The Somali President said today that entire villages and coastal towns were swept away.
The Jamaica Observer said, waves traveled 3 km inland, along riverbeds, in some parts of Somalia.
The tsunami effect forced Kenya to close down all beaches. The situation was similar in Tanzania, 7,200 km from the epicenter, where several low-lying areas are flooded. One person had died and nine were reported missing from Seychelles, north-east of Madagascar, 6,500 km from Sumatra, the International Herald Tribune reported.

Dec. 27. The collision between the India and Myanmar plates snapped over 1,000 km in the Earth's crust beneath the sea floor, moving the Myanmar plate 40 feet over the Indian plate causing a series of earthquakes that continued today. Forty feet is the height of a standard four-storied building.
The quake changed geography. "The magnitude 9.0 earthquake moved the entire island of Sumatra about 100 feet to the southwest, pushing up a tsunami that devastated shorelines around the Indian Ocean and the South China Sea," The Los Angeles Tunes reported, quoting seismologists.
Today, a 6.3 Richter quake rocked Sumatra at 3.09 p.m. Earlier, at 6.20 a.m. (1ST) a 6.1Richter quake shook the Andamans. Since the first quake, a staggering 32 aftershocks have hit the region, 18 of them in the Andaman & Nicobar Islands alone. The worst, 7.3 Richter hit Nicobar at 9.51 a.m. yesterday and the least, 5.4 Richter, hit the Andamans later that day at 5.30 p.m., according to the US Geological Survey which is monitoring Asia's seismic activity in real time. Tsunami also slammed eastern Africa. In Somalia, 14 were reported killed.
"Off the west coast of northern Sumatra, the India plate is moving in a north-eastward direction at about 5 cm per year relative to the Burma plate", their website said.
The Christian Science Monitor best described the tsunamis triggered by the quakes: "The sudden shift in plate-boundary heights was like slapping the underside of a full pail of water".
University of Southern Californias Professor Costas Synolakis and tsunami researcher said this was the first tsunami in the Indian Ocean since 1883. "Because of its magnitude the whole Earth would be ringing like a bell for a long time. That will be like a gigantic medical CT scan, allowing researchers to study the structure of Earth's interior in detail," he said.

Kolkata, Dec. 28: How are the Jarwas, Ongis and Sentenelese tribes doing? Could the six aboriginal tribes have survived the killer tsunami waves that slammed the Andaman and Nicobar islands?

'THEY ARE SAFE':

Paris: The most dramatic seismic shock in more than 40 years made the earth wobble on its axis and permanently changed the geology of the surrounding area, scientists say it was like "flicking a top", said Paul Tapponnier. head of the tectonics laboratory at the Institute de Physique du Globe (IPG), France's leading centre for the earth sciences.
Tapponnier said the quake deep beneath the Pacific Ocean lasted a "colossal" 200 seconds, building up huge amounts of energy in the sea that drove towering waves onto beaches throughout south Asia.
"That earthquake has changed the map," US Geological Survey expert Ken Hudnut said.
Hudnut said seismic modelling suggested the quake may have moved small islands by as much as 20 metres, and the northwestern tip of the Indonesian territory of Sumatra may also have shifted to the southwest by around 36 metres. "That is a lot of slip," he said.
The energy released as the two sides of the geological fault line deep under the sea slipped against each other would have made the Earth wobble on its axis, Hudnut said.
Tapponnier said the quake caused slippage of the earth's surface along a front extending for 100 km. He said there may also have been vertical movements that possibly pushed the island of Siberut, 100 km west of Sumatra, one or two metres higher, although it would be impossible to check this scientifically because of guerrilla activity in the area.
Tapponnier said it was also possible that some regions of Sumatra south of the equator have been completely swallowed up. He said it was not rare for earthquakes to alter geological features. "Earthquakes are the architects of landscapes," he said. "All the mountains have been modeled by earthquakes."
Tapponnier said the massive 1960 earthquake off the coast of Chile shifted the local landscape by 20 meters. A quake in Alaska in 1964 pushed islands higher and sank oyster beds 12 metres under the surface.
However, Stuart Sipkin, of the USGS National Earthquake Information Center in Golden Colorado, said it was more likely that the islands had risen higher out of the sea than they had moved laterally. AFP

New Delhi: An enormous Anthropological Disaster is in the making. The killer Tsunami is feared to have wiped out entire tribes- already threatened by their precariously small number- perhaps rendering them extinct and snapping a slender tie with a lost generation.
Officials involved in rescue operations are pessimistic but still keeping their fingers crossed for the Sentinelese and Nicobarese, The two tribes seen as bearing the major brunt of the killer waves.
The bigger fear is for the Sentinelesese, anthropologically the most important tribe, living on the flat North Sentinel Island. Putting their population at about hundred, officials say no body count is possible, as the tribe had remained isolated. The Island is still there, is all one official will say. But going by the scale of devastation the fate of the tribals is anybodys guess.
The Nicobarese number about twenty-five thousand, are also feared to have suffered major losses if not mere extinction.

A World Lost Forever?

Great Andamanese: Population: 40. Once the largest tribal group. Bust most fell prey to communicable diseases in 1860s after contact with the British. GOI has been looking after them since 1968. They are settled in straight island, about sixty kms from port blair.
Onges: POP: 100. They inhabit little Andaman. At present, concentrated in two settlements, at Dugong creek in the North Eastern corner of the island and south bay. Semi nomadic and fully dependent on food gathering. Efforts to befriend them have been successful.
Jarowa: POP: 266. Inhabit the western coast of the middle and south Andaman. Have been traditionally hostile to encroachers. They have lately shown a willingness to interact with Non-Tribals but Anthropologists are debating how much contact should be encouraged.
Sentinelese: POP: 100. Inhabit North Sentinel island. Perhaps the most isolated community in the world but culturally and biologically. Hostile towards outsiders and all efforts at initiating contact have proved unsuccessful.
Shompens: POP: 250. Only primitive tribe of Mongoloid stock. Scattered over the Great Nicobar Island. Semi Nomadic, hunting and fishing tribes.

Port Blair, Dec. 30: For once, the coast guard chopper did not mind retreating under fire. Around 2 pm today, arrows began flying at the helicopter on a mission to draw up a situation report on the endangered tribals of Andaman and Nicobar Islands.
The arrow attack was the surest sign yet that the tribe has survived the tsunami.
Spotting a batch of 20 to 30 people on the North Sentinelese Island, the pilot shed altitude to take a closer look. If he had any doubt, it was removed when the tribesmen, known for their hostility towards intruders, fired the arrows.
If a ground count eventually puts the number at 30, it will account for almost all the Sentinelese known to be inhabiting the island.
Officials were upbeat about other tribes, too. "Our helicopters and naval ships have confirmed that the exotic tribes  Sentinelese, the Onges, the Shompens, the Great Andamanese and the Jarawas - are all safe. They have survived nature's fury," said Arun Kumar Singh, the vice-admiral and director-general of the coast guard.
The navy and the coastguard have been mounting multiple missions to track the tribes down in the face of growing concern about the fate of some of the world's most endangered groups.
However, a Onge woman is missing from a batch of 16 on South Bay.
The tribal welfare department has mounted a search for the young Onge woman who was last spotted near the beach on South Bay on December 25.
"We have counted only 15 Onges on the settlement. The woman is definitely missing," said a senior tribal welfare officer.
But inspector-general S.B. Deol said most of the tribes are safe and if anything had gone wrong, the authorities would have known.
"They are very friendly these days. Apart from the Sentinelese, the others ask for medical aid and are even hospitalised, if required. No untoward reports concerning them has reached us," added Deol.
The rest of the 80 Onges of the 96-member group stay in Dugong Creek, Little Andaman.

New Delhi Dec 31: - Estimated Tsunami toll: 100,000. All humans no animals! Well, hardly any. The only animal casualties were those of a few stray dogs who perhaps were reluctant to shun their neighbourhood "masters" though they too must have sensed the danger before hand.
The supposed experts on animal behaviors, wild life officials in Sri Lanka, expressed surprise that they found no evidence of animal deaths from the weekends massive Tsunami- indicating that animals may have sensed the wave coming and fled to higher ground. The fact augurs well with the Para-science conjecture of bestial sixth sense. An AP photographer had flown over Sri Lanka's Yala National Park in an Air Force helicopter and was amazed to see wild life, including elephants, buffalo, deer, and not a single animal corpse.
Flood waters from the Tsunami swept into the park, uprooting trees, decimating jetties, tossing massive steamers over bridges, turning cars upside down, Mr. Gehan de Silva Wijeyeratne, owner of the Jetwing Eco Holidays, a hotel in the park, said, The animals apparently were not harmed and may have sought out high ground adding, this is very interesting. I am finding human bodies, but I am yet to see a dead animal. His hotel in the park was totally destroyed in Sundays Tsunami surge. May be what we think is true, that animals have a sixth sense, Mr. Wijeyeratne said.
Yala, Sri Lankas largest wildlife reserve, is home to 200 Asian elephants, crocodiles, wild boars, water buffalos and gray languor monkeys. The park also has Asias highest concentration of Leopards. No elephants are dead, not even a dead hare or rabbit, I think animals can sense disaster. They have a sixth sense an official said.

Dec 31- Politicians are the favorite scapegoats of media but it should not be overruled that yesterdays Home Ministry Vs Science & Tech. Ministry standoff could not have happened without the faux pass of the scientists.

Another theory

NEW DELHI, Dec. 31.- Yesterdays faux pas wasn't enough. We still nave more theories coming forth, on the source of that false alarm.

New Delhi Jan. 2- Scientists might have problem in understanding Tsunami disaster but some tribes of Andaman and Nicobar have the foresight of the natural calamity and managed to leave their villages hours before the tsunami disaster struck coastline.
JNU researchers, who are in the island studying the tribals lifestyle, claimed that tribals who were not part of government sponsored welfare programs suffered less than those tribals who had been rehabilitated by the state.
Professor Anvita Abbi, Centre of Linguistic and English JNU, who is conducting a research project in these islands said that one of her research student Pramod Kumar (Still in Andaman and Nicobar islands) told her that Jarawa tribe were able to understand and interpret the changing patterns of wave hours before the disaster struck, last Sunday. Jarwa tribes then climbed off to higher places and survived the devastation, she claims.
One of the unnamed tribal aged between 65 to 68 years had told Pramod yesterday, the his grandfather has cautioned him on the Tsunami during his childhood.
"When this tribal saw the changing patterns of waves, he raised an alarm and saved his community from the calamity." she says.
The historical facts confirm that there have been similar Tsunami calamity in 1941 in the same area which had also caused widespread damage and researchers say that these tribals have developed natural instincts to visualise such disasters.
However, in past over five -decades many of the islands tribes have been rehabilitated like Shompen and Nicobarese. Researchers claim' that government rehabilitation program might have been responsible in disturbing the lives and instincts of these tribes.
We found out that these tribes are extremely intelligent agile and responsive. They are also very receptive and respond fast to changes and have developed percept relations with their ecology, surroundings, sea waves, winds and even sea life.
They are not dumb assumed by the civilised world and: have been able to set an perfect equilibrium in their own world. said Professor Abbi.
These tribes despite being the last specimen of Neolithic age in South- East Asia have been able to maintain their rich Intellectual base of medicinal and efficacious use of the bio diversity and animals available.
As the project Vanishing Voices of the Great Andaman being carried on by JNU, is blocked due to Tsunami researchers opine that the present natural calamity may well be the reason to get some education on their knowledge.
Failures of some tribe to respond to tsunami again shows that we should not disturb their lives. They live a eco-friendly and we should not destroy it for our benefit" said prof. Alvi.

JIRKATANG (Andaman & Nicobar), Jan 7. Armed with bows and arrows, seven men from the ancient Jarwa tribe came out of the forest for the first time since the Andaman and Nicobar islands were battered by the tsunami. In a rare meeting with outsiders, the men said today that all-250 member of the tribe escaped inland and were surviving on coconuts. He, however, did not elaborate on how they managed to escape.
"We are all safe after the earthquake. We are in the forest in Balughat," Ashu, one of the men, said. Even though the Jarwas sometimes meet local officials to receive government-funded supplies, the tribe is wary of visitors.
"My world is in the forest, Ashu said through an interpreter in a restricted forest area at the northern end of South Andaman Island. "Your world is outside. We don't like people from outside."
Anthropologists estimate that the island's more primitive tnbes Jarwas, Great Andamanese, Onges, Sentinelese and Shompen have dwindled to between 400 and 1,000.
Government officials and anthropologists have speculated that the ancient knowledge of the movement of wind sea nod birds may have saved the indigenous tribes from Tsunami. But Ashu and his companions refused to talk about how they avoided the waves.
The seven Jarwa men  wearing only underwear and amulet emerged from the forest to meet government officials, accompanied by two reporters and a photographer.
Ashu, who said he was in his early 20s, gave his name and those of three others of his tribe- Danna, Lah, and Tawai. The men stopped the photographers from taking pictures. "We fall sick if we are photographed," Ashu said

Jan. 8. The last few dozen remaining members of an ancient indigenous tribe in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands said they raced up a mountain to escape a devastating tsunami  and avoid extinction. No one was hurt. Everyone is all right," Jiroki, the king of the Great Andamanese tribe, said on Friday from a hospital in Port Blair.
"The water was rushing up very fast. It seemed to be following us" said his wife, Surmayee. "We stayed in the forest for 5 days. There was some rice. We ate that. Then there was nothing, so we went hungry." The Great Andamanese were once the largest tribe in the region with an estimated population of 10,000 in 1789. The government says only 43 Great Andamanese remain, while Jiroki says there are 50, of whom 10 are his children.
Anthropologists believe the five ancient tribes- including the Jorwas, Shompens, Onges and Sentinelese date back seventy thousand years.
Rescuers last week brought the remaining Great andamanese tribe people to port Blair in the wake of the massive 26th Dec Earth quake and resulting Tsunami. Jiroki whose tribe lives in a forest on Strait Island in the south of the Archipelago, seized the opportunity to seek treatment for epilepsy at state run hospital. Speaking in broken Hindi, Jiroki and Surmayee said that when the earthquake jolted their homes on Strait Island, they ordered the tribe to flee "I am the king. They follow what I say," said Jiroki, wearing a red T-shirt and shorts.
"We asked the wireless operator to send a message to Port Blair. But the machine and battery had been flooded by the water. They were spoiled." The island's jetty was smashed so no boats' could land. The tribe members' clothes, utensils and other household' articles were all washed away, Surmayee said.
And contrary to speculation by some anthropologists, she said the Great Andamanese did not sense the impending arrival of the tsunamis.
Some experts say the Great Andamanese are a sad example of how indigenous people quickly lose centuries of tradition and culture when they come in contact with the outside world.
"I have written them off. They hardly have a culture or tradition of their own," said Samir Acharya, head of the independent Andaman and Nicobar Society. "They have all forgotten their own dialect They are mostly acting as copycats of the rest of us." The tribe maintains links with government officials, and a police officer, a wireless operator and a doctor's assistant live with them on Strait Island.
Some members of the tribe work in police and government for jobs in Port Blair. The tribal leaders admitted their lifestyles are different from those of their ancestors. "We don't use bows and arrows now, we have given them up. We hunt fish and pigs with spears," Surmayee said.
The Great Andamanese traditionally eat roots, seafood, turtles and turtle eggs, but in recent years have begun eating rice, pulses and bread. But the tribe's increasing exposure to the rest of India has placed it at risk.
"They are exposed to highly communicable diseases besides unhealthy drinking habits which, of course, are acquired after contact with the moribund dominant and advanced communities," according to the Andaman and Nicobar government website. Surmayee was ready Friday to leave the city and return home. "I want to go back. I don't like it here. I am used to being in the forest," she said. But her husband disagreed. "We feel nice interacting with the outside world. Earlier our heart was only in hunting," Jiroki said.
"There were no movies, nothing". AP

New Delhi, Jan. 14: The tsunami-affected tribals in Andaman and Nicobar Islands want to build their houses themselves and only expect the government to help with money and raw materials like timber and bamboo. Union tribal affairs minister P.R. Kyndiah, who returned to the capital yesterday after visiting the affected islands, said the tribals did not favor the government constructing homes for them. Kyndiah today said he has already contacted the governments of Bengal and Kerala for supplying timber and bamboo to the affected islands.
The Supreme Court has recently eased a ban on cutting trees in the Andamans to meet the need for urgent reconstruction. Kyndiah said people belonging to various aboriginal tribes in the islands were safe though some tribes, including the Nicobarese, Sentinelese and the Shompens, were hit hard by the tsunami. "All tribes, including the Onges, Sentinelese and the Jarwas, in the islands are safe. There is no question of extinction of any tribe."
The minister pointed out that the government had already "fine-tuned and streamlined the entire relief operations in the islands". The target would be to rehabilitate the affected people before the onset of monsoon by end April.

The Kondh (pronounced locally as Kandha and spelt earlier as Khond, Kond, etc) are a population of primitive tribe of Orissa. They include subdivisions like Desia (more Hinduized section), Kutia, Dongria (hill dwelling) and Pengo. They occupy mountainous areas of Central-Southern part of the state. The Desia name is assumed by those who live in the plateau, in the neighborhood of non-tribal people who improved their economy and living condition. The Pengo section is also good cultivator and more exposed to the outer world. The Kutia and Dongria occupy the highland; practiced shifting or hill slope cultivation in primitive method and live in poor condition. The habitat of Kondh people is locally known as Kondhamal, meaning hills of the Kondh.

Inspite of their rich cultural heritage and valiant nature, they earned notoriety in colonial records due to their ritual of human sacrifice, known as 'meria'. To the people of Kondh community, meria sacrifice is just one of many rituals for better fortune, where animal sacrifice is essential. The practice of human sacrifice came under Prohibition Act of 1829, under the rule of the Governor General of British India, Lord William Bentinck (1828-35) who also stopped the cruel practice of 'sati' or burning Hindu Widow on funeral pyre. But in reality such sacrifices went on for many more years in inaccessible villages. Later on human-beings were replaced by monkeys and subsequently by buffaloes.

The Kondhs attracted the attention of many British Administrators and anthropologists. Many books and reports are available since nineteenth century. Western Scholars like Verrier Elwin, F G Baily, Barbara Boal and Herman Niggemeyer deserve mention, noted anthropologist Dr N Patnaik, produced a comprehensive book on the Kondh in the last quarter of 20th century. Since then, lot of changes have occurred in the habits and habitat of the Kondh people. The present appraisal will present a picture of such sacrificial rituals as now practised by the Kondh people. Data have been collected by personal association with the performers. An inquisitive scholar may be able to make diachronic analysis after going through earlier literatures.

Classes of Priest

The Kondh society in religious matters, is guided by several categories of priests:

1. Jani, 2. Matiguru, 3. Dehuri, 4. Bahuk and 5. Jhankar.

They perform specific duties for specific rituals. The present information was collected from such priests from four villages with a large command area. They are:

• Lochan Konhar ages 96years.

• Gopinath Dehuri ages 80years.

• Ulla Konhar ages 75 years.

• Jagadish Dehuri ages 40years.

Sacrificial Rituals:

Like most other tribals, the Kondh are Nature worshippers. The mountain, the river, the Sun, the Earth, all have presiding deities, who need to be propitiated. The Priests follow the age-old traditions. Seven such rituals are here identified: 1. Jhagadi or Kedu or Meria Puja, 2. Sru Penu Puja, 3. Dharni Penu Puja, 4. Guruba Penu Puja, 5. Turki Penu Puja, 6. Pitabali Puja and 7. Khambeswari and Maheswari Puja.

1. Human Sacrificial ritual of earlier time (Meria):

This Jhagadi or Kedu has originated from the belief that mother Earth should be appeased for welfare of the villagers, or community, not of an individual. In olden days, the Kondhs settled the boundary of their village and wanted the earth goddess of that area to keep their residents in good fortune. In case, some serious misfortunes occurred, they consulted the 'Matiguru' (priest in-charge-of Earth Goddess or 'Dharani'). He considered the case with his divine process and prescribed the right type of worship like 'Dharani Puja', 'Guruba Puja', 'Turki Puja' or the most serious 'Meria Puja.

Accordingly, the village head and his council, confided in a non-tribal 'Pano' (a scheduled caste) person to collect a suitable young person for becoming 'Meria'. [The Pano community live in some villages in commensal relationship with the Kondh. it is said that the Kondh is the king and Pano is minister i.e. advisor.] Thus empowered, the Pano men procured a suitable sacrificial human individual (normally a young male, sometimes a female also) by kidnapping or duping. [Some informants claim that male Meria was alternated with a female Meria in next occasion.] The person thus procured was kept in secrecy and the priest started preparations for the worship. The 'Meria' to-be was well cared for by the villagers till the fateful moment.

The worship rituals took two days, involving all the priest groups headed by the 'Matiguru'. The 'Baredi' or the site cleaned worshiped with a he-goat sacrifice and a wooden (of 'Rohini' wood) post (Jjupa) was erected. The next date, the 'Meria' person was ritually cleaned with turmeric paste, oil and bathed. The person was well decorated with 'Kajal' (collyrium) on the eyes, vermilion on forehead and garlands on the head, neck and arms, and was taken round the village, to show the boundary. On the way the villagers fed him in gratitude, because after death, the soul will guard the boundary as a spirit 'Bhuany'. The 'Meria' was made intoxicated with liquor, so also the people.

After forceful stoppage of this horrific sacrifice, the ritual was completed with monkey (nearer to man) sacrifice. When that was discouraged, they started sacrificing buffalo. There is no fixed time for performance, as it depends on the prescription.

'Jhagedi' or 'Kedu':

This is the present form of the 'Meria' worship of Earth Goddess. The decision to observe, the priest involvement rituals and purpose are the same. A Pano person buys a sacrificial buffalo, for which there is no secrecy. The place is not the same 'Baredi' and the spirit of the buffalo is not 'Bhuany' but 'Gogiani', who delivers benefit. In this case Jani beheads the animal and buries there.

2.Saru Penu Puja:

This worship is performed at the foot of a fixed mountain or hill at a fixed place. The things required for this are 1.sundried rice in new bamboo made pan, 2.termeric, 3.winnowing fan, 4.ladle of ground skin (lau tumba), 5.shorea pobusta (shal) leaves and siali leaves, 6.incense, 7.wine, 8.fowl and he-goat. In this Puja chief is the 'Dehuri'. He does the ritual performance being assisted by Jani, Jhankar and Bahuk.

On the previous day of the Puja the Dehuri, Jani, Jhanka, Bahuk and chief of the concerned village go to the place of worship having bathed and fasted. They bury a stone at the foot of a tree. The Dehury performs the Puja chanting incantation. There either a fowl or a he-goat is sacrificed to invite the 'Saru Penu' for the Puja to be solemnized next day. The next day the villagers Dehuri, Jani, Jhankar, Bahuk and village chief with due purity and austerity go to the fixed place with necessary things. Dehuri chants incantations (mantras) and offers article to the deity; Bahuk provides articles to Dehury for the purpose. After Puja and sacrifices the ritual is over. The villagers make feast with the meat of the sacrificed animals and have the intake of it. Individual promising sacrifice can be done next day.

This is the first Puja of the year for the Kondh community. After 'Saru Penu' Puja they eat new fruits, corn and vegetables produced. Other Pujas cannot be celebrated until the Puja is done. This is special feature of 'Saru Penu' Puja. They believe that if sarupenu is pleased their life and property will be safe, against wild beast of prey and total development of the village is feasible.

3. Dharani Penu Puja:

Like 'Saru Penu' Puja, 'Dharani Penu Puja' is also observed for two days. All the paraphernalia are held on the previous day to invite Dharani Penu. Maintaining all due purity and austerity all the village people including all Dehuri, Jani, Jhankar and Bahuk go to the fixed place meant for observance outside of the village location. They drink wine and play upon drums, pipes etc. Dehury mainly does all the ritual activities in the presence of all. Things utilised here are 'sal' leaves, 'siali' leaves, sundried rice, turmeric, country wine and sacrificed foul and he-goat. After Dehury's chanting of mantra and offering of things to the deity, Bahuk sacrifices the foul and he-goat. The blood of the animal is offered to the deity. After Puja, They make feast and drink. The aim of the worship is to please the Earth Goddess for the safety of the village.

4.Gurba Penu Puja:

This Puja is generally observed outside the village, in a fixed place meant for it. As per the description mentioned in the previous Puja, the deity is invited on previous day. The things required for the actual Puja are 'sal' leaves, 'siali' leaves, sundried rice, turmeric, and fowl instead of he-goat. They beat drums and blew trumpet. All drink liquor. Dehury performs Puja chanting mantras. Bahuk sacrifices the fowl. Blood is offered to please the deity for village welfare and protection. Then they feast, drink country wine and take 'prasad'. Thus the Puja ends.

5.Turky Penu Puja:

The place is just at the end of the village. The village goddess is symbolized by a big stone buried partly there. There is neither a temple nor a house for the deity. There is no worship for the goddess every year. After 'Kedu' or 'Jhagadi', generally ' Turky Penu Puja ' is performed by the Matiguru offering the needful articles such as 'siali' leaves, sundried rice, turmeric, wine and pig. People sound drums, changus and blow trumpets. He worships to appease the village deity with offering and mantra. Finally he sacrifices the pig and offers blood. After Puja the village people feast and drink.

6.Pitabali Puja (Mangala):

The deity has a temple or place in house outside the village with boundary walls. In front of the temple or house there is a 'Jupa' or a sacrificial post with 8 metals, which is worshipped with turmeric, vermilion, rice, etc on a copper plate. The idol of goddess is wood. The Dehury keeps the deity in his home. Each day he brings it and place on the sanctum sanctorum and worships per promise individuals or all the villagers worship here. Only one Dehury does all the Puja here. The offerings for the deity are flowers, fruits, sandal paste, incense, ghee-lamps, ghee, sundried rice, turmeric, buffalo or a he-goat and fowl. No wine is used here as offering. Dehury performs all Puja work with mantras. Bahuk does the sacrifices. Blood is offered to the deity to please her for the wellbeing of the village and fulfilling the personal desires. After the Puja they feast and eat.

7. Khambeswari-cum-Maheswari (Sankhudikhai Mangala and Nisankhudikhai Mangala) Puja:

Out the village there is a fixed place for Puja of both the goddess either in a temple or house to worship separately. For Khambeswari Puja flowers, sandal paste, incense, lamps and a he-goat are required where as for Maheswari Puja flowers, sandal paste, incense, lamps and for offerings food staff like 'Muans' (fried balls of paddy with jaggery mixed), 'Wookhuda' (fried paddy with jaggery mixed), coconuts and bananas are required. Dehury performs the Puja and Bahuk sacrifices the animals. Blood is offered to Khambeswari to please her for the welfare and safety of the village and for fulfillment of personal aspirations. At the end the villagers feast and enjoy the prasad. The speciality of such Puja is that no wine is offered here.

The last two worships of 'Mangala' goddess appears to have been inducted into the Kondh pantheon from the neighboring Hindus.