Rituals And Festivals Of The Ho Tribe

by Basanta Kumar Mohanta
Some of the eastern Indian states like, Jharkhand, Orissa and West Bengal possess a large number of tribal population. These three states being contiguous have many tribal communities such as Santal, Munda and Ho, spread over these three states. This paper deals with the rituals and festivals of the Ho tribe spread in two contiguous locations of Saraikella-Kharsuan (erstwhile West Singhbhum) district of Jharkhand and Mayurbhanj district of Orissa. Of the two core villages from where the data are mainly collected, Rabankocha, is an uni-ethnic Ho village situated in Jharkhand and the Badhatnabeda, a multi-ethnic village, located in Orissa . While the Orissa village is exposed to urban and mining environment, the Jharkhand village is comparatively interior and less exposed to the urban influences. The Hoes of these two villages have much commonality in terms of cultural and religious beliefs and practices.
The People
The Ho is one of the major tribes of Jharkhand and Orissa. The Calhan area of Jharkhand is the original place of their inhabitant. In due course of time they spread towards its neighboring areas of Jharkhand, Orissa and West Bengal and even a few to Assam. These Hoes belong to the Proto-Astrologic group. They are of short stature, dark complex with broad and flat nose. In the Ho language the word 'Ho' means a man and accordingly any human being can be designated as a Ho. From the field situation it is clear that the term 'Ho' is only used by this community to identify them, whereas the other neighboring communities address them by the term 'Kola'. The Ho belong to the Munda branch of Austro-Asiatic languages and allied to Sandal and Mandarin dialects in certain respect. In Jharkhand (as it belonged to erstwhile Hindi state of Bihar till recently) the Hindi language based on Denair script is used for inter-community communication where as among themselves they speak Ho dialect. The Ho of Orissa use both Hindi and Oriya languages and Oriya script. They have a strong belief in religion, spirit and super natural powers. They worship different Gods and Goddesses residing in nearby jungles and hills. The Singhbonga or the Sun God is the supreme deity worshipped by them, who is mainly responsible for the rain, crop, life, and other necessities related to life. Besides Singhbonga, the Ho also worship a number of other deities like Marangburu, Goodie era, Japer era etc. The worship of both benevolent and malevolent spirits is also practiced among the Ho. They celebrate both traditional and adopted festivals. Their traditional festivals are mostly associated to their agricultural activities. The Ho traditionally being a part of an elaborate political system, have a strong traditional base with corresponding political offices to maintain social control. Thus, the Ho of Jharkhand at the lowest level were places under Piers, which were under a Mankind (a divisional headman). Each Ho village has their own headman called Munda. Birth is considered as an important landmark in Ho life cycle. Though a father plays the main role in procreation of a child, it is believed that a child is a gift of Singhbonga. The Hoes practice tribe endogamy and clan exogamy. Marriage within the clan is strictly prohibited and the offenders are treated outcaste from their society. Traditionally, the Ho believe that person dies not because of its old age or disease but because of the evil spirit and black magic. The Ho both bury and cremate their dead. Each clan has their separate burial place, located close to their house.
The Studied Villages
The first studied village Rabankocha is a traditional village situated under the jurisdiction of Gobindpur (Ranger) block of Saraikella-Kharsuan . This studied village lies in between 22035’ to 220 37’ NL and 86002’ to 86003’ EL The total village area is surrounded with different hills and hillocks. This village itself is located on the foothill of Hatboro. Across the Hatboro the village Gadded is situated at the northern side of the village. The Denature and Baridunuri hills stand on the eastern part of the village. Badkadal, Chard and Human are three multi-ethnic villages situated at the other side of the Jonesboro. The Hatboro covers the entire southwestern part of the village. Another hilly village named Kalajharana is situated on the north-western part of the Hatboro. The hills located at southern side serves as a state boundary of Jharkhand and Orissa states.
The second studied village Badhatnabeda is situated near the mining town of Badampahar in the Bamanghati subdivision of Mayurbhanj district of Orissa. It is a multi-ethnic village lies in between 22003’ to 22006’ NL and 86000’ to 860 02’ EL. The village falls under the jurisdiction of Kashmir (Badampahar) block and Badampahar police station. It comes within the area of Rairangpur tahasildar and Kathabharia branch post office. The village is well connected by an all season metal road with the Rairangpur-Jashipur branch of state highway near to the Jhaldunguri chaw from where the villagers go to their local town Badampahar through a connecting road.
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Kharia Community

Kharia tribe belongs to Proto-Austroloid race and speaks Kharia dialects of Austro-Asiatic language family. This tribe also speaks Hindi, Sadani and other local dialects.
The main sources of livelihood of Kharia tribe is agriculture, minor forest products collection and labour on daily wages. Fishing, Hunting and Animal Husbandry are practised as subsidiary occupations.]
The Kharias are divided into three sections namely The Dudh, Dhelki and Hill Kharia. The Hill Kharias are a most primitive community. They depend upon forest resources such as collection of honey, edible roots, fruits and herbs. The other sections of the Kharias have been taken to plough cultivation and are better off than the Hill Kharias.The Hill Kharia is most primitive community. A Hill Kharia house consists of only one room which is used as bed room, store room, kitchen and guest room.
Family is the hub of social organization in the Kharia society. Most of the families of this tribe are nuclear. Generally the children set up their independent family after marriage. The Kharias have partlineal, patrilocal and patriarchal family. Among them clan system is strongly prevelant. The totem objects are not injured or eaten. The names of clans among Kharia are Gulgu, Bhuiya, Jaru, Badya, Tesa and Hembrom etc. The names of clans among Delkhi Kharia tribe are Muru, Soren, Samad, Barliha, Charha, Hansda, Topno, Mail etc. are the names of clans among Dudh. The marriage within the clan does not have sanction from the society. The Kinship organizations of the Kharia is of the classificatory type. The Kharias are monogamous but polygamy is tolerated. The Bride price is an essential part of the marriage of Kharia tribe. To avoid the brideprice, Kharias practice marriage by exchange in which sisters are exchanged by two men as wives.
Kharia tribe worships numerous Gods and Spirits. Their religious head is called Pahan by the Dudh and Dhelki Kharias and Dihuri by the Hill Kharias. This is a hereditary post. The Kharias worship the Giring or Bero at all religious ceremonies. They also practice ancestor worship known as Burha Burhi or Marsi Masan. The deceased ancestors are invoked at all religious ceremonies. They live near the oven. The mountain spirits are known by the names of the hill in which they reside. They are invoked before hunting and for rain.
The Kharias follow all the local religious ceremonies and festivals along with the traditional local ones.Their main festivals are Karma, Sohrai, Sarhul, Nawakhani etc. as Munda and Oraon tribes celebrate.

HillCraftsOfDerjeeling

The state of tea gardens has Lepchas as their true inhabitants. People from Nepal, Sikkim, Tibet, Bhutan and West Bengal have also settled here. The tea garden workers are mainly tribals from Central India and Chota Nagpur, local people called them Modeshiya i.e., people came from middle country.
The handicrafts of Darjeeling are quite different from the crafts existing in the rest of West Bengal and it expresses cultural heritage of Buddhism prevailing in the eastern Himalayas. Traditional hill craftsmen prepare the sculptural model of bronze figure using direct wax for each bronze figure. Bhutia villages have skilled musicians, painters and authentic artists who take pride in representing the folk cultures of the hill people.
People living in the foothills of West Bengal practice a lot of bamboo and cane craft. Craftsmen of West Bengal are skilled at making beautiful cane baskets of various designs and shapes. These baskets have multi uses. Craftspersons also prepare ceremonial baskets, cages and fishing traps which are made with lot of effort and requires skilled technique. Bamboo dowry boxes are very intricately woven and play a very important role in the marriage ceremonies.
At Bhutia basti, the traditional scroll paintings are made which are known as Thankas. These paintings have the Budhist Jataka tales from the Buddhists scriptures. These are made in the most traditional way by the craftsmen using the paper form Tibet or Nepal. Grounded stone and earthen colors are used. Lapis Lazuli, a blue stone colour, is obtained by grinding semi precious stones form Tibet. These paintings are hung on the home as well as on the walls of the monasteries. Sacred value attached to each Thanka which are bordered with Buddhists motifs in fine brocade. Powdered gold is also used to beautify the Thanka and enhance the value of the painting. The technique used is a closely guarded secret. The Thankas are used in all Buddhists household shrines and monasteries.
Kalimpong, another hill station tucked in the vicinity of Darjeeling is famous for weaving of Tibetian woolen carpets. The wool for the same is spun by the Tibetian women of Darjeeling on the traditional spinning wheels known as Chassba. Generally, bold colours and geometric patterns are used. The most common of all carpets is the dun a small bedside carpet which has upto sixty knots to a square inch.