‘BENJA’ !! ( The Oraon Tribal Wedding)
Jharkhand is primarily known as a tribal state with the total tribal population which is about 28% of states total population of 2.69 crores.
Weddings are pretty much important for everyone. Every religion, race, tribe has a specific tradition that they follow. That has been passed on to them for ages and ages by their forefathers.
Going to weddings would always excite me I mean who doesn’t gets excited. Born and brought up in a tribal Christian family our customs and traditions were very different from what we saw on the television. It took some time for me to understand our customs and traditions. But one thing is sure they are interesting and moreover very meaningful.
Let me take you through the different customs and traditions that my tribe follows i.e the oraon tribe.
The oraon tribe have distinct characteristic features unlike other tribal communities of the area. The nature of invitation salutation organising feast as well as giving gifts on the marriage occasion differentiate them from other tribes.
They receive their guests in a manner which reflects the warm feelings towards others. As marriage involves social tie between two families the ethics of inviting many other families into kin bondage highlights the cultural standards.
Invitation:
The traditional way of invitation for marriage ceremony is made with smearing of turmeric and sun dried rice i.e newta tikhil. A few days before the marriage ceremony the women carry this in her anchol( the end part of the whale of the saree) and offer the same to the invitee at their residence who receive it in there anchol.
After receiving the newta tikhil they make an exchange of news and any other related queries. Afterwards the rice is thrown on the roof of the home.
While these methods are not so prevalent in the cities where people generally use printed cards but you can still see this custom followed in the villages. As they are the ones who still tightly hold this tradition.
The Marriage:
Since most of the oraon tribals got converted to Christianity the wedding generally happens in the church. Where the priest gets the couple married in the presence of both the girls and the boys family and relatives. Then a lady throws the water on the roof of the house. Another woman collect the down running water on her anchol as blessing.
Then a lady throws the water on the roof of the house. Another woman collect the down running water on her anchol as blessing. An old married lady carries a brass lota on the head over a date Palm leaves pad. The lota is filled with water where a mango twig with 5-7 leaves is put dipping the stalk in the pot.
Another married lady carries an earthen pot decorated with sherves of paddy and marigold flower.
The oraon people are very careful in selecting gift. They make selection of such items which are useful in the day to day life of the newly married couple. Their gifts comprise of steel box metal containers, metal utensils, clothes and money which they carry while attending the marriage ceremony. These are offered to the bride groom at the time of chumawan. At the time of chumawan the name of the item is announced by beating a big drum (nagara).
You may not see this age old traditions being followed completely but some bits are still performed . The oraon people follow this traditional customs and manners as a social values due to the integrated social organisation and customary practices.
Like other human societies oraons are also not immune to change. The western culture may have influenced many changes. Except for utilising modern facilities the oraon people have tried to maintain the cultural traditions.
Know more details visit our Dialurban website .
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