From time immemorial, Santal People had their stories and myths handed down in oral form through Guru-Shishya Paramparā. These stories are known as Binti. The Gurus used to dictate the stories in various cultural events, their disciples and ordinary folks used to listen and learn them.
When the British invaded India, various missionaries who came from Europe took an interest in the Santal Culture and traditions, and they were the first who started documenting these stories in written form in books.
This is the story of the creation of the first human couple, according to Karam Binti.
The Creation
According to Santal mythology, initially, there was no God; it was wholly null and void.
Through a miraculous event, one Great power evolved; this power was known as Thakur (the Supreme God). Thakur then created all other Gods and Goddesses.
All these Gods and Goddesses took responsibilities to create various living and non-living things and thus created entities like water, river, fish, tree, birds, etc.
Serma Puri and Patal Puri
In Santal culture, the universe is divided into four parts;
- Serma Puri (The Heaven),
- Patal Puri (The Underground),
- Jala Puri (The Ocean) and,
- Mancho Puri (The Land).
Initially, Gods and Goddesses had only created Serma Puri, where they lived. Later, the Patal Puri was constructed below the Serma Puri. It was built in total darkness to exile some of their perverted fellows.
Flood in Patal Puri and creation of Jala Puri
Once in Serma Puri, the bank of the river where the Gods and the Goddesses bathe collapsed. The water from that river flooded the Patal Puri, and thus the Jala Puri was created over the Patal Puri.
Connecting the Serma Puri and Jala Puri
One day a spider, Raila Bindi which was created from the hair of Thakur’s consort named Thakran Ayu fell from Serma Puri to Jala Puri. While the spider was falling, it left its silk from Serma Puri to Jala Puri, and as there was no land in the Jala Puri, so the spider returned to Serma Puri leaving another strand of silk.
Gods and Goddesses would use one silk to get down to Jala Puri for taking a bath and another silk to return up to the Serma Puri.
Read: Santal Mythology: How was the earth created?
Birth of Hans and Hansil
Once a cow named Kapil Gai came down to Jala Puri from Serma Puri to drink water. Usually, when cows or buffalo cud or feel thirsty, foam is created from their mouth. When Kapil Gai was drinking water, then the foam from its mouth dropped on water. Later, a kind of grass, Sirom Ghas grew there, and it created a floating bush on Jala Puri.
In that bush, two tiny worms were born, and they turned to caterpillars. They grew up feeding on Sirom Ghas. Both of them formed cocoons; from those two cocoons, two birds, a gander and a goose were born. Gods and Goddesses gave them the name Hans and Hansil.
Birth of the first Human Couple
When Hans and Hansil reached their adulthood, they made a nest on that floating grass bush where the Hansil laid two eggs. The Hansil would incubate those two eggs while the Hans would bring food for her.
After the completion of the incubation of the two eggs, the first pair of humans were born. Thakur and other Gods and Goddesses named the male-one Pelcha and the female Pilchi.
Later in their old age, they were known as Pilchu Haram (Haram means old-man) and Pilchu Budhi (Budhi means old-woman).
According to Santal Binti, they were the first ancestor of humans.
This is how the first pair of human beings were born. But still, the earth was not created; the creation of the earth is another story for another time.