Long-established customs, rituals, and ceremonies play a pivotal role in the lives of Santal People. These events not only keep us attached to our roots but also keep the bonding within our community strong.
We organize most of these rituals to gain the blessings of benevolent spirits and to keep away from evil ones.
Being part of this tribal community, I have watched those rituals. These rituals are not only for the wellbeing of a family, but for the entire village. In all Santal ceremony, no one is just an audience, everyone has some active role in it, from children to elders, and this keeps the bonds of the community strong.
In this article, I am going to talk about the ceremonial cleansing or purification of the village after childbirth.
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Importance of Ceremonial Cleansing (Chatiar or Nim Dakmandi)
After a child is born; the Santal family, and the village, becomes impure (in Santali it’s called Chute). They believe that they have exposed the entire village to the danger of powerlessness.
So before the purification ritual,
- The family cannot perform any sacrifice or other ceremony
- They allow nobody to eat or drink with the family
- In case the family does not perform this ceremony, then the child cannot get married and cannot be buried after death.
This cleansing ritual has three key parts:
- Purification of the house and the village from the contamination caused by birth.
- Naming the child and formally accepting the child into the family.
- Introducing the child to Santal tribe and its clan.
The Date and Time for Ceremonial Cleansing
The ritual is generally performed five days after the birth of a boy and three days after the birth of a girl.
Most of the Santals living in the villages are marginalized farmers. Everyone cannot bear the expenses of the ceremony. As I stated before, all these rituals are essential, and if somebody skips it, there might be consequences in the latter part of life because these rituals endure bonds between villagers.
If a family cannot afford the event, right after birth then the society allows a bit of flexibility to the family. They are not pressurized to undertake extra expenses when they cannot afford it.
So, in that case, only the first part of the purification of the village is done by performing a small ritual with the village priest, and Manjhi Paranik (the other position holders of the village).
After that, the family plans a day to complete the remaining process of the ceremony. It may be in 21 days after the birth or it may extend even years, whenever the family wishes.
If a family plans to have more children, then to avoid extra expenses, they can perform the purification ritual together for their children followed by the naming and introduction part.
The Cleansing Ceremony
Purification of the house and the village
On the day of the main Chatiar event, the relatives and villagers gather in the courtyard of the new-born baby’s house.
The family of the new-born hires a barber for the entire day, to shave the head of men. The shaving starts with the village priest (Naeke). Next field priest (Kudam Naeke), headman (Manjhi), deputy headman (Paranik), then the menfolk of the village, children whoever wants to shave their head, shave one after another. In the end, the father of the new-born shaves his head.
Now, the barber calls for the new-born baby. Midwife brings the child in her arms along with two empty cups made of Sarjom (Sal) leaves. The barber cuts a chunk of hair of the baby carefully and puts it into one leaf cup and pours oil in other, then give it back to the midwife. She mixes raw turmeric paste with the oil and takes a little bit from that mixture to rub on the head of the new-born child.
The father, along with men of the village goes to the nearby pond for a bath. Meanwhile, midwife binds two cotton threads on the arrow which she used to cut the umbilical cord of the child.
In olden days, every Santal family owned bow and arrows for hunting. Today, those weapons are no longer part of daily life. But some weapons like bow arrow, sword, etc. are part of Santali ceremonies. So, Manjhi – the head of a Santal village reserves those weapons to be used in various rituals.
When menfolk return, the women of the village take the child along with the mother for a bath. After reaching the place the midwife ties the child’s hair with one thread and throws it into the water then washes the arrow with water. She makes five marks with vermilion (Sindur) invoking Marang Buru and the ancestral spirit of the child asking for a blessing.
After that, she colours the other thread with turmeric-oil and hand over the cup to the other women. They clean up themselves and apply the turmeric on their body.
After returning home, the mother sits on the porch with the baby in her arm. Midwife ties the soaked thread around the child’s waist as loin string. The midwife kneads cow dung with water and scatters that cow dung water around mother. Then she put her child into bed where the child was born or where it lied first just after coming from the hospital.
With this the village is purified.
Read: Santal Rebellion: The Santal Hul
The naming of the child
Giving a name implies that the child is formally accepted to the father’s clan and is provided protection by the spirits of the father’s ancestors.
In other societies, a child is known by his or her parent’s name. But in the Santal culture a child is introduced by their grandparent’s names.
There is a unique rule to carry the family name in Santali family. A santal child has two names, ‘Gorom nutum’ (inner-name) and ‘Chetan nutum’ (outer-name).
Gorom Nutum (Inner name)
For a Boy:
The Gorom Nutum of a child in Santali Tribe is the ancestral name of his family. Only his villagers sometimes call the boy by his inner name. They do not use this name for general purposes.
Rule of giving the Gorom Nutum is as following,
- The first child gets the name of the paternal grandfather.
- The second child gets the name of the maternal grandfather.
- The third child gets the name of the elder brother of his paternal grandfather.
- The fourth child gets the name of the elder brother of his maternal grandfather. And so on.
If the father or mother does not have any siblings, then they decide which relative’s name the boy will carry, and they name after him.
For a Girl:
The girl receives the name of the female counterpart similar as above.
Chetan Nutum (Outer Name)
The other name of a Santal Child is the name they will use for all general purposes. After deciding the name, the parents tell that to the midwife.
Introduction of the child to the tribe
Now it’s time to introduce the child to everyone in their tribe. Godet calls every family of the village by going to their house one by one saying it’s time for Nim-Dakmandi.
Everyone gathers around the courtyard.
The midwife mixes rice flour (adwa chawle) with water in three leaf-cups.
- She sprinkles one cup adwa chawle mixture on four legs of the bed
- Then sprinkles the second cup of mixture on village priest (Naeke), field priest (Kudam Naeke), headman (Manjhi), Deputy (Paranik) and other position holders of the village and their wives one by one.
- Then the third cup adwa chawle mixture is sprinkled on everyone gathered around in the courtyard.
While sprinkling the rice flour-water mixture, she utters the child’s name and tells everybody ‘Please call him “this name” while hunting’ in case of a boy and ‘Call her “this name” while chasing’ for a girl.
Then they all eat Neem dakmandi– a porridge made of boiled rice with Neem leaves together.
Conclusion
The Santal tribe had no written document of their rituals for a very long time. They followed the instructions of their ancestors taught them, and they passed those instructions to later generations. As a result, through years of practice, you will see a slight difference in the ritual in different villages. And that sometimes cause a conflict of opinion between two villages.
That’s all for today. If there is an additional step of this ritual in your village, let me know in the comment section below. And feel free to share this article with everybody.
It’s our responsibility to preserve our tribal legacy by gaining knowledge about it.
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