In the primaeval times, the Santals had no Bongas.
We have discovered our Bongas over time through our wanderings in the forest.
In ancient times our ancestors only worshipped Tharkur Jiv. He is not seen by human eyes but he sees all and knows all. He is the creator of the Sun, moon, earth, human beings, animals, birds, reptiles, and everything that exists around us. He is the one who brought us here and takes us away.
Thakur is different from Sin Bonga (Sun/Day Spirit) whom we discovered on our way through the Sin Duar. The Sin Bonga is a benevolent spirit who brings dawn and dusk, he gives us warmth and sunshine, helps the crops grow, and brings rain. Therefore in the times of religious observances, we appeal for his blessings and call out to him.
Also read: Santal Mythology: Story Of The Santal Clans
In Santal folklore, Sin Bonga is the man, Moon his wife, and the stars are their children. The sons stayed with their father and appeared in the day and the daughters stayed with the moon and came out only at nighttime.
When the sun shone in the day along with the other day stars the earth became so hot that it felt like that all the living beings down on earth would be burnt down to ashes, moon saw their discomfort and approached her husband and said, “We need to eat our children to protect the humanity, otherwise they would get destroyed in the scorching heat”
The sun said to the moon, “You eat your daughters first, if the human beings don’t get any relief then I shall eat my sons too.”
But, the moon played a clever game and tricked the sun by covering all her daughters under a huge basket and then went to her husband and said, “I have eaten all of my daughters but yet the hot rays are not decreasing, you shall eat your sons too; only then the humans will be saved.” This way the moon outwitted the sun and he ate all his sons one by one.
When it became night the sun was surprised to see that all the daughters were still present with their mother. This made him furious, he reached for his sword and went after her; he was just going to cut her down but to pacify him a bit the moon agreed to give two daughters to him.
These two daughters became the morning and the evening stars which appear just as the sun comes up in the dawn and when the sun sets on the horizon.
Even to date, the sun pursues the moon when he remembers her shrewdness. He cuts her down day after day hence the moon becomes smaller and smaller for the first 15 days and when the old man’s soul cools down the moon gets some relief and grows again for the next 15 days.