Social Folk customs of the Sonowal and Thengal Kacharis
by Suravi Gohain Duwarah | 2022 | 50,902 words
This essay studies the customs and folk traditions of the Sonowal and Thengal Kacharis of Assam—both of Mongoloid origin and part of the Tibeto-Burman linguistic family. These tribes possess rich customs, traditions, and oral histories. This study explores the similarities and differences between the Sonowal and Thengal Kachari tribes by emphasizin...
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Part 2.2 - Puberty rites and customs
[Full title: Customs reflected in Life Cycle Rites (2) Puberty rites]
The state of attaining puberty of a girl is celebrated by the Sonowal Kacharis with various customs and rituals. This ceremony is observed as �Nuwai Tuloni Biya� by this ethnic group.
The day, on which the girl has her first monthly courses, she is separated from the other members of her family. There is a custom of separating the girl and keeping her in a place where no male members can see her. Even the father is restricted from entering that room. All these are done in the presence of few women of the village. The ritual in this ceremony is performed by the women.�
‘A dunori is kept is her room and it contains banana, saki and tamul-paan. They have a custom of taking the advice of the astrologer. According to the astrologer’s advice the parents decide when to conduct the marriage. It may be on the seventh, ninth or the eleventh day, as per their convenience. The ceremonious bathing takes place on the fourth day in the presence of the womenfolk.�
A few women are invited on this day to perform the ritual. A place for the ceremonious bathing of the girl is arranged in the eastern corner of the backyard. Three Ikoras or Patidoi are tied together near the �bei�. After having the bathe the girl is given pithaguri, milk with sugar in a plaintain leaf. From that day onwards the girl is allowed to have vegetarian meal for once, in the evening hours. The �Nuwai tuloni biya� is conducted on a convenient day and accordingly the custom of fetching water from a source of water is done on this day.[1] The water is fetched in the presence of a few women along with the mother. There is a custom of bathing the girl with the fetched water under the �bei�. The bei is prepared with the sheaths of banana plant and an egg and a sickle are kept under the �bei�. There is a custom of placing a �Koldil� at the top of the bei, together with a bow and an arrow hitting a �Kopou� bird and a handkerchief is hung there. The womenfolk while fetching water make three clods of mud and cotton thread is tied in three khorikas. The water collected in this manner is used for bathing of the girl. The mother anoints the girl with the paste of turmeric, oil and pulses. Each time paste is anointed in her body the women present gives �uruli�. Besides the mother, the girl is bathed by her relatives also. They have a custom of planting a young banana plant near the �bei�. This represents the husband of the girl. She is made to bow before the plant and take the blessings. Some other customs included in this bathing ceremony are allowing the girl to have �thuria tamul� and the girl is asked to spit the �thuriya tamul� in each corner of the �bei�. The ceremonious bathing of the girl ends here and she is carried to the robha and there she is dressed with new mekhela chadar, ornaments and a mark of vermillion is given on her forehead.
As the celebration of the �nuwai tuloni biya� is a process of letting the girl know regarding the changes in her, body. There is a function of exchanging a konai which is prepared by a woman whose husband is alive. The bundle is made by the towel which is used by the girl in wiping her hair while bathing and two eraguti. These are rolled and tied together to form a �Konai�. The mother exchanges the �konai� from her lap to the girl’s lap. The relatives also do this and the womenfolk have great fun and enjoy this function. Biya naams are sung by the women when they exchange the �konai�. ‘The substance of the tuloni songs is that the girl has attained the age of puberty and that the girl should take on her lap the Konai.[2]
The Sonowal Kacharis have a custom of �Kulaburhi Naach� which is performed in the previous day of the �Nuwai tuloni biya�. Seven elderly women conduct this ceremony. They wear white clothes while performing the rituals of the ceremony. They hang a white cloth and �Gathiyon� is and while doing these songs are sung by them describing to whole process of �gathiyon khunda�. The girls are also dressed up in white clothes. Then one by one the women keep ties kheror muthi and places it in a dola and below that dola they places bamboo stick ripped into seven parts named thareng and paan-tamul is wrapped in a gamusa and this is tied to the bamboo stick. Each woman comes dancing carrying the dola and hand over the items of the dola to the girls lap. The girl returns back the items from her lap to the dola. This is Kula Burhi Naach.[3] They have a folk belief that while attaining puberty the girl may be victim of evil eyes. So in order to get relieved from Sat Sataru the bamboo stick is ripped into seven parts. They also believe that after attaining puberty when the girl is kept in the corner of a room then she may lose her stability. White colour brings stability and hence while clothes are worn. So the custom of performing this dance is a way by which the society tries to present an important matter in an interesting manner.[4]
Footnotes and references:
[2]:
Goswami Prafulla Dutta: Essays on the Folklore and Culture of North-Eastern India, 1986, p 119
[3]:
Informant: Promod Sonowal
[4]:
Sonowal Pramod: Sonowal Kachari Somajor Kula Burhi Naach Jobora, 2017, p 28