Posts filed under ‘Jiuntia’
Update: Following is a report from TOI:
BHUBANESWAR: The traditional form of worshipping Goddess Durga through dance and music has started. Young unmarried girls (locally called kuanris) in Nuapada district are performing ‘Dalkhai’ – a traditional form exclusively performed during the puja – to worship the goddess.
Dalkhai, though typical to western Odisha, is slowly losing its popularity. However, the entire Komna and parts of Khariar blocks in Nuapada have kept up the tradition. The dance is performed for 36 hours to the tunes of dhol (trumpet) and muhuri (flute).
Every year, the dance is performed at a chosen spot, preferably near a river. The ritual starts in the early morning on Saptami. Young dancers, accompanied by musicians, collect sacred sand from the river bank and make idol of the goddess. They place the idol under a tree and worship it. After the rituals are over, they start dancing till evening the next day ( Ashtami). During the process, performers have to fast.
According to Bana Khatri, a resident of Komna, this is a much coveted moment for girls here. “The tradition dates back to primitive days and young girls feel sacred after worshipping Durga and dancing before Her,” said Khatri.
The dance form, which is also performed publicly, can be traced back to the old tradition practiced in Nuapada when untrained dancers used to perform in order to appease the Goddess. Considered as a folk dance, Dalkhai captivates audience if performed in the original form.
A senior villager, Pitambar Letkabar, said over years, the original dance form has been distorted. “One needs great devotion to perform this dance. The young girls perform the dance joyously and devotedly,” said Letkabar.
Following report is from the Sambad:
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October 23, 2012 at 2:09 pm sanjibkarmee
Following report is from the Pioneer:
There is a deliberate attempt by the Government of Odisha to suppress the Kosli language and culture, alleged Kosal Kranti Dal (KKD) working president Baidyanath Mishra at a Press conference here on Wednesday.
He said teachers and para-teachers are being recruited to appease the minor ethic groups, including Bengali and Telugu, in the State whereas Kosli spoken by almost one and a half crore people is neither given official status nor is any step being taken for its growth due to a high degree of inferiority complex on the Government’s part.
Mishra said thousand of books in Kosli using Odia script have been published in different branches of Kosli literature, but the Government does not have any affirmative stance for promoting the rich literature. This “step-motherly attitude” towards Kosli, coupled with acute regional imbalance and other parochial considerations, has led to discontentment among the people concerned and a strong opinion to split the State.
“The recent activities of the Government and some NGOs have posed a threat to Kosli language and culture,” he alleged and called upon the people of ‘Kosalanchal’ to remain alert. The strategy of “Utkalisation of the Kosal areas” is a calculated one, but the Government has not been successful in the past nor would it be successful in future because of its ill motive as negative action would only bring negative result, he remarked.
Mishra was launching Kosli No-1, a music album brought out by Karan Raj and his young team. Congratulating all those involved in the project, he advised them to adopt the twin strategy of promotion and safeguard for their language and culture.
Editor of Paschimanchala Surama Mishra was the guest of honour on the occasion. Sagar Singh Manki, Ram Chandra Amat, Jai Singh Singh and Hrudanand Behera were among others present.
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December 22, 2011 at 1:14 pm sanjibkarmee
Following report is from http://www.dainika.com:
Sambalpur: On the auspicious day of Ashwina Sukla Pakhya Astami today, Bhai Juintia is being celebrated across western Odisha.
All the markets in the western region of the state were crowded yesterday, with sisters buying the needful items for today’s puja.
On this day both married and unmarried sisters pray for long life and well-being of their brothers, by fasting the whole day without water known as Nirjala Upabasa.
A group of sisters dressed up in new attire, gather at an open space in their localities and worship Goddess Durga decorated with mango leaves, wild plants and flowers. Earlier in the day, bunches of duba (108 strands of green grass) wrapped up with freshly plucked sal leaf are prepared for each brother and the Goddess. Each bundle consists of 108 unbroken rice (non-boiled rice) also and tied up with a colourful juintia (sacred thread). Then they offer all the bundles along with prasad like jugar (made of puffed rice), puri (made of flour) and tikhri (made of mung dal) and varieties of fruits to the Goddess.
In the wee hours of next day i.e Nabami, the sisters take a holy dip in a nearby tank or river and perform ritual near the water body by offering slices of cucumbers and chopped kathi (short sal sticks used for brushing teeth).
Back home, sisters break their fast after touching her brother with the duba bunch from head to toe and presenting him prasad and gifts.
For married sisters, their brothers invite them to their parents house to celebrate Bhai Juintia and Dussehra.
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October 16, 2011 at 6:08 am sanjibkarmee
Following report is from merinews:
BHAI JIUNTIA is a festival which celebrates the bond of affection between brothers and sisters. It is a day when sisters hold fast for the long life and prosperity of their brothers. This ceremony is one of the most interesting and loving ceremonies performed in Western Orissa (Koshalanchal). We can say it is the tribal version of Rakshya Bandhan. This festival falls on the eighth day of bright fortnight in the month of ‘Aswina’ which comes generally in the month of October.
The name Bhai Jiuntia suggests a bond of protection. Bhai means brothers and Jiuntia is a holy thread which binds the relation very tight. On this auspicious day, sisters pray to god for the protection of their brother from all evils. Meanwhile, brothers make promise to their sisters to protect them from all harms and troubles. In this occasion, sisters tie the thread called Jiuntia on their brothers’ neck and pray for their well-being.
During the Nabaratri, on the eighth day of fortnight, Jiuntia festival is observed by the sisters. On that day, they hold full day fast without taking a single drop of water and in the evening devotees offer their prayers to goddess Durga. Offering seven types of flowers and fruits, one hundred and eight holy grass and rice, coconut etc, they burn candle and started mass worship. Next day early morning they tie the thread called Jiuntia on the neck of their brothers.
This festival is an example of mass worshiping. There is a place called ‘Saintala’ in the Bolangir district, where more than three thousand devotees worship goddess Durga on the occasion of Bhai Jiuntia. So this ritual not only strengthens the bond of love between brother and sister and family but also it brings an opportunity of socialisation. “We have a committee which organised durga puja on the occasion of Bhai Jiuntia,” said Surendra Singh Bhoi, the president of puja committee.
“There is no such evidence from when this festival was started, but people belief that if they hold this festival goddess Durga will help their children. Thus they observed the Jiuntia fest,” said Ramachandra Tripathy, the local priest of Bolangir town.
“This is the age of science but we still belief that behind every success and happiness there is an invisible power. And we should respect that power,” said Dr Jyotirmayee Sahu, a devotee who hold fast.
This year Bhai Jiuntia festival was observed on October 14. Besides Bhai Jiuntia another Jiuntia called Pua Jiuntia is also observed in western Orissa. Pua Jiuntia is generally observed by mothers to invoke the grace of lord ‘Dutibahana’ for the long life and happiness of their brothers.
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October 28, 2010 at 5:47 pm sanjibkarmee
Kosal Discussion and Development Forum 