Totemism in different tribes in Jharkhand State of India.

Sacredness of the totems is unique only with the indigenous people of Jharkhand.

Totem also protects the equilibrium of the biodiversity.

By

Dr. Nitish Priyadarshi

Despite knowing about biodiversity’s importance for a long time, human activity has been causing massive extinctions. Some 10-30% of the mammal, bird and amphibian species are threatened with extinction, due to human actions. We have to save them. Tribes of Jharkhand state of India are doing this with the help of totemism.

A totem is a being, object, or symbol representing an animal or plant that serves as an emblem of a group of people, such as a family, clan, group, lineage, or tribe, reminding them of their ancestry (or mythic past). In kinship and descent, if the apical ancestor of a clan is nonhuman, it is called a totem. Normally this belief is accompanied by a totemic myth. They have been around for many years.

The term totem is derived from the Ojibwa word ototeman, meaning "one's brother-sister kin." The grammatical root, ote, signifies a blood relationship between brothers and sisters who have the same mother and who may not marry each other.

Although the term is of Ojibwe origin in North America, totemistic beliefs are not limited to Native Americans and Aboriginal peoples in Canada. Similar totem-like beliefs have been historically present in societies throughout much of the world, including Africa, Arabia, Asia, Australia, Eastern Europe, Western Europe, and the Arctic polar region.

Animal Totems that also included supernatural creatures of mythology and legend all had a special meaning, characteristic and significance. Animal Totems are Animal Spirits that can be called upon, by an individual or a tribe, for its special powers to serve as a guardian or protector when facing adversity.

Native beliefs further explain that a totem animal is one that is with you for life, both in the physical and spiritual world. Though people may identify with different animal guides throughout their lifetimes, it is this one totem animal that acts as the main guardian spirit. Killing of certain animals or eating them is tabooed in some clans. Some tribes bear sign thereof. The totem animal, when it dies is ceremonially mourned and buried as a member of the clan concerned.

In other words totem is a belief in a spiritual association between a clan/lineage/ moiety and a bird, animal or a natural phenomenon. The anthropologists of modern time look at totemism as a recurring way of conceptualizing relationships between kinship groups and of the natural world. A number of tribal groups of middle and south India believe that they are related to some plants and animals that are sacred to them. The Ho of Jharkhand state has clans (killis) and each killi bears a totemic object that is sacred to them. The Gond, the Munda and the Oraon also have totemic clans.

The Mundas have got the totem Soi meaning Sol fish, Nag (serpant), Hassa (goose), similarly the Santhals have the totem Murmu (a forest based wild cow), Chande (a lizard), Boyar (a fish), similarly for a Ho Hansda ( a wild goose), Bage (tiger), Jamuda (spring) and Tiyu (fox). During the common lineage festival known as Dharm puja, every lineage member has to undergo rituals of fast to worship his own totem.

Every climatic region has its own trees, animals and rocks peculiar to it own. The animal totems in Chota Nagpur region of Jharkhand state consists of those animals which can be found in the plateau and from which various endogamous totemistic groups have originated. The totemistic names are from those animals generally found in the tract, such as Karkha (the cow), Tirki (a young mouse), Lakra (the tiger), Kindu (the ‘Saur’ fish), Toppo (a small bird), Kerketta (the quail), Khalko ( a fish), Ekka (the tortoise), Gidhi (the eagle), Tiga (the field mouse), Alia ( the dog), Hartu (the monkey), Tatenga (the lizard) Dhidma ( a bird), Lapoung ( a small bird), Minz ( Eel), Barwa ( wild hog), Kachhap ( tortoise), Xaxa (crow), Xess (corn), Bakula (crane), Kokro ( cock), Bando (fox), Rawna (vulture), Beshra (a name of tree), Ckigalo ( Jackal), Orgoda ( hawk), Godo ( name of a water creature), Kuhu ( Cuckoo), Kannhar ( vulture bird), Baghwar (the tiger) and Khoya ( jackal). 

The Koras of Santhal Paraganas claim to have come from Nagpur. Another section assigns the origin of their totem Barda to their eating of the human placenta hung from the branch of the Barda tree, while out on hunting. Similarly other sections have different versions of their origins and the origin of their totems.

Special interests attaches to the fact that the Kharwars of South Lohardaga regard the Khar grass as the totem of their tribe, and will not cut or injure it while growing. In Kharia community the totem objects are not injured or eaten.

According to different experts, the Santhals have more than 100 totemistic clans. Hos have more than 50, Mundas 64 and Bhils 24, many castes in Orissa, the Kurmi, the Kumhar, the Bhumia, who have advanced in culture in recent years are named after the serpent, pumpkin, jackal, and other totems. The Katkaris of Bombay, the Gond tribes of M.P. and of Rajasthan also have clan names after the fauna and flora of their habitat. It is clear that all these castes and tribes were sometimes organized into totem system.

As with the names of the animals so with the names of trees. Some trees are considered sacred and is worshipped in two forms, namely the worship of the tree itself in its natural form and the worship of the tree spirit. The names of trees, which are quite natural, are only those that grow, in this plateau, namely the ‘Sal’ which is associated with the great festival, the Sarhul, Udbaru (the kusum tree), lojo (the tamarind), Bari ( the ficus Judica), and the Kujur which are minor jungle trees and creepers, not to be found elsewhere.

Love for forest and nature is natural for the tribes of Jharkhand state of India from the ancient times. Every village has a small patch of forests called ‘Jahera’ which is place of worship for them. It is quite right for them to worship forests, because their entire living depends on forests. If forests are destroyed they will loose their source of food, medicines, fruits and fodder for their animals and they will lose their source of cooking and warming themselves.

Forests have a considerable importance in the life of the tribes. In India forests and tribes are inseparable. The tribal culture developed, and in spite of large scale depredations of the forests, still to-day thrives in the lap of nature.

The idea and concept behind Totemism is that people have a spiritual connection or kinship with creatures or objects in nature, making the practice very similar to Animism. Animism is a belief based on the spiritual idea that the universe, and all natural objects within the universe, has souls or spirits. It is believed that souls or spirits exist not only in humans but also in animals, plants, trees, rocks and all natural forces. The concepts of Totemism, Animism, Ritualism and Shamanism should all be considered to gain a full understanding of the religious beliefs of the Native American tribes that included Animal totems.

Totemism is a complex of varied ideas and ways of behaviour based on a worldview drawn from nature. There are ideological, mystical, emotional, reverential, and genealogical relationships of social groups or specific persons with animals or natural objects, the so-called totems.

The Birhor, a people that were traditionally residents of the jungle of Chota Nagpur Plateau in Jharkhand state (India), are organized into patrilineal, exogamous totem groups. According to one imperfect list of 37 clans, 12 are based on animals, 10 on plants, 8 on Hindu castes and localities, and the rest on objects. The totems are passed on within the group, and tales about the tribe's origins suggest that each totem had a fortuitous connection with the birth of the ancestor of the clan.

The Birhor think that there is a temperamental or physical similarity between the members of the clan and their totems. Prohibitions or taboos are sometimes cultivated to an extreme degree. In regard to eating, killing, or destroying them, the clan totems are regarded as if they were human members of the group. Moreover, it is believed that an offense against the totems through a breach of taboo will produce a corresponding decrease in the size of the clan. If a person comes upon a dead totem animal, he must smear his forehead with oil or a red dye, but he must not actually mourn over the animal; he also does not bury it.

Those observances of sacredness of their totems are unique only with the indigenous people of Jharkhand. There by they not only protect the equilibrium of the biodiversity, but also continue the wisdom and collective excellence related to forest and their protection of biodiversity. 

River on fire in Jharkhand State of India.

Fire is also coming out through hand-pumps.

By

Dr. Nitish Priyadarshi

The haunting inscription that marks the gates of hell in Dante’s Inferno could well be true for coalfields located in Jharkhand in Eastern India. For, the underground fires that have been raging in the coalfields of these areas over several decades are now beginning to engulf its thickly inhabited areas as well.

Earlier it was Jharia town now the new areas are under threat. Recently two major incidents took place near Bokaro and Dhanbad town where underground fire erupted on the surface. One was through hand-pump and other was in middle of a local river near Dhanbad.

Jharkhand has been the home to some bizarre happenings in the recent days. The most freaky and interesting in recent days is the Katri River water which has been bubbling with fire, literally!

Panic gripped in Katras area near Dhanbad when fire erupted in middle of the Katri river. It was first case of such eruption in river. Some local kids spotted fire arising from within the water and boiling it from under causing violent ripples in the place. The fire was only just over a foot tall and hence was not dangerous yet. Alarmed adults reached the spot.

It is all due to either underground mine fire which is now slowly engulfing the entire area or due to Coal Bed Methane gas (CBM) which is gushing out on the surface in many pockets of the affected areas. Entire area is rich in CBM gas.

Methane (CH₄) is a gas formed as part of the process of coal formation – coalification. When coal is mined methane is released from the coal seam and the surrounding disturbed rock strata. Methane can also be released as a result of natural erosion or faulting or due to deep boring to trap groundwater or mine blasting. In Bokaro and Dhanbad area deep borings are going on recklessly for groundwater exploitation. These has resulted rock fractures helping methane gas trapped beneath to escape to the atmosphere through such fractures and resulting in surface fire.

Methane is highly combustible – its release can have serious implications for the safety of mine operations. It is also a potent greenhouse gas (GHG) – 23 times more harmful than carbon dioxide (CO2).

Methane is released during the process of extracting coal in both surface and underground mining. The released methane then mixes with air, which becomes highly explosive if methane concentration levels reach 5-15%. Methane explosions are devastating, causing significant loss of life and damage to property.

Such is the intensity of the fires that even a mid-summer sun pales in the smoky haze that they generate. After dusk, the flames take on morbid hues. “Total area including Jharia town resembles a cremation ground at night”. 

Causes of Coal Fires:

Coal fires are a natural occurrence and as widespread as forest fires. Besides the blaze in Jharkhand’s coalfield areas, the coal fire of Indonesia is regarded as the wildest on the earth.

An organic and highly carbonaceous material, coal-when exposed to moisture and oxygen- tends to catch fire immediately. Coal absorbs oxygen at all temperatures with slight rise in temperature. If ventilation is not adequate to take away the heat thus formed, more oxygen will be absorbed, and more will be the rise in temperature. This process continues till it catches fire. Reaction rate is doubled for every 10 degree rise in temperature. This phenomenon of spontaneous combustion is the main natural cause of coal fires. Lightning, forest fires or frictional heat generated during churning inside the Earth’s crust can also ignite coal fires. Regarding Jharkahd research says that no single reason can be attributed to the fire. Coals of the this area are not very prone to auto-oxidation. 

An unidentified object seen above Ranchi city in India.

It resembles either to meteorites or unidentified flying object.

by

Dr. Nitish Priyadarshi

Mysterious object was seen on 19th April, 2013 on the sky in remote South West corner of Ranchi city in Jharkhand State of India, just after the  thunder storm in the evening. It resembles either to meteorites or unidentified flying object. It was  slowly coming down and was visible for few seconds only. I got these pictures while I was taking photographs of wild storm above Ranchi city.

Remains of old structures of water supply system in Ranchi city of India.

 

It was built in the year 1925-30 by British officials.

By

Dr. Nitish Priyadarshi

 

 

Above are the pictures of the old structures of water supply system in Ranchi build by the British officials during 1925-30s on Ranchi-Kanke road near Potpoto river .They identified and developed big water catchments area to trap rain water in Kanke for daily use. This water reservoir still exists and it is the best example of rain water harvesting during that period. Kanke Dam didn’t come into existence. Water was lifted from the reservoir passed through giant boilers like structure. As the concept of this big boiler is not clear it may have been used as the tools for lifting water from the nearby source. After lifting the water from the reservoir it was poured into tanks made of different chambers for further treatment.  Water was then supplied to British official’s quarters and residence of the area. At the time of rainy season surplus water was allowed to flow in Potpoto River flowing near by. At present many junk boilers of that time are left in an open space.

Many different water treatment methods were used in early days. Methods include the boiling of water over fire, heating of water under the sun, dipping of heated iron into water and filtration through gravel and sand.

The above chambers shown in the picture must have been filled with gravel and sand for the filtration and also sedimentation and finally the water was distributed either through pumping or with the use of a horse and cart after chlorination.

Earlier two factors combine to render the problem of sanitation less acute in Ranchi than in any other districts. In the first place the natural drainage, owing to the configuration of the ground, was excellent, and in the second place, there were no very large villages and the bazaars. The main problem was the supply of good drinking water. The town of Ranchi was having plenty of good wells, and the water supply was sufficient for the population before the town became the temporary head quarters of the local government in 1912. The increase in the population made it necessary to consider the possibility of a water supply scheme, but the schemes which had been prepared were too costly to be undertaken. Two small pumping stations were erected, one at Ranchi to supply water to Government House and the quarters occupied by officers, and the other at Hinoo to supply water to the quarters occupied by clerks. The villagers relied for their water supply on rivers flowing through Ranchi town, tanks, and danris, or springs which were found in the low-lying paddy fields while at the more important bazaars and villages the District Board constructed masonry wells. Many more such wells were needed, and an increase in their number would have improved greatly the health of the district, by removing one of the chief causes of dysentery and the other bowel complaints.

Jharkhand is today facing huge water crisis. There is an enormous unmet demand for water. Even as clear water sources are being viciously attacked by pollution and overexploitation, hardly any river (Harmu, Potpoto, Jumar, Swarnrekha) or groundwater aquifer near Ranchi city today escapes the perils of pollution or groundwater depletion.

Before independence survey was done by few geologist to identify site for constructing water reservoirs. J. B. Auden in year 1946 visited the Ranchi plateau to explore the possibilities of obtaining required quantity of water from well or tubewells for the proposed Military Headquarters site. He pointed out that the Archaean rocks were unsuitable for tubewells and open wells which may get dry up during summer. He suggested for surface water use.

Ranchi was receiving sufficient rainfall, on an average there were 80 rainy days ( i.e. days with rainfall of 2.5 mm or more) in a year. British officials may have decided to build small reservoirs to trap this rain water for their daily use. Above mentioned reservoir is one of them. Even the local zamindars (land lords) understand the importance of the ponds and lakes and they constructed many village ponds in late 18^th century and early 19^th century. One was made by Jagatpal Singh in the Pithoria village near to Ranchi, which still exist.

Earlier famines and different water borne diseases in Ranchi dist. must have motivated the British officials and local zamindars to construct such reservoirs. There was severe drought in 1820, 1823,1827 and 1837. Since 1888 there have been three famines, in 1896-97, in 1899-1900 and in 1907-08. Regarding different water borne disease Cholera and other diseases were rampant in the area.

In 1854 it was discovered that a cholera epidemic spread through water. The outbreak seemed less severe in areas where sand filters were installed. British scientist John Snow found that the direct cause of the outbreak was water pump contamination by sewage water. He applied chlorine to purify the water, and this paved the way for water disinfection. Since the water in the pump had tasted and smelled normal, the conclusion was finally drawn that good taste and smell alone do not guarantee safe drinking water. This discovery led to governments starting to install municipal water filters (sand filters and chlorination), and hence the first government regulation of public water.

In normal years the number of deaths in Ranchi from cholera was small. The natural drainage of the district was excellent and it was only after a very weak monsoon that the wells and the danris or springs in the terraced rice-lands, failed to give a supply of water, which with care is potable. In 1908 the disease broke out in epidemic form, both in the famine area to the west of the district and in the town of Ranchi, and the death in this area rose to 7.01 per mile. In 1912 there were 347 deaths in all. There was a virulent outbreak in the village of Hatma Karamtoli, near Ranchi, which caused 27 deaths out of 40 cases in a period of three weeks.

Early in 19^th century dysentery and diarrhoea were common and caused considerable mortality during the hot and rainy seasons. Bad drinking water was a principal cause of these diseases and little care was taken to keep the tanks and danris, which formed the water supply of rural areas, free from pollution.

Artificial lakes and tanks were formed at some places by erecting embankments across the beds of the rivers. The largest of these are the Ranchi Lake excavated in the year 1842 by a British agent, Colonel Onsely, the lake near the former Maharaja’s palace at Ratu and one near Toto.

Nature has been issuing warning signals like steep decline in water table, stoppage of base flow in streams and drying up of a large number of open wells and drilled bore wells.

In Jharkhand water underground few years ago had remained a precious resource to be tapped in times of need when all other sources of water had failed. This is no longer the case. The reckless way in which the people of Jharkhand are drilling more and more number of wells, drill deeper and deeper into the ground and withdraw water without exercising any restraint for domestic and commercial buildings and flats, shows gross abuse. Great damage has already been caused and any further abuse of this resource will result in water crisis.

Formerly the drinking water requirement of Jharkhand State was met by the construction of tanks, ponds and wells by the people themselves who also take care to keep these structures in good repair.

Tanks, ponds have been allowed to fill with silt and remain almost dry during the summer season and with no source of recharge, well become dry just after the winter season. You can easily imagine the situation in the peak summer season. Drying trend starts from February itself. Land in many parts is become bare due to depletion of ground water.
In the type of meteorological conditions prevailing in Jharkhand where rainfall is restricted to about three to four months in a year. Major dams are not capable of storing more than 10 to 20 % of the rain water that falls in their catchment area because of the filling up of silt and clay from last several years which has gradually shallowed the dams. The annual rainfall of Jharkhand is 1200 mm.

The State of Jharkhand, although claims to be a store house of minerals of India, is not so reach in water resources. Most of the area is occupied by the hard rock, which is in general protracted drought prone areas.

Taking note of the pattern of rainfall and geology of the state, water conservation through numerous large and small ponds is a much better alternative for storing rain water as it was done in earlier days.  Idea is that catch rain water where it falls, store it and make use of it for your needs.

Reference:

Kumar, N. 1970. Ranchi district Gazetteer.

http://www.lenntech.com/processes/disinfection/history/history-drinking-water-treatment.htm

http://www.lenntech.com/history-water-treatment.htm