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Painsa- burha (a male god), and in any case a death of a child, it is believed to be an
outcome of the curse of malevolent or evil spirit Panchua bhut. Pregnant women is
placed under seven kinds of restrictions – she “(1) should not eat from the end of her
sari or khari chenga (anchar pati khas nak), (2) should not eat rat, (3) should not eat
dhamna snake, (4) should not go to a hut where death has occurred, (5) should not
cross any stream or drain by leaping over it, (6) should not eat fishes caught by trap,
net, or rod and line and (7) should not wear new cloths and buy new pots from the
potter’s hut” (Sinha 2010, p.14). Birth of a child is done with the help of foster
mother who cuts the umbilical cord by an arrowhead. The pollution period generally
runs 3, 5, 7 or 9 days, depend on health and ability of the mother of the child. After
the end of pollution period, in the naata ceremony, father collects water in a pot
from nearby river or pond and then put the pot close to their holy place calls tulsi
pinra (a sacred place where tulsi or Basilium sanctum, a sacred bush is grown and
worshipped). Mother there after gathers the holy dust of their house and keeps it
with vermilion and rice in an earthen pot and branches of vela (Semocarpus anacardium) and then throws these under a deep shrubs. It is believed that by this way both
spirits, i.e. painsa-burhi and painsa-burha, are removed from the house. After this,
uneven pairs of boiled and sun-dried grains (three, five or seven in numbers) are
kept into the water of the same pot for sometimes. Then these grains are collected
after a while and left to dry and smeared with turmeric paste. Later, one dried grain
of rice is put in the pot’s water. If the rice floats, then they believe that the child will
live longer with good health but if the grain of rice subsides, and then it symbolizes
that the child will not survive in near future. After one year of birth, through a ceremony known as nimi tanjana or nimi rena (name giving ceremony), a child is given
his or her name.
10.4.4 Marriage
Among the rites, marriage rite is most interesting in nature. Marriage is arranged on
the basis of acceptance of members of both the families of groom and bride. In this
ceremony, the privilege to select a groom is given to the bride family. The traditional
marriage system panr basa (process of marriage negotiation) is a bit lengthy in
nature. Here first of all few members from groom family go to the bride’s house and
ask to open the negotiation in an indirect way. Then one of the bride’s relatives asks
groom’s relatives the reason of their arrival. In reply, they answer rhetorically that
they have been looking for a bird that destroyed their foods and they believe that the
bird could be found from their house. In return, the bride’s party provides positive
information of her arrival and again asks about the type of bird the groom’s party is
looking for. Here according to age, three types of birds are generally offered – banshita, having 10–14 years of age, bheladagi, having 14–18 years of age and mayurchanda having the age between 18–22 years. Now the relative of groom’s party will
answer in accordance with their nature of demand. If demand meets with the type,
then next level of negotiation will take place, which is about fixing the satisfactory
S. Mukherjee and U. S. Malik
Painsa- burha (a male god), and in any case a death of a child, it is believed to be an
outcome of the curse of malevolent or evil spirit Panchua bhut. Pregnant women is
placed under seven kinds of restrictions – she “(1) should not eat from the end of her
sari or khari chenga (anchar pati khas nak), (2) should not eat rat, (3) should not eat
dhamna snake, (4) should not go to a hut where death has occurred, (5) should not
cross any stream or drain by leaping over it, (6) should not eat fishes caught by trap,
net, or rod and line and (7) should not wear new cloths and buy new pots from the
potter’s hut” (Sinha 2010, p.14). Birth of a child is done with the help of foster
mother who cuts the umbilical cord by an arrowhead. The pollution period generally
runs 3, 5, 7 or 9 days, depend on health and ability of the mother of the child. After
the end of pollution period, in the naata ceremony, father collects water in a pot
from nearby river or pond and then put the pot close to their holy place calls tulsi
pinra (a sacred place where tulsi or Basilium sanctum, a sacred bush is grown and
worshipped). Mother there after gathers the holy dust of their house and keeps it
with vermilion and rice in an earthen pot and branches of vela (Semocarpus anacardium) and then throws these under a deep shrubs. It is believed that by this way both
spirits, i.e. painsa-burhi and painsa-burha, are removed from the house. After this,
uneven pairs of boiled and sun-dried grains (three, five or seven in numbers) are
kept into the water of the same pot for sometimes. Then these grains are collected
after a while and left to dry and smeared with turmeric paste. Later, one dried grain
of rice is put in the pot’s water. If the rice floats, then they believe that the child will
live longer with good health but if the grain of rice subsides, and then it symbolizes
that the child will not survive in near future. After one year of birth, through a ceremony known as nimi tanjana or nimi rena (name giving ceremony), a child is given
his or her name.
10.4.4 Marriage
Among the rites, marriage rite is most interesting in nature. Marriage is arranged on
the basis of acceptance of members of both the families of groom and bride. In this
ceremony, the privilege to select a groom is given to the bride family. The traditional
marriage system panr basa (process of marriage negotiation) is a bit lengthy in
nature. Here first of all few members from groom family go to the bride’s house and
ask to open the negotiation in an indirect way. Then one of the bride’s relatives asks
groom’s relatives the reason of their arrival. In reply, they answer rhetorically that
they have been looking for a bird that destroyed their foods and they believe that the
bird could be found from their house. In return, the bride’s party provides positive
information of her arrival and again asks about the type of bird the groom’s party is
looking for. Here according to age, three types of birds are generally offered – banshita, having 10–14 years of age, bheladagi, having 14–18 years of age and mayurchanda having the age between 18–22 years. Now the relative of groom’s party will
answer in accordance with their nature of demand. If demand meets with the type,
then next level of negotiation will take place, which is about fixing the satisfactory
S. Mukherjee and U. S. Malik