Draupadi Murmu Santhali, women used to wear earthen jewellery: If you put color in the Baha festival, you have to marry, sit in Daura and fill the demand

Draupadi Murmu is going to become the 15th President of the country. Murmu will become the country’s second woman and the first tribal president.

Draupadi Murmu comes from the Santhal, an ancient tribe of India. The Santhal community is basically settled in Jharkhand, Odisha, West Bengal, Assam, Tripura. In terms of population, it is the largest tribe of Jharkhand. Let us tell you that if Draupadi Murmu becomes the President, what can change in the ways of Rashtrapati Bhavan. Woman Bhaskar has talked to Sneha Murmu about this and has come to know about her living style, manners and food habits.

Folk tales of the Santhals claim that they came from Hihiri, who was later identified as Ahuri of Hazaribagh district. At one time it used to be a dense forest. From Ahuri they spread to Chota Nagpur, then to Jhalda, Patkum and South, the people who speak the Santhali language.

what is the dressing style of santhals

Talking to Woman Bhaskar, Sneha Murmu explains that Santhali mostly wear clothes made of handloom (naturally made clothes). Boys wear kancha (dhoti). On the other hand, girls wear a saree made of a material like cotton, which is called Jhal or Futa saree. Although some people have changed their dress after settling in the cities, but still give importance to their traditional clothes in any wedding or festival.

Traditionally, Santhali women wear sari with checks of colored threads, on weddings or special occasions, they wear red sari with similar designs.

Santhali women used to wear jewelery made of clay earlier

In earlier times, Santhali women used to wear jewelery made from clay, which they made themselves. But, gradually women started wearing silver jewelery (Rupa). Churi, earrings all have different names in the Santhali language.

Santhali women used to wear self-made clay jewellery, now silver is the trend.

Painting on the walls to decorate the house

Some designs were made on the walls of most of the houses of the tribal society, which in the olden times it was made to decorate the house. Once in a year or on Makar Sankranti or Diwali, some designs are made on the walls of the house. Patterns of this design are difficult to find on the internet or in books. These Santhali women have their own creativity or they learn from their childhood at home.

To beautify the walls of the house, some such designs are made by Santhali women.

Connection with nature, life depends on plants

The Santhali are basically dependent on agriculture for their livelihood. Sneha says that even today there are many villages in Jharkhand, in whose house only clothes are bought from the market. They depend on nature for everything else. Even today many people buy clothes instead of grains.

What are the customs and main festivals

Santhali do not worship idols, they worship nature and their ancestors. Only a man of the house does the worship and he teaches the method of worship to his sons. Apart from that worship is done during Baaha festival. In it, five big people of the community, who are called Modhod in Santhali language, perform this puja. On this day, people of the Santhal tribal community worship arrows and bows. They dance to the beat of drums and drums and pour water on each other. Apart from this, the process of Baaha festival in Santhals starts before Holi. In different villages, on different dates, special events of nature worship are held on Baaha, Baha means festival of flowers. On this day, people of the Santhal tribal community worship arrows and bows. They dance to the beat of drums and drums and pour water on the relationship in which the joke goes on.

Santhali women dancing to the beat of drums and drums on the occasion of Baaha festival.

Daura means sitting in the basket and fills the demand

Sneha says that in our marriage, the demand is filled by placing a girl in a basket ie ‘Dura’, different from others. Apart from this, marriage mangalsutra is not worn here. Here we wear an iron bangle in the left hand of the bride and groom, which is called ‘Medhhe Sankom’ in the Santhali language. After marriage in Santhal, the girl will not wear vermilion or mangalsutra, but wearing this iron bangle is considered important, because this bangle is a sign of suhaag.

By sitting in the dura, something is fulfilled like this, the ritual of filling the demand.

If a boy puts color on a virgin girl, then he has to marry

If any young man puts color on a virgin girl, then the panchayat of the society gets her married to the girl. If the proposal of marriage is not accepted by the girl, then the society can punish the youth for putting all the property of the young man in the name of the girl. After the puja, he distributes Sakhua, Mahua and Sal flowers. With this worship, the process of marriage marriage begins in the Santhal society. There is no dowry practice in the Santhal society. When a guest comes to the house, he fills Kasha’s lota with water and lets him wash his feet and people follow it even after living in the city.