By H H Mohrmen
In spite of all the controversies surrounding the Nartiang temple, Durga Puja observances ended peacefully and Shakespeare’s famous saying, “All’s well that ends well,” rings true yet again. The conflict at the oldest Durga Temple in the state, which earlier seemed as like it would affect the celebration of the annual festival, ended on a positive note. The issue came to the public domain when the two groups took the matter to the court and it later took an ugly turn and became a law and order situation. And as the saying goes, all publicity is good publicity, this incident also provided us the opportunity to better understand Hinduism and of course the worship of Durga and Shiv by the Pnars in Nartiang.
Like any burning issue in today’s world the incident also became a subject of debate on various social media platforms and it provided the opportunity to shed light on the fact that Hinduism arrived in the hills much before Christianity; in fact more than four hundred years earlier to be precise. Some find this truth difficult to accept but because Hinduism is a non-proselytising religion, it remains confined only amongst the people of Nartiang. And as mentioned in my previous article, the unique aspect of Hinduism in Nartiang is that it blends with the traditional religion, hence I call it the worship of Durga in Nartiang; a synthesis of Hinduism with Pnar culture and tradition.
I interviewed Uttam Deshmukhya many times during my study and it was from him and the late Dontha Dkhar the then Pator (an office in the traditional governance which is subordinate to the Daloi) of the Elaka Nartiang that I learned about this unique blend. And I learned about the significance of the Temple which is considered to be one of the fifty-one Shakti-peeth from RS Mushahary the former Governor of Meghalaya.
The followers of Niamtre in Nartiang have the unique distinction of observing both their religious tradition as prescribed in their traditional Niamtre culture, and celebrating certain Pujas set by the adopted religion they have inherited from their Kings. In other words Pujas are not the only religious rites and rituals observed by the people of Nartiang. Apart from the various rituals people also perform sacrifices to appease the tribal goddess ka Kupli and her husband u Yale, the Thunder god (u Pyrthat), the Shillong deity (u ’lei Shyllong), the innumerable nature gods (ki laiphew Ryngkaw ki laiphew Basa), and other gods and goddesses in the Khasi Pnar pantheon. It is also interesting to note that all rites of passage from birth to death are performed according to Pnar tribal traditions that they inherited from their ancestors.
To invoke these tribal gods and goddesses, people use the usual animal sacrifice of the Pnars comprising roosters, pigs and goats etc. These sacrifices are performed by the Langdoh and other religious heads of the Elaka, whereas the various Pujas were performed by the priest (wamon), a descendant of the first priest, since the reign of the Jaintia King when the Durga temple was first established in the village.
The other unique feature of the tradition adopted by the followers of Niamtre in the village is that people accept a special local calendar which allows them to pay obeisance to the different gods and goddesses they worship. The calendar is divided into different seasons in which there are times for observing pujas as per Hindu tradition and also seasons for performing sacrifices for the traditional tribal gods and goddesses of their ancestors. Since time immemorial, tradition has it that during puja seasons, all the sacrifices to the local deities were put on hold and similarly no pujas were performed during the seasons earmarked for performing sacrifices to appease the tribal gods and goddesses. So there is no room for conflict between the rituals of the traditional Niamtre religion and the pujas, because the season for paying obeisance varies and persons responsible for performing these religious rites are also different.
According to Uttam Deshmukhya, (the wamon) of the Durga temple; (who speaks in chaste Pnar, the four pujas that the community celebrate are Holi, Bishari (Manasha puja), and Kartik puja – Durga is the most important and the biggest of them all. Like other festivals celebrated by the tribals, the Durga Puja is also greeted with a month-long drum beating by the Dhulias before the actual puja. Although the Daloi and other traditional heads of the village do not have a significant role to play in the actual rituals of the puja, but by virtue of the Daloi being the representative of the erstwhile Jaintia monarch in the Elaka, he is responsible for arranging all supplies needed for the puja.
Of the more than hundred goats offered, the most important goats offered by the Daloi for the sacrifice are the King’s goat (ka blang syiem), the Daloi’s goat (ka blang Daloi), and the midnight goat (ka blang syniaw) The midnight goat, as the term itself implies, is a special offering performed at midnight on the second day, and nobody is allowed in the temple during the sacrifice but the priest alone. The goat is dressed like a human with a turban on its head, a dhoti, and earrings (kyndiam) on both its ears. Finally a mask of a human face is placed on the goat’s face before its head is chopped off. The priest informed that the midnight goat symbolizes human that the kings used to sacrifice during the days of yore. To the left of the sanctum sanctorum there is a hole in the ground and the priest explained that the goat’s head is chopped off in such a way that the head rolls down from the hole to the Myntang river the same way as when a human was sacrificed.
Unlike the Durga idol used elsewhere, the idol of the Durga in Nartiang is always made of the banana tree, the then Daloi Mon Dkhar explained thus: “The banana tree is like a second mother to us; it provides human beings with banana, which in fact is the first solid food provided to a new born baby. The banana is human’s second food, next to the milk from mother’s breast. That is why Durga is always made of a banana tree in Nartiang.”
The offering that people bring with them to the temple is also uniquely traditional; it consists of rice carried in bronze containers, one betel nut, five pieces of pan leaves and a few coins. The other amazing thing about the Durga puja is the chanting of hymns by the Dhulias and some village folks the hardamuid. These mantras are not in Pnar, but in a strange language that they have memorised and passed on orally from one generation to the next.
On the last day each family performs the ‘siang ka pha,’ to offer food, vegetables and fruits to their dead ancestors. This tradition is akin to the “ka siang ka pha” performed at the onset of the Behdieñkhlam festival of the people of Jowai. It is also strange that although the Pnar of Nartiang worship Durga, one cannot see a single picture or idol of the goddess or for that matter any gods and goddesses in the Hindu pantheon in any houses of the villagers at Nartiang.
The two temples in the village, that of the goddess Durga and Lord Shiva, are also exceptional in their own way, with a unique Khasi Pnar architecture, similar to the “Iung Lyntur” or the nearest example which is “Ka Iingsad” at Smit village with the roof resembling a boat turned upside down.
The problem that has arisen recently is because Uttam Deshmukhya the wamon has died and his son from a Pnar mother is supposed to take over as the new wamon. This was objected to by some group who brought in a new priest to run the temples. Uttam had informed me that his predecessors the Deshmukhya were appointed priests to look after the temples by none other than the Jaintia king and they continue to do so till date. Hopefully the issue is resolved once and for all and unlike my Christian friends who hope that the followers of Niamtre would soon convert to their religion, I wish that these followers of the indigenous faith (Niamtre) prosper and keep this unique tradition that we are all proud of for posterity.