Once again, the Durga festival has come
around and brisk preparations are going on in the Durga Mandir that is situated on top of a hill at Nartiang village in West Jaintia Hills. After the Doloi and the Durbar give their consent, preparations for the puja are carried out by the custodians of the temple.
However, after the demise of the Nartiang priests, Uttam Deshmukh in 2017 and Moloy Deshmukh in 2018, a priest was invited from outside to perform the rituals last year. The acting doloi of Nartiang invited Swoppon Bhattacharjee, a school teacher from Bholaganj in East Khasi Hills.
This did not augur well with a section of the people there and one faction supported 18-year-old Oni Deshmukh, the descendant of the 30th generation of the Deshmukh clan that was patronised by the Jaintia Kings of Jaintiapur centuries ago.
This was unprecedented as differences over priests led to violence before the festival last year and 19 police personnel and 22 villagers were injured. The temple was locked following the incident.
The issue was also placed on record in the High Court of Meghalaya where an appeal was forwarded by 900 residents of Nartiang who were supporting Oni Deshmukh.
Justice SR Sen had given an order that the performance of the religious ceremony and rites at the temple should continue without hindrances in accordance with the wish and will of the locals and also the followers of Hinduism, which should be performed by Oni.
There has also been a question of the Khasi Niamtre followers as to how a Panti, who is from outside and not a resident of Nartiang, would have any knowledge about the rites and rituals of ka Niam Tre religion of the Pnar and also of the Hindus as practised at Nartiang. It is a known fact that the religious ceremonies performed at Nartiang are completely different from those performed elsewhere.
The Nartiang Pnar also following the Hindu belief have been offering reverence at the Durga Mandir for about 500 years now, a custom started by the Jaintia Kings. Even in the sacrificial ceremony, a mask is placed on the face of the sacrificial goat. In the olden days, humans were sacrificed. This was banned by the British who ruled Ri Pnar from 1835.
The Goddess as worshiped by the devotees at Nartiang differ from the idol of the goddess as worshiped elsewhere as it is made from the trunk of a plantain. Sindur is put and it is decorated with flowers. Her lips are coloured with red and she is wrapped with a white cloth and garlanded.
The sari is removed before immersion.
Before proceeding to the immersion river, drums are beaten according to the Shad Mastieh’s beat, along with the jingling of small cymbals in the porch of the Mandir and guns are fired in the air.
The priest carries the goddess on his shoulders up to a point where it is immersed into the Wah Myntang, not far from the Mandir.
King Dhan Manik of Hima Jaintiapur (now in Bangladesh), after residing a few years in the capital, had decided to shift his capital because of the heat.
After surveying from one place to another, Nartiang, surrounded by lush green paddy fields, was chosen by the king as the summer capital. A royal palace was constructed at Nartiang, which was also used as a resort.
Till today, parts of the palace including the fortress and the gateway known as Tok can be seen.
Along with the flow of time the summer capital of Nartiang was strengthened, which also increased the confidence of the growing populace.
King Dhan Manik, who had adopted Hinduism as his religion, had constructed the Mandir in the precincts of the royal palace.
At that time, the Mandir was constructed with teak wood and grass was used for the roofing as practised by the Pnar people. The people did not know much about Hindu rituals.
So a Brahmin priest belonging to the Deshmukh clan was brought in. Members of this clan later inter-married with the Pnar. Therefore, it is from this period that the Deshmukh clan inherited the task of performing religious ceremonies.
(Contributed by Michael Shylla The author is former director, Ministry of Information & Broadcasting Photo Division)
