By H.H. Mohrmen
Generally, Behdieñkhlam is described as a festival to ‘chase or rid off plague.’ It is also said that the festival is connected with the agrarian culture of rice wetland cultivation. It also speaks about migration, as the festival is the time when people who are originally from the same raid congregate on the penultimate day to celebrate the joy of being together or the joy of homecoming. Yet Behdieñkhlam, at least to the people who follow Niamtre of Jowai, is also about honouring the ancestors.
The people of Jowai will celebrate the Behdieñkhlam festival this week. The four-day, three-night festival will begin on July 11 and culminate on July 14. But what the general population does not know is that for some clans, the celebration starts a few days before the 11th with the tradition of ancestor veneration.
The offering of ka Siang ka pha / ka siang ka phur during Behdieñkhlam
Behdieñkhlam is connected with the covenant between U Trekirod and the 7 Wasa when the creator and the created parted ways, when U Trekirod said to people of the seven huts that they would not be able to meet him in person, or that human eyes would not be able to see the Maker anymore, but the communication between the Creator and the created would only be through prayers and offerings.
U Trekirod, however, promised to visit humans and the earth once a year, and he would bring with him all those who had died. U Trekirod asked the leaders of humans what they would offer him when he made this annual visit. So Behdieñkhlam festival is that offering and festivity that “u 7 Wasa” promised to offer to the Creator when he made those annual visits accompanied by the ancestors.
The “ka siang ka pha” offerings during Behdieñkhlam are offered at the respective family’s Ïungblai simultaneously as the “ka niam ïong chnong” or “ka niam ïong raid” commences. As the community celebrates Behdieñkhlam, we also have to perform the ritual offering to the ancestors at our respective houses. (Rilang Lato)
To understand “ka siang ka pha,” one must also understand how Jowai was first settled or peopled. The earliest settlers of Jowai are signified by three factors: that the first clans have a household deity called ‘U Sniriang Ksiar,’ the family should also have a common home called “I Ïungblai or Kmai ïung” (Mina Laloo), and the different households under the ïungblai are called “ki trep ki skum.”
Most of the families offer “ka siang ka pha” to their ancestors during Behdieñkhlam on “Pynsyiñ,” the sixth day on the traditional calendar of the Pnar of Jaiñtia Hills. The offering has to be completed ‘chwa u kieh ka bom’ before the ‘khon raij’ start beating the drum to collect the ‘symbud khnong,’ a log which is next in its status and honour to ‘u khnong blai.’
During Behdieñkhlam, there are families who make the offerings one or two days before—the Passah of Panaliar on the fourth day, Hat, and Paswet Wahsynji on Khyllaw, the fifth day of the week. The Rngad clan also offers ancestor veneration on “Hat,” the fourth day as per the traditional calendar. If the family cannot offer “ka siang ka pha” during Behdieñkhlam, then their ancestors return dissatisfied (“dei ksoh thadoh,”) and return to “Soorkep,” the abode of the spirit, with the feeling that something is amiss. (Rilang Lato)
While the offerings during Behdieñkhlam are offered to all who died at a room called “rakut,” offerings for those who died “ïap mynsoo” (accidental death) is not offered along with the others, but it is made at “dwar or pchem,” outside the house.
Criteria to be fulfilled for the offerings to be made
Requirement for the veneration to be offered – All members of the family within the ïungblai must be in the pink of health. “I cheit I khiah” means all the members of the families who belong to or who are within the same “ïungblai” should be healthy. No one should be unwell. If a member of the family is hospitalized, then the offering cannot be made.
“Ka siang ka pha” cannot be offered if any member of the family experiences “i hap i tlor,” i.e., premature death, and the ritual related to the placing of the bones in the “moo tylleiñ,” called “booh khonlor,” is not completed. The family cannot offer ka siang ka pha if there is ‘hap khonlor’ (premature birth) among any of the family members under the ïungblai.
The veneration cannot be performed if there is a member of the family who died in the domain of the ‘Ryngkaw para’ or “Ka chyieiñ cha chnong para,” where the different nature deities dwell or outside the domain of Raid Jowai. On such an occasion too, “ka siang ka pha” cannot be offered by the family. Only when the charred bones are interred in the clan’s ossuary can the family offer “ka siang ka pha.” “Mih blai / mih ñiangpyrchit / ñiang syiar” (when someone has measles / chickenpox etc.), then in such a situation, “ka siang ka pha” cannot be offered.
Families who have just had somebody die during the months before Behdieñkhlam also do not perform the offerings, because they have just completed one during cremation.
How “ka siang ka pha” during Behdieñkhlam is offered
The offering starts with a prayer led by “u Kñi,” or the maternal uncle of the clan under the ïungblai. Then the offering is made by “ka kchu ka siang,” (the custodian of the “ïungblai,) and she will be assisted by “ki nongïarap.” The “kchu ka siang” and “ki nongïarap” have to be pure and clean. They should be “dei kynsai, dei pangrai” or “ki ïoh kynsai,” which means females who entered into marriage with a man as prescribed by tradition. “Ki ïoh kynsai” is when marriage is “ïa biang rtap,” or the layers of relationship are perfect between the husband’s and wife’s clan. The offering cannot be made by a woman whose marriage is “dei lai paruid,” which means marrying someone who is like a paternal uncle.
The different plates and what they symbolize
The offering is made on bronze plates. There is no difference in the number of plates used by families when ‘ka siang’ is performed during Behdieñkhlam and ‘ka siang ïap’ or offering performed when a member of the family is cremated. During Behdieñkhlam, the offering is made using brass plates about 12 inches in diameter, and traditionally, families offer 6 plates in total. Plate number 1 is for the ‘poi tpep poi tbar,’ also known as “kiwa seiñ ïa u mootylleiñ u moo tymmoh,” (those who have reached the final destination of the soul, whose charred bones were kept in ‘ki tpep or tpar).These are ancestors who have ‘seiñ mootylleiñ mootymmoh’ — (established the clan’s ossuary). Plate number 2 is for the ancestors who have reached the stage called ‘pynchong ngiah,’ (a temporary resting place of the soul).
All the clans which ‘ïoh ka khrong ka khri,’ (the primary clans of the Raid Jowai), have two segments or parts of the ‘tpep’ areas where the bones are kept. The two segments are ‘thaw pynchong ngiah’ and ‘poi tpep poi tpar.’ Clans which came later — ‘chong kynthap, chong kyndiam’ — do not necessarily have two segments in the tpep.
The third plate is for the ‘ïoh sati,’( women who married only once or had only one husband). Plate number 4 is for the members of the family ‘lai paruid,’ (who married their uncles on the father’s side). Plate number 5 is meant for ‘khonlor,’ (babies who died a premature death), and plate 6 is for ‘ki chongbro chongban,’ (people, mostly men, who worked with the family and were treated as one of their own).
There are families who offer another plate for ‘ki waboon walang,’ or the general ancestors who were not included in the six plates above. Another plate is an offering for ancestors who died an unnatural death — “ki ïap mynsoo,” and for them, it is performed outside the house. Then there are plates for ‘ki siang pa siang men’ — offerings made by children in honour of their departed father or their father’s mother.
Mandatory items to be offered are ‘ja’ (cooked rice), ‘dakha patli’ (a special kind of fish), betel nuts and pan leaf, and two types of bananas (not any kind of banana) known as ‘ladaw bamkhon’ and ‘ladam bamdoh.’ Other than that, families can include all kinds of seasonal fruits available in the market.
The ‘Siang Behdieñkhlam’ is just a small part of the research on this important tradition, conducted by the writer with the support of the Chief Minister’s Research Grant 2024–25. According to Mina Laloo and Rilang Lato, it is the most important aspect of the festival and one that is deeply spiritual and fulfilling. Others who contributed to this study are Dawmanshuh Lamar, Wanmon Rngad, and her sister.