Jarasingha is a village situated on the bank of Sungad, which is a tributary of the river Tel. Sungad is a local stream, which takes it rise from the north-West belt of hills of the district Bolangir. Jarasingha is nearly 25 kilometers from Bolangir town. Deogaon is about 22 kilometers from Bolangir situated on the road between Bolangir and Titilagarh. From Deogaon the distance of Jarasingha is only three kilometers towards left. From Deogaon towards right Kudasingha is about nine kilometers. In olden days, Jarasingha was under the Patna kingdom. There was a Kandha Zamindar in Jarasingha.
The reigning deity of this village is Budhi-Aai. Every year, a festival is organized in honor of the deity. Annually, it is celebrated on Asadha Sukla Purnima Tithi i.e. on full moon day in the Hindu month of Asadha (June-July). But, the festival celebrated in honor of Patakhanda Devta is very popular. The deity is believed to be very influential and powerful. So, it is obvious that, her festival ought to be a famous one. It is celebrated in the Hindu month of Aswina (September-October). It begins on Aswina Sukla Dwitiya Tithi i.e. on second day of bright fortnight in the month of Aswina and ends on Purnima Tithi i.e. on full moon day of Aswina. A system of communication between the human being and supernatural power plays an important role in Patakhanda Jatra. Common people have found a medium like Barua through which they are able to interact with the supernatural power like Patakhanda Devta. Thus, they spread the idea or the message of the existence of such power to others.
A large number of people assemble here particularly on Purnima Tithi i.e. on full moon day, which is the most important occasion of this festival. We may say that, Patakhanda deity is the symbol of unity and integration. It is so admired and popular that it creates a center of attention. It attracts people from the nearby villages and towns. It draws people even from the neighbouring state of Chhattisgarh. Patakhanda Jatra is an example of tribal-non-tribal interaction in this part of West Odisha. It is a case in point to establish and show the social interaction and social integration. Why it is so famous?
Common people believe that, Patakhanda deity cures the mentally retarded persons and blesses the issueless couples to have children. Thus, the deity is famous for the above-mentioned two reasons. It means that, the deity symbolizes “growth”. In the first case, it means growth of mind as well as intellect. In the second case, it denotes growth of society. The deity fulfills twin-objectives of the common people. It is open to the needy. This Jatra presents the message of “move forward”. It makes them realize that, the situation is not so hopeless and that, it is possible for them to perceive their lives in different perspective. Patakhanda Jatra fuels common man’s desires to be larger than life. It makes us dream; it offers us an escape route from our humdrum realities; it takes us into the world of ‘belief system’ with a hope of better life and healthier living.
During this time, one finds villagers walking down the serpentine roads leading to Jarasingh village. This clearly indicates the popularity of the deity. The reason is that, the deity creates a hope among the people. This hope is to be cured. This is beyond medical science. The twin-expectations of the people take them to Jarasingha during Patkhanda Jatra.
Oral Narrative and Appearance of Patakhanda Devta:
There is a beautiful myth regarding appearance of Patakhanda deity and origin of Patakhanda festival in Jarasingha village. Earlier, Jarasingha area was full of jungles and wild animals. It was a part of Patna kingdom. Pataneswari was the reigning deity of this kingdom. Patakhanda Devta served Pataneswari Devi and pleased her. Pataneswari Devi was satisfied to give him Bara i.e. boon. Patakhanda Devta requested a piece of jungle in Jarasingha to live. Also, he asked her Pata-Sindura, Sri-Pata. Pataneswari Devi fulfilled his demands. Since then, Sindura of the Pataneswari Devi of Patnagarh and Sri-Pata or Pata-Kana of Samaleswari Devi of Patnagarh are brought to Jarasingha village to mark the beginning of Jatra of Patakhanda Devta. This reveals how local traditions are blended with each other. In fact, the local rulers and religious leaders have brought these two local traditions of Patnagarh and Jarasingha together and united them which otherwise reflect the coexistence of two traditions and two communities in a larger society.
The above oral narrative reveals the traditional hierarchical structure of administration established in past days in these areas. This also reflects the strong sense of subordination prevalent among the subordinates in the strong administration of these areas. The subsidiary rulers like Gauntias and Zamindars in the villages were truthfully obliged to their master or king. It was required to maintain law and order in the state. It was essential to prevent outsiders and alien forces. Lacking of qualities like allegiance, faithfulness and loyalty among the lesser and minor ruling chiefs means disintegration of the kingdom. It may be mentioned that, there is a small village named Kudasingha between Patnagarh and Jarasingha. There is a Dangar (small hill) near this village. Budha-Dangar Devta is worshipped here. Perhaps the original name of the deity is Budharaja, who is a Kandha deity. Since he is worshipped on the top of Dangar, he is called Budha-Dangar. Subsequently, the name of this Dangar has also been known as Budha-Dangar. Kandul Jatra is the important festival of this religious shrine. It is observed annually after the Kandul crop on Chaitra Purnima Tithi i.e. on the full moon day in the Hindu month of Chaitra (February-March).
Whatever the case may be, Patakhanda Devta took Budha-Dangar with him and reached Jarasingha. He narrated the entire episode before her. Budhi-Aai listened to him and allowed him to stay at De-Jhar with her two other subordinate deities namely Birupani and Jena. Since then, Patakhanda Devta has been residing in the hole of a Mahul tree (Madhuca indica) in ‘De-Jhar’. The word ‘De-Jhar’ is derived from two words namely ‘De’ and ‘Jhar’. ‘De’ means deity and ‘Jhar’ refers to jungle. So, ‘De-Jhar’ denotes ‘jungle of deity’ or ‘the jungle where deities reside’. If the tree dies due to some reasons or other, then the deity is transferred to another Mahul tree. Significantly, Patakhanda Devta resides only in the Mahul tree.
Forest and Religion:
The question may arise here that, why Mahul tree is selected for Patakhanda Devta. Economically, Mahul tree is an important species. Its flowers are used for preparation of local made alcohol or wine, which is widely used during festive occasions in different tribal communities in West Odisha. Mahula is a good food for the tribal people. Besides, the tribal people collect Mahula from the jungles and sell it in the tribal hat i.e. market to earn some ready cash. From this point of view, generation and protection of Mahul tree is essential for the tribal people. The age old tradition of Patakhanda Jatra in Jarasingha has helped the concept and idea of ‘forest protection’ under socio-religious control. Apparently, tribal people create such rituals and festivals in order to protect their ecology, environment and forests which have provided them shelter, food, fruits, leaves, medicines, firewood etc. for their living. Thus, one can easily detect and recognize the symbiotic relationship between tribal people and their forests. This reminds us the fast depletion of forest cover on the earth with the temperature across the world getting warmer and warmer.
Oral Narrative and History:
There is another historical legend associated with the origin of Patakhanda Devta. It is connected with the historical battle between Patnagarh and Bastar. It is said that, the fort of Bastar was besieged by the soldiers of Patnagarh for several days. At that time, an old lady used to visit the camp of the soldiers daily. She was selling Mudhi (prepared from rice) to the soldiers. Everyday, some soldiers were dying after having that Mudhi. The king of Bastar was very surprised. He could not find the cause of the death of his soldiers. So, he invited two Gunias (Black Magicians) named Hira and Madan from Patnagarh. They came to Bastar and knew that an old lady was coming to the camp of soldiers every day to sell Mudhi. She was none else than Bastaren herself, who was the presiding deity of Bastar. She was coming in disguise to weaken the strength of Patna king. Hira and Madan suggested the king to win over the deity first if wanted to win over Bastar. They requested the king to worship Bastaren Devi and please her. Accordingly, Patna Raja worshipped the deity and satisfied her. He assured the deity that, after his victory over Bastar, he will make all arrangements for her Seva-puja all over his kingdom.
Since then, Bastaren Devi has been worshipped in each and every village of Patna kingdom. It is said that thereafter, the puja of Bastaren Devi has been prevalent in all village of Patna kingdom. Also, the king was pleased with the two Gunias for their timely suggestion. He built two big ponds in Patnagarh in their names. These are known as “Madan Gadia Bandha” and “Hira Sagar”. During this war, Patna Raja had requested Pataneswari Devi to bless him. The deity presented him a Khanda i.e. sword, which helped the king to win over Bastar kingdom. In this warfare, the Kandha Zamindars and his subjects of Jarasingha had extended their cooperation, which finally led to victory of Patnagarh. So, when the king returned from Bastar, he presented the Khanda to the Kandha Zamindar. Thereafter, Pataneswari Devi permitted the Kandha Zamindar to worship the Khanda. This is why the Patakhanda puja is also known as Bira-Puja to commemorate the victory of Patnagarh over Bastar.
Alexander Cunningham (1884:64) has also mentioned about such an anecdote as follows. “The states of Patna and Bastar being coterminous, their chiefs were on hostile terms. Balram Deo, one of the Patna chiefs, having laid siege to the fort of Bastar, found that he was unable to take it. In this dilemma the chief began to worship Mauli, the tutelary goddess of the fort, who became propitiated, and said to the Raja that she would ensure his success if he would take her to Patna and worship her. The Raja agreed, and shortly after took the fort. On his way home, he established images of the goddess at various places. As she was brought from Bastar, the goddess is now generally known in Patna by the name of Bastarin Mauli”. However, the war between Bastar and Patnagarh is a historical event.
Previously, Patnagarh was being administered by an oligarchy consisting of eight Malliks (Asta-Malliks). In all probability, they were tribal by origin. Or, they were tribal chieftains. These chieftains were the Lords of eight forts (Garhs) which were – (1) Patnagarh, (2) Kagaongarh, (3) Salebhattagarh, (4) Jarasinghagarh, (5) Sindhekelagarh, (6) Kholangarh, (7) Goragarh and (8) Kumnagarh. The third Chauhan Raja of Patnagarh was Vachharaj Dev. He is known to have fought with the chief of Bastar. He reduced the fort of Dantewada, the capital of Bastar, and forced the chief to sue for peace. The daughter of the king of Bastar was given in marriage to the son of Vachharaj Dev, who brought the goddess Bastaren to Patna most likely as an award of his victory. Maybe, the war took place during last part of 14th century. Vaijal Dev was the son of Raja Vachharaj Dev. Perhaps, Vaijal Dev flourished during the early part of the 15th century (Senapati and Sahu, 1968: 49-50).
During 19th century, Maharaja Ram Chandra Singh Deo (1765-1820) created Jarasingha as a Khorposhdari estate. The Maharaja had four Ranis. The son named Bhupal Singh Deo was born from his first Rani. The second and the fourth Ranis were issueless. The third Rani died just after giving birth to a son, Jugaraj Singh. This child was brought up by the second Rani. The Maharaja was very fond of the second Rani and at her demand and request he made over Jarasingha and some other villages for maintenance of Jugaraj Singh. At the time of the Settlement of 1937, Jarasingha estate consisted of 228 villages with an area of 242 square miles excluding reserved and protected forest (Senapati and Sahu, 1968: 485). However, in view of the above analysis, it may be said that Jarasingha since time immemorial has been an important place both from political as well as administrative point of view.
Patnagarh was the place where Ramai Dev defeated the eight Malliks and established Chauhan dynasty. He knew very well that, it would be difficult for him to administer the kingdom without the support and cooperation of local people and chiefs who were mostly tribal by origin. He was aware of the fact that communalism might destabilize his efforts to built a separate Chauhan state here. So, he adopted the tribal customs and traditions and identified himself with them. He took all possible measures to integrate the tribal people with the non-tribal Hindus. It was a diplomatic move, which was essential for the survival and continuation of his kingdom. In this backdrop, Patakhanda Jatra is an important festival towards tribal-non-tribal interaction and integration in this area.
Historically, the neighbouring two districts of Bolangir namely Boudh and Phulbani are Kandha dominated areas. Prior to 1993, these two districts had jointly formed one district called Kandhamal district. As per the tradition, tribal people dependent on jungle for their survival. Due to some reasons or other, some of them might have migrated to other areas like Sana-khemundi and Jarasingha and settled there. They built themselves as a dominant force in this area. In course of history, they had taken part in the state formation during Chauhan rule. Chauhan rulers had sought their help and cooperation during military campaigns. They were also faithful to the rulers. Though they had established themselves as a strong social force, they were placed on the lower rank in the social hierarchy conceptualized by the caste-Hindus. It is evident from the position of Kandha deities namely Budhi-Aai, Budha-Dangar, Patakhanda, Birupani and Jena Devi in comparison to Pataneswari Devi.
Universalisation of Oral Narrative:
It is pertinent to mention that, similar oral narrative is found associated with Samaleswari Devi and Pataneswari Devi of Sambalpur. During the demolition of idols of Hindu deities by Kalapahada, the Sevakas of Puri Jagannath temple escaped with the images of the deities. It is said that, they buried the images on the Mahanadi in Sonepur or Subarnapur, which is situated to the south of Sambalpur. Kalapahada and his army followed the priests and arrived at Sambalpur where Samlei Devi prevented them from proceeding further. Both the sisters Samaleswari and Pataneswari assumed the appearance of milkmaids and emerged before them. They sold milk and curd to the soldiers who were very thirsty at that moment. Straightaway the soldiers drank the milk and curd, which spread desolation among them. At that time, Raja Balabhadra Dev of Sambalpur drove back Kalapahada effectively (Pasayat, 2007: 76-77).
In case of Sambalpur, the deities were successful in driving out the enemies from their kingdom. But in case of Bastar, the deity could not protect her kingdom. Rather, she blessed the enemy king of Patnagarh. Whatever the case may be, such oral narratives are manufactured to create belief and faith among the common people on the deity. Before, ordinary people were unaware of written literature. The main reason was that, written materials were beyond the reach of the common people or not easily available to them. Hindu Pouranik literatures were only available in written form on palm leaf. So, literature of the common mass was handed down from mouth to mouth from one generation to other. Accordingly, it was transmitted from one place to other. In course of transmission, the original creator i.e. writer or poet of oral literature was lost in oblivion. In this process, addition or deletion in that piece of literature was easily done by any body who was handling it. Accordingly, it is intricate to find out the genuine author of this myth and actual place of its creation and accurate time of its creation. So, the main oral narrative with some modifications is found in case of Samaleswari Devi of Sambalpur and Bastaren Devi of Bastar as well. Most significant point is that, from historical point of view, the clash between Sambalpur and Kalapahada and the fight between Patnagarh and Bastar are true incidents.
Now three small pieces of iron plates are worshipped as Patakhanda Devta. If these three pieces are jointed together, it would not look like a Khanda i.e. sword. Rather, it will take the shape of a Pankhi, a locally made knife used for cutting vegetables and fishes etc. now, we come to the myth. As narrated earlier, Patakhanda Devta finally obtained the permission from Pataneswari Devi to be worshipped in the De-Jhar of Jarasingha. On that night, the deity appeared in the dream of the Zamindar and told him to make an image of the deity out of the Pankhi brought by the Sahukar as discussed earlier for his Seva-puja. In the morning, the Zamindar sent for the Luhura of his village and gave him the Pankhi to make an image of Patkhanda Devta to be worshipped by the villagers. Luhuras are a caste of iron workers, whose name is derived from Luha i.e. iron. Luhura took the Pankhi carefully to the workshop at his residence. When the he stroke his Hatudi i.e. hammer on the Pankhi, it was broken into three pieces. Despite his repeated efforts, he could not joint these three pieces. It frightened him. Out of fear, he surrendered before the Zamindar.
The Luhura narrated the whole thing in detail and requested the Zamindar to excuse him. But the incident frightened the Zamindar as well. He recalled Patakhanda deity and asked for pardon. That night, Patakhanda Devta appeared in the dream of the Zamindar and told him not to worry about the occurrence. He recommended him not to make his image hereafter. He advised the Zamindar to keep these three iron pieces in the hole of the biggest Mahul tree available in the De-Jhar. Thereafter, as per his direction, his special puja is performed in the month of Aswina. Sindura comes from Pataneswari temple of Patnagarh. Pata-Kana comes from Samaleswari temple of Patnagarh. Chhatar and Kalasa come from the temple of Budhi-Aai. Then only Patakhanda Jatra begins. When the deity appears through Barua or ascends in the body of Barua, he comes out with these three iron pieces with his hands.
It may be said that, Patakhanda Jatra in Jarasingha, besides providing entertainment, has been used to spread the message that the deity is capable to cure the mentally retarded person and cure the ‘Bandhya-dosa’ of woman i.e. capacity to bear a child. In this case, one vital lacuna is the absence of scientific attitude of people. The question may arise, what is scientific attitude? Such attitude develops out of scientific knowledge, which is scientifically valid and relevant. It improves rational attitude and practices. Cure of mentally retarded person and Bandhya-dosa by the deity seems to be irrational and unscientific, which have been the causes of many social ailments in our society, particularly in rural and tribal areas. But the simple answer is that, it is based on faith and belief, where medical science has nothing much to do.
REFERENCES
Barik, Sarmistha, “Patkhanda Jatra”, Orissa Review, Vol. LXVI, No.3, October, 2009.
Behera, Satya Narayan (1972), “Juhar Maa Patakhanda, Swarajya (Odia Daily), October 14, Monday.
Cunningham, Alexander (1884, reprint 2000), Report of a Tour in the Central Provinces and Lower Gangetic Doab in 1881-82, New Delhi: Archaeological Survey of India.
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Pasayat, C. (1996) “Paschimanchalara Patakhanda Jatra”, Esana, Vol. 33, December, pp. 1-18.
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Pasayat, C. (2009), “Patakhanda Jatra of Jarasingha in Bolangir district of Odisha”, Adivasi, Vol. 49, No.1, June, pp. 76-85.
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Senapati, N. and B. Mahanti (eds) (1971), Sambalpur District Gazetteer, Odisha Government Press, Cuttack.
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