Indigenous panic

Shooting arrows at a banana tree and breaking a pot with a stick are two essential games for the Santal tribes. They consider these two games as symbolic destruction of evil forces. But when and why was such a belief born in Santal society? The answer to such a question is with Sanjila Hajdar of Maheshpur village in Dinajpur. I heard the conventional prose in his mouth. Which means-....

In one country there was a king of the Santals. His name is Takhavan. He loved his queen unconditionally. But even then the queen was secretly in love with a lover. The lover lived on a certain side of the forest, quite far from Sarparaj. Only the queen knew that place. When the king went hunting, the queen forbade him to go to that particular part of the forest. Even after asking various questions, the king did not get much answer from the queen.

Once the king went out hunting. Going to the forest, out of curiosity, the king went in that forbidden special direction. Surprised, he saw the serpent king. Thinking that he would lose his life, he killed the fierce serpent with a bow and arrow. Returning from the hunt, the king told the queen all the facts. Upon hearing the news of the death of her serpent-like lover, the queen became very upset. She became vindictive to avenge her boyfriend's murder.

Many days have passed. Once, in the dark of night, the queen went to the forest and collected the bones of the serpent from there and buried them in the garden of the palace. After some time, a strange kind of tree grows from that place. At one time a half-blooming flower bloomed on that tree. Then the whole garden is illuminated by the light of flowers.

Then, as planned, the vindictive queen met with the king in a tactical bet. What's that bet? The king must name all the flowers in the garden. Otherwise, at the queen's command, the subjects will execute the king. King smiled when he heard the queen! It is very easy to name a flower in your garden. Thinking this, the confident king agreed to bet.

Then the news was spread everywhere by beating drums in the villages. On certain days, the people of the state came to the garden of the palace to watch the game of betting. The king began to name all the flowers one by one. But the strange half-blossom came to a halt and stopped. He was surprised to see the flower. But he could not say the name of the unfamiliar flower. Thinking that the king's life would be lost, the queen was happy inside. At that time, the people took seven days from the queen for the king.

The news spread to other states. Upon hearing the news, one of his sisters set out from another country to save the king. On the sixth night, while walking, he was resting in the forest, under a shimul tree. A vulture used to nest in the trunk of the tree.

In the middle of the night, the sister suddenly hears the vulture consoling her hungry children, saying that the next day she will feed them the king's flesh for the children. How is that possible? The vulture's curious children want to know from their mother. The vulture then tells the story of all the events and the names of the flowers and the birth story while putting the children to sleep.

Shimul sat under the tree and the king's sister heard them. From dawn he ran to the royal court. Then he told the king all the facts including the name of the flower. On the seventh day, in front of the king, the subjects and the queen, the name of that strange flower is 'Kari Nagin Haar Baha'. As soon as the name was mentioned, the flower of the garden blossomed in full bloom. Raja was also released from the death penalty for gambling. Then the angry people, knowing all the facts in the face of the king, punished the queen.

Ever since this incident, in any festival and formality, arrow sticking in a banana tree and breaking a pot with a stick have been two essential things for the Santals. Throughout the ages, these stories and prose of faith have been the inspiration of the indigenous people, which has kept the indigenous people alive.