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=TAMILS AND ORAONS - Similarities= The state of Jharkhand in India is one of the fertile places of Adivasis. More than 32 such tribes live there, even today. One among them is by name Oraon. This tribe has a very unique characteristic than any other tribes there, that it is the only Dravidian tribe living in the Northern part of India.

Linguistic Similarities
The language of these people is Kurukh which is one of the Dravidian languages. It sounds like Telugu or Kannada when we follow their conversations. There are a lot of vocabularies which are closer to Tamil. 

·        Mother is called Ayo which is அம்மாயி (Ammai) or அப்பாயி (Appai) for grandmother in colloquial Tamil.

·        Uncle is மாமா (Mama) which is the same in Tamil.

·        Eye – kan (கண்), nose – mooi (மூக்கு - mooku), tooth – pallu (பல்லு), mouth – bai (வாய் - vai) are exactly the same as Tamil.

·        The verb ‘come’ is barai ni which is வா (va) or வாராய் நீ (varai ni) in Tamil.

·        ‘Go’ is pongai/ponga which is போ (po) or போங்க (ponga) in Tamil.

·        ‘Sit’ is okka which is உட்கார் (utkar) or உக்காரு (okkaru) in Tamil.

·        ‘How’ is asked enra which is என்னா (enna) in Tamil.

·        ‘I’ is en (நான்-nan), ‘we’ is nam (நாம் - nam), ‘you’ (sing.) is neen (நீ - ni), ‘you’ (pl) is neem (நீங்கள் - neengal), ‘they’ is aar (அவர்கள் - avargal).

·        ‘To eat’ is mokna which is similar to மொக்றான் (mokran) in colloquial Tamil.

·        ‘To kill’ is pitna which is similar to பிச்சுருவேன் (pitchuruven) in colloquial Tamil.

·        ‘To cut’ is kattuna which is similar to கண்டம் துண்டமாக (kandam thundamaga) in spoken form of Tamil.

·        ‘To close’ is moochna which is மூடு (moodu) in Tamil.

·        The dead is called moonjurna, similar to முடிந்தவர் (mudindavar) in Tamil.

·        ‘Before’ is mundare (Tamil is முன்பு - munbu).

·        ‘Bitter’ is katka (Tamil is கசப்பு - kasappu).

·        ‘Rice’ is mandi (in colloquial Tamil ‘eating’ is said as மண்டுறான் பாரு (manduran paru).

Many are of such similarities in the vocabularies and expressions. Much of Kurukh is closer to the Tamil colloquial forms which shows the primitiveness before the prose Tamil.

Cultural Similarities
More than this linguistic closeness, cultural closeness is still more prominent. The Oraon people are rice eaters like the Tamils. They eat rice all the three meals of the day. Eating earlier day’s cooked rice with water (பழைய சோறு - palaya soru) is common. They use urad or urid dhal (உளுந்து - black gram) very common in their meals, as Tamils use it in தோசை (dosa), இட்லி (idly), வடை (vada), உளுந்தங்களி (porridge) etc. Tamils have a sweet made of rice flour and jaggery by name அதிரசம் (athirasam) which is called arsha by the Oraons with the same taste and flavour, but with different shape and size. There are other significant cultural markers between Tamils and Oraons. They use twigs of Sal (குங்கிலியம்) tree for brushing their teeth, which is the same as Tamils who use either neem or banyan tree twigs. The Tamils have a proverb too (ஆலும் வேலும் பல்லுக்குறுதி - aalum velum palluku uruthi – banyan and neem are strength for the tooth) stressing their significance. They have the same basket similar to the Tamils (முறம் - muram) for winnowing the paddy and rice. The houses are mostly of tiled roofs alike the Tamil houses, with walls made of mud. They too use cow dung to polish the house floor and the front-yard. Their harvests are mostly paddy and they have same ways of agriculture like ploughs, threshing by bulls etc. They have common threshing floor (களம்) in the village for common use by the villagers, which is the same practice here in Tamil villages. The villagers help each other in agriculture signifying cooperative and collaborative style of life.

Marriage Customs
Marriage is one significant structure in a culture to sustain their practices and customs. One would really be shocked and fascinated to see such similarity between Tamil and Oraon marriage customs. Tamil marriage celebration begins by the ceremony of the installation of the wedding pandal pole called பந்தல் கால் நடு விழா (pandal kaal nadu vizha). This is just a ritual at present among the Tamils. But its original and meaningful root is found among the Oraons. The day before the wedding, very early in the morning, the wedding house men with some friends go to the forest to chop some long Sal trees and bring them home. Meanwhile, some other men prepare some 9 to 12 small holes in front of the house, making ready to plant the cut poles. As they return, the mother of the house makes a small prayer and ceremony in the first hole into which the first pole of Sal is planted. Then, all other holes are planted with the other Sal poles and closed. It was scenic to see the poles erected in front of the wedding house – a long pole with some leaves left at top. The remaining poles are tied crossways at the middle of the implanted poles, thus making the base structure for making a pandal. A few branches of the available trees as tamarind, bamboo etc. are placed above the pandal structure, thus creating a shady place for the wedding ceremony. This laborious task of making the pandal for wedding remains among the Tamils just as a small ceremonial ritual. They do not have the practice of tying the sacred thread called mangalya sutra (தாலி) during their wedding. As the couples express their consent (as in the Christian marriages), they apply sindoor (குங்குமம் - vermillion) to one another. First the groom wears it on the bride, followed by the bride who does the same to the groom. What a salient feature of equality of man and woman! Then follows the European practice of exchanging of rings. The Aryan-Vedic practice of mangalya sutra is missing with the Oraons, but pathetically inherited by the Tamils even in the Christian weddings. Thus, the later Tamils have distorted the original practice of equality upheld by our ancestors.

Further, the practice of giving gifts either in cash or in kind (மொய் எழுதுதல்) which is still in practice in Tamil marriages is another similar practice that is found among the Oraons. As a family comes and honours the couples, what is given is written and even announced to the public vocally. This too is another similar approach that some clans in Tamils have still now. Also, the use of mango leaves, betel nuts etc. in the marriages is similar to both Tamils and Oraons. The use of leaves for food is another salient practice. On the earlier day of the wedding, the neighbouring women come together, sing together and prepare small bowls made of leaves for serving food and drinks for the wedding. Such an ecologically responsible life-style is very noteworthy. The concept of ‘bad eye’ or ‘evil eye’ (கண் படுதல்) is also seen among them. To keep off such things, many customs were seen. The mother of the house, before erecting the Sal poles for pandal, puts a few things inside the holes to keep off ‘evil eye’. I noticed a gentle man dancing among the dancing crowd, with a broom and a slipper. When asked, the same explanation of keeping off the ‘bad eye’ was said. All these are much of similarity of concerns and customs among Tamils and Oraons.

Cultural Dance
Dance is another salient feature in their lives. For festivals and celebrations, they dance together with arms clasped and with elegant steps. There were specialized drum players who are rented exclusively for weddings. It reminded me of பறை (parai), the traditional drums played in all the celebrations of Tamils. Just recently, in Tamil celebrations, the intrusion of Western Band set, or Carnatic nadaswaram or Kerala’s chenda drums is seen. As the special drum is played, people dance in circles around the drum players. It is not that one leads the dance or so. A group of people start dancing around and go in circles. Another group just on their own, move around in a different circle and dance. Like this, some three or four layers of dancers were dancing around; in various age-groups as youngsters, wedding family, other relatives etc. Dancing in circles has much significance.

Conclusion
This circle mentality is not just constricted in dancing. It is in their whole life-style. Their life of ecological interrelationship is circular. Their relatedness with animals is circular. Their hospitable life with their relatives and friends is circular. Their notion of equality and human respect signifies circularity. This same circularity including relationship with ecology, animals and humans is the root of the three-day பொங்கல் (Pongal) celebrations which the Tamils have even today, signifying the Tamil New Year day.