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Sarhul Festival A Festival of Joy and Happiness One of the most popular tribal festivals celebrated across the Jharkhand region, Sarhul festival marks the beginning of New Year. It is celebrated by the Oraon, the Munda and the Ho tribes, of the Jharkhand region. Celebrated every year in the first month of the Hindu calendar, on the third day of the moon or the fortnight of 'Chaitra', Sarhul marks the advent of the spring season or “Phaagun” and is celebrated till the month of June or “Jeth”.

Sarhul means worship of trees. Being close to nature, these tribes start the Sarhul festival with the worship of trees and other elements of nature.

History And Legends of Sarhul Festival

Sarhul is an important festival of the Oraon tribe of the Jharkhand region in India. Worshippers of nature, the Oarontribes celebrate the Sarhul festival when the Saal trees get new branches leaves and flowers. Another largest tribe of Jharkhand, Santals also celebrate the festival as the “festival of flowers”. It is called the “Baha”. The tribes use the Sal and Mahua flowers for the rituals.

The Sarhul festival is celebrated during spring season. The history of the Sarhul festival dates back to the period of Mahabharata as per several legends of Sarhul festival. The history of the Sarhul festival reveals that this festival is celebrated in the spring season. It is when the villagers offer prayers to the village God, the protector of the tribe. With the onset of spring and the blooming of flowers, the villagers start their celebration with lots of music and dance.

The Saal tree and its leaves play an important role in the festival.The Saal flowers are used for the worship of the deity. During the festival the Pahan (the village priest) fasts for a couple of days. A day before the main worship and rituals of the festival the Pahan brings three new pots made of clay and fills them with water.

After bathing early in the morning, the priest wears a dhoti made of pure cotton. Then he observes the water level inside the earthen pots. A decrease in water level is predicted to be the harbinger of famine or less rain, and if the level is same it symbolises ample rain.

Before the commencement of the religious ceremonies the Pahan’s wife washes his feet and seeks his blessings. During the rituals the villagers encircle the Sarna or the worship area. Then the priest offers three young roosters of different colours, one to the God the Almighty, known to the Munda, Ho and Orsan tribes as Singbonga or Dharmesh; another to the village Gods and Goddesses; and the third to the ancestors of the tribes.

While the Pahan chants the prayers the tribal drummers continuously play the traditional drum including Dhol, Nagara and Turhi.After the Pooja the Pahan is carried to his house by the boys where he is greeted by his wife who washes his feet. The Pahan offers the flowers of the Saal tree to his wife and the villagers and also puts the flowers on the roof of each house, which is called “PhoolKhonsi”. These flowers symbolize the brotherhood and friendship amongst villagers.

After all the rituals are over a beer made of rice, called Handia is offered as the “Prasad” of the prayers to the villager, who sing and dance and celebrate this festival with great zeal for weeks. It is believed that after this festival the earth becomes fertile and the process of sowing is started. There are several legends of Sarhul festival popular amongst the masses of the Oraon tribes. One of manytraditional stories of Sarhulas narrated in the folk is; SaremBoodhi a demon was killed by simple tools and weapons like sticks etc by a brave son a widow from some tribal village. Therefore this festival is also known as “Khaddar GahiKhaddi” or the festival of the kids. As slowly this news spread to different villages, people began rejoicing and celebrating. Therefore, the festival is celebrated on different days of the spring season.

The history of Sarhul festival reveals several other folktales and Sarhul stories that throw light upon the life and beliefs of the Oraon tribe. Celebrated after “Phaagun” or March till “Jeth” or June, this festival has many reasons for its celebrations. Some of the Sarhul stories are related to nature and its grandeur. These Sarhul stories beautifully explain the importance of nature emphasizing on its preservation and growth. Some stories narrate the struggles of life and the joy after achieving the desired goal, which brings you to the mood of celebration. Some of the traditional Sarhul stories also portray the importance of family and the bond of love, care and respect that each family should possess. They also tell of advent of the new generation and the joy it brings. Moreover, it can be said that all the history and legends of Sarhul festival announce the celebration of new beginnings, new life, new birth, happiness and prosperity.

Significance And Rituals of Sarhul Festival

The Indian state of Jharkhand, which earlier was a part of Bihar, is home to many tribes like Santhal, Kharia, Baiga, Kisan, Ho, Chero etc. These tribes were nomadic in the past and were fully dependent on Mother Nature for their livelihood and existence. Even today, when quite a few tribes have adopted agricultural way of life, they continue to look up to nature for blessing them with adequate rainfall, not too harsh summers and of course a plentiful harvest. Sarhul is a tribal festival of various tribes living for centuries in Jharkhand (Bihar) and in this festival Mother Nature is worshipped for getting blessing and being spared from her wrath.

Significance of Sarhul Festival: Sarhul Festival is marked with the worship of the Sal Tree which has been providing them with shelter, firewood and protection from the weather. The belief is that Mother Nature (the Sanskrit word being ‘Prakriti’) resides on this tree and hence the offerings are made at the foot of some selected Sal Trees which may be in the Jungle or within the perimeter of the settlement. These Sal Trees are called ‘Jaher’ meaning the sacred grove.

This festival comes in middle of April when the winter has gone decisively and spring has set in. The first offerings of fruits, vegetables and even paddy is made to the deity and only after the offering ceremony is over the tribal people will consume these gifts of nature. The appeasement of the deity is the most significant aspect of this festival.

Though like all festivals this Sarhul also ends with songs and dance, but not until the ceremony is over and the priest (locally called ‘Pahan’) has completed performing all the rituals. Importance of Sarhul Festival is apparent by the disciplined way of coming together for worshipping the deity and is the main aim of this festival. It is after this festival that seeds are sown with a hope that Mother Nature will gift them a bountiful harvest.

Rituals of Sarhul Festival: This festival consist of performance of many rituals under the sacred grove of Sal Trees by the priest (‘Pahan’) duly assisted by ‘Panbhara’ or assistant of the priest. The belief is that Mahadeo or Lord Dharmesh is the controller of the universe and he is appeased by offering sacrifices of white coloured animals and birds like white goat, white fowls etc.

The main ritual starts with the washing the feet of the deity as a gesture of welcome. This act is done by the wife of the priest and after the deity has been welcomed the actual worship ceremony starts. The offerings include apart from the white animals and fowls also milk and some cotton cloth. The offerings of the flowers of Sal Trees are later taken to the houses of the members of the tribe and kept in the homes as a mark of good luck for the family. The priest also puts some grains on the head of a chosen hen – if the hen eats the grains when they tumble on the ground it means that there will be good and adequate rainfall. Otherwise, if the hen walks away without eating them then it spells disaster.

There are many beliefs but the basic aspect is the discipline with which the members of the tribe participate and wrap up the celebrations by singing, dancing and enjoying the drink derived from processing rice with other additives. This practice has lasted for centuries and is going strong till today’ in fact other parts of North Eastern India are also adopting the rituals where Sal trees grow in abundance.

Worship of Sal Tree: The role of Sal Tree in Sarhul festival is very significant. The word Sarhul has been derived from two words ‘Sar’ which means Sarai or seed of Sal tree and “Hul” means worship. Thus, the real meaning of Sarhul is worship of the Sal tree. This tribal festival celebrated annually is also known as "Ba Parb" or festival of flowers. These tribes being close to nature dedicate this festival to Mother Nature. In the Sarhul festival, the Oraon tribe worships Lord Dharmesh and Mother Nature thanking them for the blessings they bestow upon all the living beings on earth.

Importance of Sal Tree: All therituals of the Sarhul festival are performed under the Sal tree in the sacred grove known as the SarnaSthal or Jaher. The Sal treeorSakhua Tree in Sarhul festival holds a prominent place as it is considered to be the abode of the village deity, Goddess Sarna. Therefore this sacred tree and other such sacred trees are grown around the sacred grove. The Sal tree is worshipped by the people of the tribe because they believe that Goddess Sarna protects them from all natural calamities and disasters. The Oroan tribe also is a great devotee of Lord Ram and Sita. They worship Sita as Dharti Mata (Mother Nature).

The place for worship or the “SarnaSthal” is chosen by the Pahan or priest. It is important that there should be at least one Sal tree close to the place of worship else it is not considered to be sacred.

Role of Sakhua Tree in Sarhul Festival: Sakhua is popularly called as ‘Sakhu’' and is considered to be a very auspicious gift of the Gods by the Oraon tribe. In the tribal language of the Oraon “Kurukh,” the fruit of the Sakhua tree or the Saal tree is called ‘Naur’ whereas in Sadri the language of the localsit is called ‘Sarai’. It is believed by the Oraon tribe that a good produce of the “Naur” is an indication of a good agricultural yield. Thus, the Sarai tree worship is the integral part of the Sarhul festival.

At the end of the rituals and the worship of the Sal tree, the priest gives the sacred flowers of the tree to all the villagers and sprinkles holy water in their homes blessing them with health prosperity and safety.