Pentia

Abstract

The State of Odisha is well known for its colourful tribal communities. Preparation and publication of Photo handbooks of all the tribal communities residing in Odisha is an honest attempt by SCSTRTI, Bhubaneswar; which provide short photographic and ethnographic account of the Odishan tribes in a handy formwith the objective to show the readers an account of their traditions, customs, socio-cultural institutions, practices, habits, socio-economic activities, interactions, rituals and festivals etc. Apart from that, it depicts their changing life style in recent times. This book is the visual portrayal of a little known tribe of Odisha known as Pentia. The place Pentikona of Bastar district, situated in scenic Chotnagpur plateau is said to be their place oforigin. From there, they have migrated to be settled in some parts of Odisha. In Odisha they are mostly found in Malkangiri, Deogarh, Nowrangpur, Keonjhar, Sundergarh and Mayurbhanj districts. As per 2011 Census, their population is 10,003. The Pentia is an endogamous community which has been divided into two endogamous sections like Bado and Sano on the basis of purity of descent. Their mother tongue is Halbi but they predominantly speak Odia. Cultivation is the mainstay of their subsistence economy supplemented by various pursuits like wage earning, collection of minor forest produce, animal husbandry, small business, basketry, khali stitching, rope making etc. They are non-vegetarians but abstain from taking beef and pork, so considered equal in status with the non-tribal clean castes. They follow patrilocal rule of residence after marriage and patrilineal rule of descent. The Pentia profess their autonomous animistic tribal religion along with some elements of Hinduisim. They worship Samalai Thakurani, Dartani, Nisani Munda, Rama, Sita, Satyanarayan, Siva, Durga, Kali etc. on festive occasions. The Pentia possess their own highly organized traditional community council headed by the Bhatnayak who delivers the final verdict in important customary matters including conflicts pertaining to their tribe. Now-a-days, their society and culture is undergoing a transition due to the impact of modernization and Government interventions in the shape of various developmental schemes. This book as a glimpse of the lifestyle of the Pentia tribe will be useful to the interested laymen, academicians and researchers.