Santal

Abstract

Among the Odishan tribes, the Santals are an advanced community. They are mainly found in the districts of Mayurbhanj, Keonjhar and Balasore in the State. Besides, they also inhabit the neighbouring states like Jharkhand, West Bengal, Bihar and Assam. The word Santal is derived from two words; santa meaning calm and peaceful and ala meaning man. They speak Santali language which belongs to the Munda group of Austro-Asiatic sub-family of languages. The Santali has its own script called Olchiki invented by Pundit Raghunath Murmu. Now Santali is a constitutionally recognized language. The Santals are well known for their beautiful and attractive housing architecture with very neat and colourfully painted walls, floors and artistically carved doors. Their traditional dress pattern and personal adornments distinguish them from other communities. The primary occupation of the Santals is settled agriculture. Seasonal forest collection is one of the important sources of their subsidiary income. Like other tribals of Jharkhand region the Santals have the institution of sacred grove located at the village outskirts which they call jaher era or jahera. Being animists and polytheists, they believe in existence of a number of deities of nature as well as ghosts and spirits whom they worship or try to appease during various ritual and festive occasions. They are mortally afraid of witches and sorcerers. Dance (enej) and music (sereng) are integral part of the Santal life. They dance and sing when they are happy as they love it very much and these are always associated with their festivals and rituals which are a community affair. Boys and girls, old and young, irrespective of age and sex, participate in such events. This photographic documentation of their life style concluding with various developmental changes occurring in their present way of life is a part of the series on the Tribes of Odisha. Hopefully, this work would be of immense help for the tribal lovers, tribal tourists, tribal researchers and general readers.