Oraons: The Gotra System (Part-I)In the social structure of the Oraon tribe, the Gotra or Totem system plays very important role.

Among the Oraons, the Gotra system is believed to directly relate to the Great Almighty Lord Dharmesh’s desire to keep the social structure of the tribe pious.

Accordingly, the Gotra means that every single family in the Oraon tribe trace their roots to their ancestors’ respective families, each of these families further traced their roots to their unique Gotra. Each of these unique Gotra simply means that families belonging to the same Gotra do trace their roots to the same family of their unique Gotra. In other words these families are related in the manner equivalent to siblings, tracing back to same roots of single family. 

The Gotra System plays a very important role in the matrimonial alliances among the families belonging to the Oroan tribe. It is believed that youngsters belonging to same Gotra are considered to be siblings; hence the marriage in the same Gotra was firmly avoided among the Oraon families. But with the increasing, all pervading and growing influence of Hinduism and Christianity among the Oraon tribes, the Gotra system is losing its significance in the recent years, especially in the forging of the matrimonial alliances.

The important Gotras / Totem of the Oraon tribes are as under:         Aadho            :       Ox         Alla               :       Dog         Angal Topo     :       A type of tree         Amri              :       Juice extracted from rice         Aind              :       A snake like fish         Ekka             :       Tortoise         Argo              :       Mouse         Oregora         :       Kite         Oruga           :     Rat living in agriculture land         Kanda            :       Root         Kinda             :       Coconut         Kinduaar        :       A fish         Kish                     :       Pig         Kishpotta      :    Tree (Kasayi) (Earlier related to pig)         Kujur             :       Fruit         Kundri           :       Vegetable         Kusua            :       Fish         Keoonda        :       Fruit         Kane             :       Fish         Kendi             :       Tree         Kerketta         :       Sparrow         Kaithi             :       Vegetable

         Kokro            :       Chicken Cock         Kosuaar         :       Fish         Khalkho         :       Fish         Khakha          :       Crow         Kheksha         :       Vegetable         Khes              :       Rice (Dhaan)         Khoiya           :       Wild Dog

Garwa           :       Bird (Saras)

Oraons: The Gotra System (Part-II)

The important Gotras / Totem of the Oraon tribes are as under: 

         Gadi              :       Monkey         Gidhi             :       Vulture         Gisileeh          :       Bird         Gende           :       Duck         Godo             :       Crocodile         Gondarari       :       Tree         Chilgo            :       Fox         Chindra          :       Squirrel (Gilhari)         Jubbi             :       Source of water         Toppo            :       Bird with long tail         Tirkey            :       Small Mouse         Tigga             :       Monkey         Tirkuaar         :       Bird         Tirru              :       Fish         Dhehua          :       Bird         Panna            :       Iron         Pusra             :       Tree (Kusum)         Putri              :       Tree         Barwa            :       Wild Dog         Bakula           :       Bird         Bakhla           :       Grass         Bando            :       Wild Cat         Bara              :       Tree         Vaasaa          :       Tree         Biaah             :       Fish         Bekh             :       Salt         Baandh          :       Dam to stop river water         Madgi            :       Tree (Mahua)         Minj              :       Fish         Manjuniyaar   :       Creeper         Sanda            :       Fox         Rori               :       Tree         Lita               :       Fish         Lakra            :       Cheetah         Linda             :       Fish         Saal              :       Fish

         Halmaan        :       Big Monkeys

Among the Oraon Tribe, the Gotra is generally the living beings that surrounded our forefathers and each of

the families trace their roots to these totems. It is also believed that these auspicious living beings helped

our ancestors’ families to come out of the difficult times and as a result the entire generations of the families

of a certain Gotra are indebted to them, since time immemorial. The Oraon families accorded a very high

respectable position to the above mentioned living beings and non-living beings mentioned above. The

hunting of these living beings and / or the cutting of trees / plants are strictly prohibited among the people

belonging to the respective Gotra. According to the popular Oraons’ belief, each of these Gotra / Totem has

wonderful positive energy to help its family members in the time of need. Each of these Gotra has legendary

story going back to the ancient times, where they had helped their families to overcome hard times.  During

theJatra festivity, many a time the Oraon families carry the flags bearing the symbols of their respective

Gotra. The Oraons believe that their ancestors are always live around and help them in the time of the need.

Oraons & Sarna Religion (Part-I)One of best kept secret about the adivasi society is that they have their own religion called Sarna Dharam, majority population of the adivasi community belonging to major tribes of Jharkhand, including, Munda, Oraon, Santhal, Ho, Kharia, etc., numbering in excess of few crores by head count belonging to Jharkhand, follow the most egalitarian and natural religion on earth.

Oraon tribe followed Sarna Dharam, where Sarna means sacred grove. Their religion is based on the oral traditions passed from generation-to-generation. The religion is deeply ingrained in their culture and traditions, respecting the superiority of our natural world and its power. It strongly believes in one God, the Supreme Being, the Great Spirit, the Great One, the Creator, the Mighty Spirit, the one who rules over the entire universe, known as Dharmesh. They strongly believe in Lord Dharmesh’s appearance in Sal trees.

According to Oraon's philosophy, the lord Dharmesh is the most powerful and most important deity. He is responsible for the creation of our universe including our ancestors besides acting as our protector. Infact the whole world (Universe) is regulated by a superpower that is Dharmesh in Kurukh which simply means the almighty, he is also called Mahaedeo. The great one Dharmesh’s purity demands that he be offered sacrifices only of things that are white. Hence he is given sacrifices of white goats, white fowls, white gulainchi flowers, white cloth, sugar, milk, etc. White is the sacred colour of Oraon tribe, in fact it is true for most adivasi.

Among the many important deities, the Chala-pacho Devi (Sarna Devi) is among the most important and most respected deity. The Gram Devi Chala-Pachho is a caring Old age lady with beautifully flowing white hair. It is believed that the Sal tree is the holy abode of the Sarna Devi, the mother goddess that protects and nurtures the Oraon tribe and others. On the occasion of Sarhul festival, the Pahan conducts special puja of the Devi.

According to Sarna Dharam, the Devi lives in the wooden soop of Pahan kept at Chala-Kutti place, the auspicious place at Pahan’s home. At Kutti place, one stick made up of Saal wood or Bamboo Wood is fixed on the ground, on this respected wooden soop called Sarna-Soop, the Sarna-Devi resides.

Oraons perform rituals under the Sal trees at a place called ‘Sarna Sthal’, it is also known as ‘Jaher’ (sacred grove); it resembles a small forest patch. In Oraons’ villages, one can easily find the sacred religious place the ‘Sarna Sthal’ that has holy Sal trees and other trees planted at the site. Sometimes the Jaher are located inside the nearby forest area and not in the village.

This Sarna Sthal (Jaher) is a common religious place for the whole village and almost all the important socio-religious ceremonies of the village take place at this place only. These ceremonies are performed by the whole village community at a public gathering with the active participation of village priests known as ‘Pahan’. The chief assistant of village priest is called ‘Pujaar’ or ‘Panbhara’.

Oraons & Sarna Religion (Part-II)

The Sarna people do not have a written code of moral law. Their idea of right and wrong comes from their

tradition.

Tradition is their measure of truth. Their way to salvation is the tribe. Oraon tribe is primarily skilled

agriculturists, most of the prayers revolved around getting good harvest and well being of their domestic

animals. Thus the round of rituals connected with the agricultural cycle, along with life-cycle rituals for birth,

marriage and death, it involves offering prayers to the spirits and to the deceased ancestors, with the active

assistance of the Pahan.

It is true that the Oraons believe that their lives are greatly influenced by the natural surroundings, gods-

goddesses, supernatural forces, spirits and many unknown and mysterious forces, including the souls of their

deceased ancestors, who look after their tribe’s interests. Surrounded by the natural world, it is instinctive

for adivasi to name their benevolent gods and goddesses on the forests, hills, sun, water, rains, fires, light,

etc. The gods and goddess are independent of the material world but he has dominion over the entire

universe. They are omniscient, omnipresent, eternal, and compassionate; they always try to help out the

humanity. The religion of Oraon is based on their belief in nature and its supernatural power. They have

Nature Deities and the Spirits, both divided into broad categories of Benevolent and Malevolent. According to

the belief of the Oraon community, the world is inhabited by numerous spiritual beings of different kind; and

the Oraons consider themselves as living and doing everything in close association with these supernatural

beings.

The ancestors’ spirits called Pitar (Benevolent) and the Iatar (Malevolent), who are also worshipped.

According to Oraons’ religious belief, their dead – ancestors’ souls (atma or aikh or naad) reside inPatal

Lok, below the earth’s surface. Newly deceased persons’ souls do not want to leave their homes and want to

stay close to their family members. Therefore, the Oraons pray to their deceased family member’s soul to

join the family of Pitar (Pach-Balar) at Patal Lok or else it may unite with the family ofIatar and create

troubled for not only the immediate family but also the other denizens of the village.

The highly respected Chandi Devi is only worshipped by unmarried male youngsters for achieving success

in hunting expeditions. For married male folks, the worshipping of goddess is strictly prohibitated. Among the

nature gods, the important one is the Pahaar Raja (Paat-Naad) is considered to be the lord of all the naad

belonging to a village; he keeps all these deceased’s souls under his control. It is believed that he resides in

nearest mountain situated near the village and protects all the villagers from the diseases, natural

calamities, etc. Another nature god is the tree named ‘Mui-Chitkha’, also known as Hazi-

Peepar or Baindaa Peepar. It is generally found in almost all the Oraon villages. According to Oraons’

believe, this tree is directly linked to the clouds in the sky, responsible for the rainfall. The village women

folks forming a group perform the special puja as per traditions, praying for the rainfalls; the wish is

generally granted within couple of days.

Oraons & Sarna Religion (Part-III)The Gotras system of Oraon is based on natural totem systems and it is one of the most important social

institutions of Oraon tribe. 

Gotra system directly influences the marriage and it is believed to be based on Lord Dharmesh’s

directions. Gotra in simple words mean a vast family line that can trace back their heredity source to an

ancestral foundation of a single family. As the ancestry can be traced to single family, it is believed that

Oraon individuals belonging to the same Gotra, they trace their roots to the same family, hence they are

considered to be blood relative and the marriage within the same Gotra is strictly prohibitated as it is a basic

foundation stone of a tribe.

These Gotras have been derived from the names of animals, the plants and other living things that have

helped their families at the time of distress. Every Gotra or a Totem has their own folk-tales and as a mark of

respect these animals, plants, etc. are worshipped and are never ever hurt by these families. Few of the

important Gotra are: Aind (a fish), Ekka (tortoise), Oregora (Kite), Kujur (a fruit), Kerketta (sparrow), Khalkho

(a fish), Khakha (crow), Gadi (Monkey), Toppo (a bird), Barwa (a wild dog), Bakhla (a grass), Minz (a fish),

Lakra (Cheetah), Linda (a fish), Bara (a tree), etc.

The majority of the Oraon tribe’s festivals trace their origin in their hunting and the agricultural based

economy. These festivals are celebrated in typical adivasi style; they participate in the usual round of

traditional kurukh songs, community dancing, harian drinks (rice-beer), feasting, etc.

In the Fagu festival, the Goddess Chandi is worshipped, she is thanked for providing food and other items

to the tribe from the forest. It is celebrated during February – March and young oraon participate in the two

days long celebrations that include bonfire, dancing, hunting (Fagu-Sendra), etc.

The Sarhul or Khaddi festival is celebrated in March-April every year and it is considered to be the most

important festival of Oraons. The Sarhul is also known as Khekhel-Benja, the term Khekhel-Benjameans

holy Earth’s marriage with the lord Sun. In traditional Oraon farming community, the marriage of the Sun’s

beneficial rays and the Earth’s immense fertility is celebrated. It is the most important festival of Oraon and

they worship the Mother Nature for showering its blessings onto humanity.

One of the important Sarhul songs goes like this:

(Kurukh Song)  

Tela Dasba Gosain, Makka Dasba, Gosain Saareim!

Haiyere Khaddi Manout, Hoiyere Fagu Manout, Gosain Saareim.

(English Translation)  

O God of Keandu Tree, O God of Saal Tree, Fagu God, Sarhul God!

O It is Sarhul, O It is Fagu, Fagu God, Sarhul God, Come on, let us celebrate together!

It is a festival of welcoming of new flowers, fresh fruits and other natural produces made available to us. In

the ancient times, the Oraon villagers never used to pick new seeds, flowers, fruits, roots, etc. from the

forest area for their consumption till the conclusion of Sarhul festival in the village. They believe that it has

direct bearing on availability of their food items for them.

Oraons & Sarna Religion (Part-IV)

In the month of June-July, the Hariyari Parv is celebrated. In this festival, Pitar, ancestors of Khunt, gods and goddesses are worshipped for increasing the agricultural productivity. 

Only after the completion of this festival, the Oraon farmers sow the seeds of food grains like Dhaan, Gondali, Maruwa, or even Kapas. They thank their ancestors for filling our agricultural field with lush green vegetations.

In the month of August, the Kadlota festival is celebrated to protect their agricultural plants from any kind of calamity. In this, the village god and goddesses are worshipped.

Also in the month of August or September, the festival Karma is celebrated, which is as important as the Sarhulfestival. The Karam God is worshipped and this Karam Devta Puja is principally performed by women-folks to make him happy. It is obvious from the numerous Karam festival songs that the sisters pray for the happiness and well-being of their brothers.

Accompanied by the singing of the Karam songs the rituals are performed,(Kurukh Song) 

Saton Bhaiya Re Saton Karam Garaiye, Saton Bahin Seva KaraiyeKoyencha Mein Phool Haath Mein Sindura, Chala Jahu Karam Ka Seva.

The Karam God bestows wealth and happiness and keeps away the bad luck far away from the praying Oraon tribe folks.

On the 12th day of Karam festival, the Jitiya Festival is celebrated, it generally falls in the month of August or September. It is celebrated by the mothers who seek blessings for the safety of the children and their bright future. The mothers follow the difficult fasting and Vrata ritual for the same. In the night of the Jitiya, every family celebrates it with a dinner feast of food and the traditional drink Harian.

To pray for the safety and augmentation of domestic farm animals’ wealth of the Oraon families, especially the cattle, Sohrai festival is celebrated in the month of October or November each year by the whole family. These cattle are treated with extra special care and the respect on this day. Each house of the village is lighted with Diyas to celebrate the occasion; the celebration has uncanny resemblance to the Deepawali, one of the important festivals of Hindus.

Khara-Puja or Kharihani is last festival to be celebrated in the yearlong celebration by the Oraons. They worship the Naad, ancestors of Khunt, and

other spirits to thanks them for the good harvest that has taken place in our agricultural farms. Only after the completion of our Khara-Puja, the Oraon farmers commence the work of cutting, thrashing and sorting of the crop-produces.

The world of any adivasi group is stamped with sacredness, religiosity and reverence for nature; it is also true for Oraon tribe. It is obvious that this eco-spirituality came from their hearts. This is the view of the Sarna adivasi people as well. They are totally involved in the world, they communicate with the spirituality that surrounds them. They love nature; they communicate with it and are attached to it. Nature is their way to the supernatural. Otherwise, it is obvious that natural religions not based on books and exclusive revelations are much more immersed in nature.But they strongly believe that the happenings in their lives, whether they are good-times or the bad-times and natural happenings are not solely dictated by the god almighty or other superior forces. They believe that a man or a woman is perfectly capable of making their own destiny with their relentless hard work and perseverance.

Oraons: Political & Social Institutions (Part-I)It is established historical fact that during the ancient and medieval era, Jharkhand was notionally part of the 'unknown frontier' that remained unconquered and unexplored by the mainland rulers.

Living in isolation, unconquered over many centuries, our Adivasis’ ancestor developed our territory into independent, self-governing and the first nations of India. Our traditional legal system governed our country and the society.

In an Oraon village, a village headman (Mukhiya) and the village-priest (Pahan) served as a secular head and religious head of the village respectively. The Pahan conducted all types of religious and social ceremonies in the villages; whereas Mukhiya used to look after the day-to-day administrative needs of the village. Villagers in concurrence used to elect both of them for a fixed tenure of few years, to enable them to perform their duties smoothly with the help of other members of village council.

Each of the Oraon villages in a region were loosely formed a part of a greater confederation, so that they could help each other and jointly protect themselves, called Parha organization. The Parha is a confederacy of a number of neighbouring villages with a central organization called Parha Panch. It was kind of a democratic institution consisting of village headman of each of the member villages. Then the village councils of member villages of a Parha Panch used to elects its own Parha Raja. The Parha Raja was not a dictator, the members of the Parha Panchayats used to assist Parha Raja in performing his duties. On every Jatra the meetings of theParha Panch was held and sometimes it used to meet when some kind of emergency case had to be decided.

In each of Oraon Parha Panch, the residents used to choose few villages to perform their assigned duties. The selected villages are given names’

denoting their duties, one of the villages was called the Raja village, second one was called the Dewan village, third one was called Panrey village, fourth one was called Kotwar village, and so on; the remaining villages were called Praja village.

Every village of the Parha had its own distinctive flag and other badges; any other villages could not use them unless ceremonially presented by the village that had the exclusive right over them.  The Village council acted as the lowest level Panchayat and the Parha Council acted as a highest body for the resolving the disputes and dispensing justice. Only Parha Panch could sentence a guilty person to be outcaste and a reformed person to readmit back to the community fold. Each village used to co-operate in pursuit of the common objects of the federation. The primary functions of Parha Panch were to uphold the traditional law and order in the allied villages and to protect the member villages.

In a Parha council, the member villages used to participate jointly in their battles, hunting, and numerous social functions including the community feasts, social music and dance events.

We also used to have Inter-Parha groupings. Almost every Parha used to have ‘Dudh-bhaya’ villages, these villages though belonging to different Parha, entered into ceremonial alliances with another Parha. Each of theseDudh-bhaya villages had their share of recognized duties and privileges with respect to other Parha of which it isDudh-bhaya, whether it was peacetime or the wartime.

Oraons: Political & Social Institutions (Part-II)Dhankothis (or Grain-golas) was an old Oraon tribe institution that disappeared into thin air. 

It had deep roots in the Adivasi economy and formed an important aspect of Adivasiculture. The Village Council used to run these. For Dhankothis, each cultivator contributed a small quantity of paddy per acre of land towards their share capital of Dhankothi, where they stored food-items, for rainy days and other exigencies.

One institution that has survived the ravage of time is weekly Bazaar or Haat, in these weekly markets, the people from the neighbouring villages within a radius of 5 to 10 miles, assemble to participate in all kinds buying and selling activities, few items were bartered too. Weekly Haat was more like a modern day club or a shopping mall, where people meet their friends, eat, drink, and make merry.

Every Adivasis living in nearby village eagerly looked forward to these weekly Haat, almost everyone used to turn in their best attire with special preparation like washing, cleaning and dressing them. No doubt, more often than not, even the marriages were negotiated and the cupid used to find its naive victims in these weekly Haat, buzzing with boundless energy, unbridled laughter of innocent Adivasis.

According to our age-old traditions, the marriages have to take place in the season in which people do not have much agricultural work. It takes place between January and April. Besides having leisure from agricultural pursuits, the house are also full of food-grains and it is easy to invite a large number of people on this occasion of marriage feast.

In the ‘lota-panni’ ceremony that precedes marriage, the boy’s guardians have to make substantial presents to the girls and her family, for the respect that they accord to bride who is joining their family post marriage. The bride price has to be given and this is known as ‘Dali-Dhiba’.

Marriage is considered an joyous occasion for the exchange of gifts not only between the couples but also between the families in which marriage is taking place and the kin group of which it is part. When one gets an invitation to attend the marriage of his relative or friends it is the usual practice to take two pots containing four seers of rice beer, some rice, pulses and vegetables.

It is customary for married girls in a village to receive gifts from their parents-in-law on the occasions of Karma, Sarhul and other festivals. On festivals, the gifts are exchanged between friends who form pacts of friendship such as Sahiya, etc. Even at the time of funerals, to help the grieving family, the community used to bring whatever they could afford to help the deceased’s family to help them in their time of grieving.

The Jharkhand was never an exclusive abode of an Oraon tribe, for many centuries, many different types of Tribes shared their home at Jharkhand without ever indulging in blood-spattered war with each other. Amidst extended period as sovereign units and their peaceful existence during these few thousand years, almost each tribe residing inJharkhand developed their unique language, art and culture. But these different Adivasi tribes shared a common thread, likes their unwavering worshipping of their nature gods and their forefathers’ religion, also known as Sarna religion.

Oraons: Political & Social Institutions (Part-III)

The houses in the villages were built mostly of wood, bamboos and leaves of trees. 

In fact, the vast majority of houses are built of mud and the roofs are tiled. On the walls of some of these houses, it is common to find drawings of human beings, horses, elephants and men riding horses, a row of men dancing, etc. Most people keep their clothes and other possessions in a bamboo basket called ‘harka’. Most of the people lived in spacious houses. Almost all the houses have a courtyard and a verandah on all sides. In our houses, one can find a trident and a religious Sarna flag fixed at the courtyard. Most of the houses had separate sheds for cattle located in one corner of the house. The cattle had separate doors built especially for them. Each room of the house is smeared daily with white soil and cow dung to keep it clean.

In almost every Oraons’ villages, one can easily find one or more Akhra (dancing place). Often in each tola of a village, one can find a separate Akhra. We have rich collection of song and related dance traditions; these vary according to the seasons and occasions. In these joyous community festivities, dominated by songs and dance routines, everyone in the village, come together to participate at these akhra, irrespective of their age, gender, and economic status.

One more Oraons’ institution called Dhumkuria were kind of bachelors’ dormitories that worked as a kind of finishing school for the younger generation of Oraon in a village. It has completely disappeared, as it came under vicious attack led by negative propaganda by the people who wanted to attack our society.

We are happy-go-lucky type of race, always finding an excuse to throw a community feasts. These feasts and festivals are expression of their joy over a good harvest or a happy event in his village. Among most of theAdivasis, beef and pork were considered a taboo, but mutton, goat-meat, fowl, and few other birds were considered delicacies.

The ‘Hanria’ drink has an important place in the social system of the Oraons. Whenever a feast is to be given on the birth of a child, marriage or in connection with the funeral, large stocks of Hanria is very important item. It is a cheap drink and in the past it used to add valuable vitamin to our diet. This traditional drink Hanria is prepared by using simple fermentation process and ingredients like rice or mahua, etc; it is low in alcohol content and only after consuming large quantities can one become intoxicated.  This popular drink can be easily prepared in the home by means of a very simple fermentation process.

Off-late we have seen that rightly or wrongly the whole Adivasi community have been painted as bunch of ‘drunkard’; the young Adivasis have the added responsibility to erase the irreparable harm done by such judgemental propaganda by the vested interest. They need to show the way, by becoming a responsibleAdivasis community member and limiting the damages done by such misinformation.

Oraons: Political & Social Institutions (Part-IV)

Our love of forest is inborn, so much so that every Oraon village in Jharkhand has a small patch of forests called ‘jahera', our place of worship. 

We worship forest, because we believed that the forest is our natural guardian, benefactor and provider. We have always thanked our generous nature gods profusely for looking after so many generations of Adivasiwithout ever denying us; our rights and we never took more than what we needed. We lived a life of austerity for so many generations of which they were not even conscious; greed never ruled our personal life.

It would be erroneous exercise to disassociate Adivasi symbolic relations with the forest, i.e., it is their unimbilical cord. We have developed unique and interesting code of behaviour to deal with wild life, some of our septs (killis/gotra) are named after wild animals and killing such species is a taboo for all the Adivasi. These inherent bonds between the natural forest surroundings and the indigenous life and culture have only grown stronger with passage of time. Adivasi and Forests are inseparable twins, no force in the world can separate them; it has remained so for thousands of years and it shall continue for many more years, unless the forests disappear because of the greedy dikku.

Our Adivasi communities have been deliberately or perhaps wrongly blamed for dwindling wild-life population by the vested interest groups using all kinds of propaganda, as if we are responsible for the tragedy. The fact is that our hunting festivities have been more ceremonial and more like a community carnival.  In the past, when hunting was not considered illegal, our annual hunting festival (sendra) was held with great pomp and show. It used to test the Adivasis’ skills with bows and arrows; the good marksmanship was appreciated and rewarded with their shikar. A drink party known as ‘Mukhiya Hanria’ used to round off our annual hunt.

We did not favour any time of unwanted hunting and killing of all the wild species, instead only selected few made to the list of the approved species whose meat (jilu) they relished and were found in abundance. Otherwise, in thousand years we would have wiped clean the forest, but we hold wild species in high regards. This fact is further proved by the domination of wild animals and other species in our septs (gotras/killis), these species are considered to be part of ancestry.

Women did not take part in hunting. While the men went away on hunt, women used to have a good time. They used to dress themselves in the male attire and roam about freely. They danced at the akhara in the male dress. If they find any male members in the village, they used to harass and taunt them. During this hunting episode, they used to visit all the places in the village that are at other time barred to them as for example theDhumkuria. It was unrestricted fun for them.

The Women’s hunt known as Jani Shikar was to be held once every 12 years. It too was a recreation event than anything else. On the day of Jani Shikar, the women put on masculine dress and carry with them bows, arrows, baluas, spears, etc. Then they leave the village in a group in search of animals. They go to another village and take whatever they find. Fowls, goats, sheep and pigs are their favourite animals. People of the other village generally do not mind this expedition.  When the party enters the other village, its women folk receive them and wash their feet. The wife of the Parha Raja becomes the leader of the hunt in that locality. The woman of the second village then repeat the performance in a third village and thus the mock hunt proceeds in relay till many villages have taken part and the village from which the hunt started is reached. The gifts collected during this

hunt are considered to be the property of the women-folk; it was a ritual and festivity meant for the women-folks only.

Oraons: Political & Social Institutions (Part-V)In our Adivasi society, including Oraon Society the sense of equality is the keystone. Even in the administrative structure of Parha Panchayat or in the case of religious arrangement of Pahan , the foundation of equality was never abandoned.  Their positions were given due respect, but only when they sincerely made positive contributions to our society and perform their assigned with great responsibility. These positions too were never treated as hereditary ones; generally the right persons were elected or selected by the society.

In total contrast, in the non-Adivasi society, the leadership positions like that of politicians, big businesspersons, top officials, or even the priests, are often given exalted position and treated with utmost respect, almost all the time. Irrespective of their personal conduct and performance at their respective jobs, they are always treated with extreme reverence.

Interestingly, our Oraon society like other Adivasi societies was always non-materialistic unlike the non-Adivasi-societies surrounding them. Our farmers only cultivated the farm produce that they needed or even our hunters collected what they needed; they never ever pandered to their greed. We never aspired to acquire wealth; their society was a non-acquisitive one.  This non-acquisitiveness is the very essence of their civilization and it shows itself on their attitude towards nature and even the fellow human beings. They liked to share their good fortune, whether it was bumper crop for a farmer or extra meat being shared by the hunter. Sharing formed the basic philosophy of our society; in fact the idea of not sharing their good-fortune with fellow human beings seemed as an alien concept and they could never really understand this type of behavior.

It explains Adivasi economy being self-sustaining one but it was never dictated by overtly display of material possessions. Maybe the non-Adivasi societies can take few relevant pages out of Adivasis’ way of life to make their society more compassionate and perhaps based on more humane approach. It need not be driven by the so called free-market economy and dictated by the underlying principle of greed, naked display of wealth and acquisitions.

Adivasi continued to depend on forest and its extended natural surroundings, though the majority of the Adivasiwere practicing agriculture and it was practised on the principle of mutual co-operation and the belief of reciprocity. The help was given on a reciprocal basis and cash was rarely paid. Neighbours, if they were free, also often lent a helping hand, and at the end of day’s labour, they were served rice beer.

We know that our society was based on holding all kinds of life forms on a very high reverence, be it animals, trees, water, earth, etc. This kind of

symbiotic relationship between humans and its natural surroundings has few parallel in the modern societies. Thus the human values like mutual respect and equality forms integral part of our society. We believed in sharing, including our knowledge with the others. Our ancestors were not self-fish, the knowledge was generally considered to a common property.  Most of the time we shared our knowledge of magical herbs, the unknown birds or animals, techniques of iron smelting, etc., for free; often leading us into the disastrous consequences. These kinds of attitude have led to our exploitations by the dikkus (exploiters).

In the 21st century, we can not romanticising our Adivasis’ culture instead we should change and adapt it according in line with the modern society or else our exploitation may never end by the dikkus.

Oraons: The KARAM / KARMA Festival (Part-I)In whole the Chotanagpur Plateau Region, among the local people the Karam Festival is celebrated with great pomp and show. 

Among the Oraon Tribe, the Karam festival is one of the most important festivals and holds a very important place in their social and religious life. It is usually celebrated 15 days after the Kunwaar-Shukl-Paksh. After the fixation of the date for the festival, the local population start their preparation; for instance, they start buying the culinary-items to prepare traditional dishes, new clothes for the occasion, etc. Besides, for the Karam-Puja, they buy oil, Sindoor, Daliya, et al. Being a very important community festival of the region, it is celebrated by the entire Oraon and other local communities of the region; now in its modern day re-embodiment, the festivity has spread far and wide, from the rural to the urban ambience, and from Chotanagpur to other parts of our country.

Use of Jawa-Phool (or Jawa-flowers) by the Girls

Nine days prior to the Karam-Festival, the girls from a same village (now from a neighbourhood in an urban areas) after their ablution, they take their food and then assemble to proceed, towards the nearest river or the other water bodies, where the sand can be found; on the way, they sing and dance on the Karam-songs. After reaching the river, they make the Patall (plate-&-saucer) made up from the leaf of the Sakhua-tree, called Sakhua-Patall; then they fill them with the sands and return back to their homes, on their way-back, they gain sing and dance on the Karam-songs.

Karam-Song for the occasion goes like this:

O! - Pellar Hi Jawa Punpunn,Gola Nado Mena Lagi Re,Bacha Nado Mena Lagi.

Ki! - Pachi Re Baudan Chaal Malaa Nani,Gola Nado Mena Lagi Re,

Bacha Nado Mena Lagi.

{It means: the Jawa-Phool belonging to Girls, these lumps of flowers are being eaten by calf, ox, and oxen; when we ask them to step back, they do

not listen to us.}

In their homes, they plant the seeds of corn, rice, jau, etc. in the Sakhua-Patall. For the next nine days, they water these with Haldi-Panni (Tumeric-water) and take good care. When these seeds germinate, these germinated seeds are called “Jawa-Phool”.

This religious ritual has unique philosophical significance; as it draws parallel between the 9 months pregnancy among the women and the Jawa-Phool; also it is a way to thank the Almighty Nature and other gods by the Oraon-folks.

Oraons: The KARAM / KARMA Festival (Part-II)

Karam Festival  for Young Oraon Girls and BoysWhen a boy’s (young man) marriage is fixed, then on the occasion of the festival the boy is expected to visit the home of his prospective in-laws; and the boy is expected to help the families of bride with all kinds of work.

Also the Boy brings with him, the “Karam-Daliya” and the clothes for the Girl (young women). Besides the Girl is also taken to the Boy’s house in the evening of the Karam festival and it is expected that the girl would help them with the preparation of celebratory-feasts and other works.

Karam-Song for the occasion goes like this:

O! – Eideenintaa Karam Chando Bhaiyer,Aingeh Peloon Airon Ka Malla (Re) – 2

Ki! – Aira Hoon Airon Malla Hoon Airon,Sapraron Sausareir Kaloon (Re) – 2

{It means: In this year’s Karam-Month, will I be able to see the Girl (young women) or not. Will I be able to see her or not, after getting ready will I go to

in-law’s place.}

Special Karam-Clothes for Karam-Festival

On the occasion of the festival, the Boys and the Girls are given extraordinary treatment and due importance by their respective families. The families, their mother and father, give them special “Karam-clothes” to their child (or children), these clothes signify the unmarried status of the Boys and the Girls of the family.

One of the most interesting aspects of these special clothes given as gift is that these Karam-clothes are hand-woven by the mother and father for their child, after hours of hard-works. It signifies, the clothes save them from the bad influence and the habits. The Karam and these Karam-Clothes are

considered very auspicious. It is also believed that the children are offered to Karam, for the showering of its constant guidance and blessings to the child, in fact the entire family.

Karam-clothes are given to the Boys and Girls who fast for the first time in their lives for the festival and not to the others. The Girls are given 14-hand long clothes for wearing (called Kurna-Kichri) and the Boys are given 18-hand long clothes for the head-gear (called Turra-Pagdi) and 6-hand long clothes for wearing (called Dhoti). The Girls are also given “Ralo or Ghusni” for wearing on their waist and for their legs they are given “Ghunghroo or Paijan”; the girls use them during the festivals, while participating in a dance. They use these items until they get married. After their marriage, the Girls return “Kurna-Kichri” and the Boys return “Turra-Pagdi” to their parents; these clothes are later used by the grand-daughters and grand-sons.

Karam-Song for the occasion goes like this:

O! - Deenda Bhiyar Nu Chail-Phail Mandar Haro Jokharo,Kuuk Maiya Pagri Rai (Re) – 2

Ki! – Benjaraa To Jokhaiye Jeeyan Nighaiye Airoy,Pagri Nighein Khatro Kalo,

Mukka Nighen Khoke Nu Rau.

{It means: Boy, you are celebrating your bachelorhood status, the Turra-Pagdi adorns your head. But after marriage, you will find that in your life,

your Turra-Pagdi will fall down and you will have wife in your arms}Oraons: The KARAM / KARMA Festival (Part-III)

Fasting during Karam-FestivalThe entire family, in fact entire community observe fast; boys, girls, married-couples, including the parents; as this is a very important festival for all of them. 

The persons who are responsible for the cutting and planting of Karam branch, then for them it is imperative to fast. Generally the unmarried Boys cut the Karam branch, while the married men and women place Karam branch in the ground; however many a times the married women take the lead in planting the said branch.

Karam-Song for the occasion goes like this:

O! – Ne Tangda Karam Upaas Nanee,Kida Ti Maneem Sokaye Mani (Re) – 2

Ki! – Mahto Tangda Karam Upaas Nanee,Kida Ti Manim Sokaye Mani (Re) – 2

{It means: Whose daughter is observing Karam-fast, who is feeling very hungry; Mahto’s (village headman) daughter is observing Karam-fast, she is

felling very hungry}

The fasting starts on the evening preceding the festival. On this evening, one is allowed to eat Milk and Chuara (made of rice). On the day, when Karam-branch is planted, the fast is observed. On this day the Boys and Girls do not go for work. The Girls go out to find the flowers (“Phool-Lorne”) in the day and come back before evening.

Cutting Karam-Branch

Around 6’o clock in the evening, the devotees cut the Karam-Branch. They devotees bring Balua (Sand), Arwa-Chawal (Rice), Arwa-Soot (White Thread), Sindoor (Vermillion), Fire, Dhuwan (Incense), and Ghee (a type of Butter). Amidst the sound of traditional music, they sing and dance around the Karam-Tree in joyous celebrations.

The boy who cuts the Karam- branch, he is usually of unmarried status and he sits in front of tree facing the east direction. After that, he cleans the area surrounding the tree, covers the ground near the tree with Gobar (cow-dung), called Gobar-leepna and then he goes around the tree 7 times, ties the Arwa-Soot on the tree, puts Sindoor on the tree. After he places the auspicious fire near the tree, he burns the Dhuwan and Ghee; to start the Pooja (prayer), the prayer goes like this:

Hei Karam Raja, Dharam Raja!Aiteke Ulla Neen Tonka Torang Nu Rahichak,

Khonta Mann Nu Rahichak–Inna Nigan Hooa Barach Kam.Inna Neen Karam Raja Akhra Nu Raiyu – Akhra Nu Ijjaka Raiyu.

Hei Karam Raja, Dharam Raja!Eida Einaa Aem Paricha Lagdam.

Einderoge- Aintege-Dhanege, Khurage – Padhage, Khadhage-Kharage-Urmi Nu Nighehain Barakayeet Baraa Nekaan.

{It means: Hei Karam Raja, Dharam Raja!For so many days, you have stayed in Jungle-Tarn,

you have stayed in Khunte, today we have come to take you.Today you will be in the Akhra (common worship / dancing place), 

you will stand in the Akhra.Hei Karam Raja, Dharam Raja!

See, today we are showering flowers,We want your assistance for food-grains, wealth, village, country, 

children, for everyone we want your blessings.}

After the conclusion of the prayer, he showers Arwa-Chawal on to the tree and climbs on the tree. Meanwhile the Girls pluck the Sakhua-Patti (Sakhua-leafs). He cuts 4 to 5 feet long-branch, which has 3 small branches and hands over to the Girls, who have observed fast. The Girls catch the branch without letting it touch the ground. However, in some other places, only the Boys who have observed the fast, they catch the Karam-Dalli (branch) and the girls take the branches on the way to bring the Karam-Dalli to the Akhra.

The 3 branches hold important meaning, they signify:

First branch is cut in the name of Almighty Dharmesh and others. Second branch is cut in the name of the village. Third branch is cut in the name of the family.

The Girls hold the Sakhua-Patti and the Karam-Daali (branch) with great care. After this everyone returns back to the Akhra, again singing and dancing on the way. In the Akhra, everyone takes 3 rounds with Karam-Dalli and assemble at a place.

Karam-Song for the occasion goes like this:

Naini Go Naigini Barai Naigini – 2Karma Ge Isung Chiua Karma Ge Sinduri – 2

Naiga Go Naigini Barai Naigini – 2Karma Ge Isung Chiua Karma Ge Sinduri – 2

{It means: Pujarin O Pujarin (or one who performs prayer/pooja) -2.Come Pujarin, give us Oil, Sindoor -2.

Pujarin O Pujarin -2.Come Pujarin, give us Oil, Sindoor 2.}

Oraons: The KARAM / KARMA Festival (Part-IV)Planting of Karam – Dalli (Branch)

The boy, who is responsible to place the Karam-Dalli; he brings a Lota (pot) filled with water, Sabbal (an iron rod used for digging), Diya-Batti (an earthen pot and a light), Ghee and Milk. 

After digging the earth, the 3 branches are tied together with 7 rounds of thread, once they are bunched, they are placed in the hole, the water is poured and the soil is filled. Then the Boy lights the Dhuwan, pours milk, offer Ghee, uses Sindoor, and perform 3 times Pranam / Namaskar (salutation); after the conclusion of the Pooja (prayer), the boy leaves for his home along with the other Boys and Girls, who have assembled there. In their homes, they pray to their Gods, Goddesses and the ancestors.

Decoration of the Daliya

The unmarried Girls (young women) who have observed fast, they decorate their personal Daliya (the small wooden basket). For Daliya, the girls usually use two types, First, made up of Bamboo and Second, made of other stuff. In the Daliya, two pieces of new clothes dipped in Haldi (Tumeric) are placed; one of the cloth-piece holds the Kheera (cucumber) and the second cloth-piece is used to cover the Kheera. By the side of the Kheera, one lighted Diya (an earthen pot) is placed. Then two Datvan (small-wooden stick) taken from Sakhwa Tree is placed, these are then covered with Rendi or Pechki (or Kuchu) Pattii (leaf). Lastly the Arwa-Chawal (rice-grain), Jawa-Phool (flower)

and Chiuraa are placed in the Daliya; after that the Girls take their Karam-Daliya to the Akhra.

Prayers at Karam Festival

In case the Girl is observing fast for the first time and has received her Karam-Clothes, then she wears them and taken to the Akhra-Sthal along with her parents, that may take the form of a community-joolosh (procession). The Girl is usually carried by either by her Father or Uncle (Chachaji); while her mother carries the Daliya in her left hand and Lota-Panni (water in a small pot) in her right hand. The person carrying the girl completes the 7 rounds of the planted Karam-Dalli; while taking round, the mother walks behind them and pours the water behind her back. On the completion of 7 rounds, the Girl is asked to sit in front of the Karam-Dalli, while her Daliya is placed beside her. Like this all the fasting Girls are carried and placed in the front of the Karam-Dalli. After everyone reaches the Akhra-Sthal, the fasting Girls distribute their Chawal (rice-grain) and then the public-narration of the Karam-story starts by one of the elders of the village / urban neighbourhood. After the Karam-story ends, the Boys get up and dance; while the Girls carry their Karam-Daliya and go back to their homes.

Karam-Song for the occasion goes like this:

O! – Karam Doaraan Gucha Bauake,Malla Hole Chepere Manoo.

Ki! – Parin Bari Gucha Bauake,Malla Hole Chepere Manoo.

{It means: Move the Karam-Daliya,or else it will be broken.Move it in the morning,

oe else it will be broken.}

Barring handful of people, most of the people leave for their homes to break their fast. At homes, the Parents give their Children who have observed fast, their Turra-Pagdi, Dhoti, Chaurasi, Ghunghroo, etc. After that everyone return back to Akhra to participate in community singing and dancing; and this usually goes on beyond the wee hours of morning.

Kurukh: The Language of Oraon Tribe

The following books have attempted to make it easier for the commoners to learn Kurukh language and its

grammar:

1. Brief Grammar and Vocabulary of Oraon Language by Reverend F. Batch (First edition in 1868)

published in an Asiatic Society of Bengal journal number 35.

2. An Introduction to the Oraon Language by Reverend O. Flanns and George Campbell (1874).

3. Apitaf of the Grammar of Oraon Language by Reverend F. Batch (1874).

4. Kurukh Grammar by Reverend F. Haan (1898).

5. A Grammar of the Oraon Language and study in Oraon Adversaria (1924).

6. Kurukh Sahiya by Aihladh Tirkey (1949).

7. Kath Aara Kath Billin Eidau by Dr. Mikahail Tigga (1949).

8. Kurukh Naigas Oraon Sikshak by Shanti Prakash Bakhla (1962).

9. Kurukh Katha Billi Vyakaran by P. C. Becks (1978).

10. Kurukh Kath Birna Eidua by Ali Mohammad Ansari (1980)

11. Churki Dahre Kurukh by Aihladh Tirkey (1882).

12. Kurukh Phonetic Reader by Dr. Francis Ekka (1985).

The lists of various Kurukh Dictionaries are also given to make it easier to learn the language.

1. Kurukh English Dictionary by Reverend F. Haan (1900).

2. Oraon Dictionary by Reverend T. Boatson.

3. An Oraon Dictionary by Reverand A. Greenguard (1924).

4. An Oraon Dictionary by C. Baliss (1956).

5. Hindi Kurukh by Mrs. Swarnlata Prasad (1977).

6. Kurukh – Hindi Sabdkosh by Mrs. Swarnlata Prasad (1979).

Some known and some unknown literature written in the Kurukh languages are as under: 

1. Kurukh Folklore by Reverend F. Haan (1909).

2. Kurukh Folklore by Reverand A. Greenguard.

3. Leel Kho-rala-Khekhel (two volumes) by Reverend F. Haan, Dharamdas Lakra and W.B. Archer (1941)

contains 2660 kurukh folk songs.

4. Kurukh Dandi by Bihari Lakra on folksongs.

5. Chajika Kurukh Dandi by Teju Bhagat, Thone Oraon and Jamuna Oraon also has folk songs.

6. The Blue Growth (1944), Dhidhan and the Leopard (1941) and Among The Green Leaves by G.

Arthur have Kurukh folksongs in English.

7. Kurukh Sahe Dandi by Prof. Indrajeet Oraon.

8. Dav Billi by Prof. Basanti Kujur.

9. Kurukh Sanni Khiri, Kurukh Kath Khorha and Kurukh Kath Jantra by Julius Tigga contain folk stories.

10. Kurukh Athkha Pandi by Edmund Toppo.

11. Purkha Khiri by Aahlaad Tirkey.

12. Kurukh Bujh Narkhana, Bui Turra Aara Banko Katha by Prof. Indrajeet Oraon.

13. Namhe Earpa by Jastin Ekka is a novel.

14. Eenelata by Ignais Kujur is also a novel.

15. Tura Khadd by Jhanku Oraon.

16. Punna Khor by Prof. Indrajeet Oraon is a modern story.

17. Khalli Aayang by Prof. Indrajeet Oraon is a play.

18. Aayang Jiya by Piyush Lakra is also a play.

19. Aayang Gahi Jiya by Ignais Kujur is a play.

20. Palki by Aahlaad Tirkey is also a play.

21. Oraon Language and Literature by Jagdish Trigunyat is an essay.

22. Haas Bhansi by Aalbanus Minz is a collection of poems.

23. Munta Puamp Jhumpa by Dable Kujur is a collection of songs.

The other important books related to Oraon Tribe are as under:

1. The Oraons of Chotanagpur by S.C. Roy.

2. The Oraon Customs and Religions by S.C. Roy

3. Kurukh Varnmala by Samuel Ranka

4. Kurukh Vachna Gahi Munta Puthi by Prof. Mikhail Tigga.

5. Aalkhan-Ririyarana by Prof. Mikhail Tigga.

6. Paridagreg Aagiyana Puthi by Prof. Mikhail Tigga.

7. Kurukh Shishth Kawya by Dawle Kujur.

8. Kurukh Sahe Dandi by Prof. Indrajeet Oraon.

9. Kurukh Kalpa Jatra by Julius Tigga.

10. Kurukh Dandi Neena Puthi by Darbanus Kujur.

11. Kurukh Kath Sikharaage Punta Puthi by Johan Minz.

12. Boli Ganeet by C. K. Toppo.

13. Kurukh Phonetic Reader Dr. Franscis Ekka.

14. Kurukh Varnmala by Niranjan Ekka.

15. Raaji Pahra Ki Aanmol Kariya –1 by Cheekhrum Bhagat.

16. Lahra Ka Gotra Aara Kurukhar by Shanti Prakash Bakhla.

17. Kurukh Tolong Siki Aara Vak Garhan by Dr. Narayan Oraon.

18. Father Constant Leethans and Chotanagpur by Mahli Livinus Tirkey.

19. The Oraon and Mundas – A Constructive History of Oraons and Mundas – 1909 by A.S. Grinnard.

Few magazines and the journals in Kurukh language are also published from time to time.

1. Singi Dai, Quarterly, Delhi.

2. Naam Kurukhat, Raigarh, Chattisgarh.

3. Sarna Phool, Visheshaank, Ranchi.

4. Adivasi Pahra, Patna.

5. Adivasi, Ranchi.

6. Karma – Dharma, Ranchi.

7. Dhumkuria, Ranchi.

8. Tribal Welfare Research Institute Visheshank, Ranchi.

gotrai Help us expand this topic. Submit Contribution

gotra, lineage segment within an Indian caste that prohibits intermarriage by virtue of the members’

descent from a common mythical ancestor, an important factor in determining possible Hindu marriage

alliances. The name (Sanskrit: “cattle shed”) indicates that the contemporary lineage segment acted as

a joint family, holding possessions in common. Gotra originally referred to the seven lineage segments of

the Brahmans (priests), who trace their derivation from seven ancient seers: Atri, Bharadvaja, Bhrigu,

Gotama, Kashyapa, Vasishtha, and Vishvamitra. An eighth gotra was added early on, the Agastya, named

after the seer intimately linked up with the spread of Vedic Hinduism in southern India. In later times the

number of gotras proliferated when a need was felt to justify Brahman descent by claiming for one’s line a

Vedic seer.

The practice of forbidding marriage between members of the same gotra was intended to keep

thegotra free from inherited blemishes and also to broaden the influence of a particular gotra by wider

alliances with other powerful lineages. The system was, to some extent, adopted by non-Brahman groups in

order to take on some of the social prestige accorded Brahmans. Originally, the Kshatriya (warrior-nobles),

too, had their own dynasties, the principal traditional ones being the Lunar and the Solar dynasties, to

which the heroes of the Sanskrit epics the Mahabharata and the Ramayanarespectively belonged. The epics

do not present a sufficiently clear picture to determine the exogamy of such lineages; marriage alliances

appear rather to have been motivated by territorial considerations. In later times, the Kshatriya and the

Vaishya (merchant-traders) also adopted the concept of gotra in a fashion, by assuming for their groups

the gotra of their adjacent Brahmangotras or those of their gurus (spiritual guides), but this innovation was

never very influential.

Science of Genetics behind the Hindu Gotra System – The Y Chromosome and the Male Lineage Posted by Gurudev on Apr 26, 2011 in Veda | 354 Comments and 52 Reactions

The Hindu Gotra System – Male Lineage IdentificationThe Gotra is a system which associates a person with his most ancient or root ancestor in an unbroken male lineage. For instance if a person says that

he belongs to the Bharadwaja Gotra then it means that he traces back his male ancestry to the ancient Rishi (Saint or Seer) Bharadwaja. So Gotra

refers to the Root Person in a person’s male lineage.

The Gotra system is practiced amongst most Hindus. See here for a List of Hindu Gotras practiced by different sections of the Hindu Society

Brahmins identify their male lineage by considering themselves to be the descendants of the 8 great Rishis ie Saptarshis (The Seven Sacred Saints) +

Bharadwaja Rishi. So the list of root Brahmin Gotras is as follows

Angirasa

Atri

Gautam

Kashyapa

Bhrigu

Vasistha

Kutsa

Bharadwaja

These 8 Rishis are called Gotrakarin meaning roots of Gotras. All other Brahmin Gotras evolved from one of the above Gotras. What this means is

that the descendants of these Rishis over time started their own Gotras. The total number of established Gotras today is 49. However each of them

finally trace back to one of the root Gotrakarin Rishi.

The word Gotra is formed from the two Sanskrit words Gau (meaning Cow) and Trahi (meaning Shed).

Note that the English word Cow is a derived word of the Sanskrit word Gau with the same meaning Gau.

So Gotra means Cowshed, where in the context is that Gotra is like the Cowshed protecting a particular male lineage. Cows are extremely important

sacred animals to Hindus and there were a large number of best breeds of Cows that ancient Hindus reared and worshipped, and hence the name

Gotra referring to the system of maintaining individual male lineages seems more appropriate.

Importance of Son in the Gotra SystemThis Gotra system helps one identify his male lineage and is passed down automatically from Father to Son. But the Gotra system does not get

automatically passed down from Father to Daughter. Suppose a person with Gotra Angirasa has a Son. Now suppose the Son gets married to a girl

whose father belongs to Gotra Kashyapa. The Gotra of the girl automatically is said to become Angirasa after her marriage even though her father

belonged to Gotra Kashyapa.

So the rule of the Gotra system is that the Gotra of men remains the same, while the Gotra of the woman becomes the Gotra of their husband after

marriage. Now suppose a person has only daughters and no sons. In that case his Gotra will end with him in that lineage because his daughters will

belong to the Gotras of their husbands after their marriage!

This was probably the reason why in the ancient vedic or hindu societies it was preferred to have atleast one Son along with any number of daughters,

so that the Gotra of the father could continue.

But isn’t this crap? Why should only Sons carry the Gotra of their father, why can’t daughters? How does the Gotra of a daughter change just because

she marries a person belonging to a different Gotra? What is the necessity of maintaining only the man’s ancestry, why not maintain that of women

too? This was the question that was puzzling me about this Gotra system till recently, until I found out the scientific reasoning behind the Gotra system

by chance while studying a puzzle in modern Genetics for which the biologists are trying to find an answer!

But before that..

A Girl and a Boy belonging to the same Gotra cannot marry!This is the most important and the only rule in the Gotra system is I may say so. Yes, a Bride and a Bridegroom belonging to the same Gotra are

considered to be siblings and hence it is prohibited for them to marry even if they belong to distant families. The reason given was since they belonged

to the same ancestor, it will be like a brother marrying a sister which is known to cause genetic disorders in their offspring.

As I can see now, probably the prevention of marriages within the same Gotra was the only reason for the Gotra system to be created.

But again I used to think, what a crap, how can a boy and a girl belonging to two different families who haven’t met for centuries be considered as

siblings?

Only until I was able to correlate a puzzle in modern Genetics to the Gotra system.

And now to the Science behind the Gotra System, but before that let us just check out one more additional rule related to marriages in the Gotra

System.

Pravaras and the GotrasPravara is a list of most excellent Rishis in a Gotra lineage. As we saw earlier, some of the descendants of the most ancient Gotras started their own

Gotras, however they maintained a list of Pravaras while doing so and attached the list of their most excellent Ancestors with this derived Gotras.

For instance the Vatsa Gotra has Bhargava, Chyavana, Jamadagnya , Apnavana as their Pravaras. What this means is that Vatsa Gotra has in its

lineage all these Gotras and traces back its root to Bhrigu Rishi in the list of Gotrakarins.

The idea behind this Pravara system is probably to ensure that the derived Gotras still maintain track of their root Gotras, and this in turn is used to

ensure that Bride and Bridegroom from no two derived Gotras coming from the same root Gotra marry each other. Every Gotra which is a derived

Gotra maintains a list of Pravaras attached to it.

This is because, the essence of the Gotra system is finally to prevent marriages within the same Gotra. Now consider two derived Gotras which came

from the same Gotra, then it might happen that over time people might forget that both these Gotras came from the same root Gotra, and may allow

marriages within these Gotras since their names are different! To prevent this, the derived Gotras maintained a list of Pravaras (which were the

prominent junctions where the derived Gotras got created), and the additional rule in the Gotra system is that, even if the Bride and Bridegroom belong

to different Gotras, they still cannot get married even if just one of their Gotra Pravara matches.

This makes sense as this prevents marriages between derived Gotras which belong to the same root Gotra. This reminds me of a similar logic in the

modern Object Oriented Programming in Software Systems.

Derived Classes

Consider a Class B which is derived from Class A, and another Class C which is also derived from Class B. Now Consider another Class D which is

derived from both Class B and Class C (multiple inheritance like in C++). If we look at the immediate ancestry of Class D, then it appears that Class B

and Class Care the parents of Class D. But if you look at the ancestors of Class B and Class C, then they are the Children of Class A. Now if we

replace the classes A, B and C with Gotras, then we can see that even if two Gotras B and C are different Gotras, if they share the same parent Gotra

A (enlisted in the form of Pravaras), then they will become siblings, and hence the marriage between two different Gotras sharing the same Pravara is

not allowed.

But again the question remained – what is the basis to prevent marriages within the same Gotras even after thousands of years later the roots

separated? How can hundreds of generations later they can still be considered to be the children of same parents just because they belong to same

Gotra (male lineage) or to different Gotras sharing the same Pravara (again the male lineage)?

Now to the Science behind the Gotra System, but before that let us refresh a bit of our knowledge about Genetics.

Chromosomes and GenesHumans have 23 pairs of Chromosomes and in each pair one Chromosome comes from the father and the other comes from the mother. So in all we

have 46 Chromosomes in every cell, of which 23 come from the mother and 23 from the father.

Of these 23 pairs, there is one pair called the Sex Chromosomes which decide the gender of the person. During conception, if the resultant cell has XX

sex chromosomes then the child will be a girl and if it is XY then the child will be a boy. X chromosome decides the female attributes of a person and Y

Chromosome decides the male attributes of a person.

When the initial embryonic cell has XY chromosome, the female attributes get suppressed by the genes in the Y Chromosome and the embryo

develops into a male child. Since only men have Y Chromosomes, son always gets his Y Chromosome from his father and the X Chromosome from his

mother. On the other hand daughters always get their X Chromosomes, one each from both father and mother.

So the Y Chromosome is always preserved throughout a male lineage (Father – Son  -  Grandson etc) because a Son always gets it from his father,

while the X Chromosome is not preserved in the female lineage (Mother, Daughter, Grand Daughter etc) because it comes from both father and

mother.

A mother will pass either her mother’s X Chromosome to her Children or her father’s X Chromosome to her children or a combination of both because

of both her X Chromosomes getting mixed (called as Crossover). On the other hand, a Son always gets his father’s Y Chromosome and that too

almost intact without any changes because there is no corresponding another Y chromosome in his cells to do any mixing as his combination is XY,

while that of females is XX which hence allows for mixing as both are X Chromosomes.

Y Chromosome and the Vedic Gotra SystemBy now you might have got a clue about the relation between Y Chromosome and the Hindu Vedic Gotra System 

Y Chromosome is the only Chromosome which gets passed down only between the men in a lineage. Women never get this Y Chromosome in their

body. And hence Y Chromosome plays a crucial role in modern genetics in identifying the Genealogy ie male ancestry of a person. And the Gotra

system was designed to track down the root Y Chromosome of a person quite easily. If a person belongs to Angirasa Gotra then it means that his Y

Chromosome came all the way down over thousands of years of timespan from the Rishi Angirasa! And if a person belongs to a Gotra (say

Bharadwaja) with Pravaras (Angirasa, Bhaarhaspatya, Bharadwaja), then it means that the person’s Y Chromosome came all the way down from

Angirasa to Bhaarhaspatya to Bharadwaja to the person.

This also makes it clear why females are said to belong to the Gotra of their husbands after marriage. That is because women do not carry Y

Chromosome, and their Sons will carry the Y Chromosome of the Father and hence the Gotra of a woman is said to be that of her husband after

marriage. Pretty neat isn’t it?

All iz well so far, we now know the science behind the Gotra System. The ancient vedic Rishis hence very well knew the existence of the Y

Chromosome and the paternal genetic material that was passed almost intact from father to Son, and hence created the Gotra system to identify their

male lineages.Lord Buddha for instance belonged to Gautama Gotra which means that Buddha was a direct descendant of Rishi Gautama.

But then what is the reason to prevent marriages between individuals belonging to the same Gotra? Before we get into that, let us understand a bit

more about the Y Chromosome.

The Weakness of the Y ChromosomeThe Y Chromosome is the only Chromosome which does not have a similar pair in the human body. The pair of the Y Chromosome in humans is X

Chromosome which is significantly different from Y Chromosome. Even the size of the Y Chromosome is just about one third the size of the X

Chromosome. In other words throughout evolution the size of the Y Chromosome has been decreasing and it has lost most of its genes and has been

reduced to its current size. Scientists are debating whether Y Chromosome will be able to survive for more than a few million years into the future or

whether it will gradually vanish, and if it does so whether it will cause males to become extinct! Obviously because Y Chromosome is the one which

makes a person male or a man. And if it becomes extinct, Biologists are not sure whether any other Chromosome in our body will be able to completely

take over its functionality or not.

And the reason for all this is that unlike other Chromosomes, there is no way for Y Chromosome to repair itself by doing cross over with its

Chromosomal pair. All other Chromosomes come in similar pairs and when there the DNA of one Chromosome gets damaged the cell can repair it by

copying over the DNA from the other Chromosome in that pair as both the Chromosomes in all other pairs are almost identical in nature. This copying

(or crossing over as it is called) also allows different combinations of mix and matches to happen between the genes of mother and father and allows

the best of the matches to survive and hence make the Chromosomes stronger as they evolve in successive generations. Even X Chromosomes in

female undergo this mix and match since there are two X Chromosomes in women.

However Y Chromosomes do not have any corresponding equivalent Chromosome in its pair. It can exist only in a XY Combination and X cannot mix

and match with Y except for a small 5% of X which matches with Y, while the remaining 95% of Y Chromosome which is crucial in the development of

a male have absolutely no match at all!. It is this 95% of the Y Chromosome which is completely responsible in humans for creating a male or a man.

But at the same time, Y Chromosome has to depend on itself to repair any of its injuries and for that it has created duplicate copies of its genes within

itself. However this does not stop DNA damages in Y Chromosome which escape its local repair process from being propagated into the offspring

males. This causes Y Chromosomes to accumulate more and more defects over a prolonged period of evolution and scientists believe that this is what

is causing the Y Chromosome to keep losing its weight continuously.

As discussed earlier other Chromosomes do not face this issue because they have corresponding pairs from both the parents and the DNA damage

could be easily corrected most of the time by the mix and match process that takes place between the two Chromosomes in a pair. This Chromosomal

crossover process eliminates damaged genes and is one of the key processes in evolution of life.

So to summarize, Y Chromosome which is crucial for the creation and evolution of males has a fundamental weakness which is denying it participation

in the normal process of evolution via Chromosomal mix and match to create better versions in every successive generation, and this weakness MAY

lead to the extinction of Y Chromosome altogether over the next few million years, and if that happens scientists are not sure whether that would cause

males to become extinct or not. And that is because Scientists are not sure whether any other Chromosome in the 23 pairs will be able to take over the

role of the Y Chromosome or not. Is there a 2012 like doomsday calendar for Y Chromosome sometime in the future?

On the other hand, it is not necessary that humanity will not be able to survive if males become extinct. Note that females do not need the Y

Chromosome, and since all females have X Chromosomes, it would be still possible to create a mechanism where X Chromosomes from different

females are used to create offspring, say like injecting the nuclei from the egg of one female into the egg of another female to fertilize it and that would

grow into a girl child. So yes, that would be a humanity where only females exist.

Now I understand why Hinduism and its Vedic core regard Mother Goddess or female divinity to be more powerful than all male divinity put

together 

Gotra System – An attempt to protect the Y Chromosome from becoming extinct ?So here is my conclusion about the creation of the Gotra system by the ancient learned Vedic Rishis. The Vedic Rishis had observed the degeneration

of the Y Chromosome and they wanted to maintain as many individual healthy unique Y Chromosome lineages as possible. That would give a fair

chance for males to continue to exist because Y Chromosomes get passed on over generations with almost negligible change in their genetic

combinations, as they do not take part in mix and match with other Chromosome.

So if the Rishis could devise a mechanism where in a given Y Chromosome had very little chance of adding more genetic defects in it, then they could

probably succeed in either slowing down further degeneration of the Y Chromosome or even probably completely stop any further degeneration of the

Y Chromosome.

And the only way to stop that was to ensure that the 5% of the Y Chromosome which can be mixed and crossed over with its X counterpart be

protected so that the remaining 95% which does not take part in the mix and match process (which self heals by having duplicate copies of its genes)

stays healthy.

Now we know even in modern Genetics that marriages between cousins will increase the risk of causing genetic disorders. That is because, say

suppose there is a recessive dangerous gene in one person. What this means is that say a person is carrying a dangerous abnormality causing gene in

one of his chromosome, but whose effect has been hidden in that person (or is not being expressed) because the corresponding gene in the pairing

Chromosome is stronger and hence is preventing this abnormality causing gene from activating.

Now there are fair chances that his offsprings will be carriers of these genes throughout successive generations. As long as they keep marrying outside

his genetic imprint, there is a fair chance that the defective gene will remain inactive since others outside this person’s lineage most probably do not

have that defective gene. Now if after 5-10 generations down the line say one of his descendants marries some other descendant who may be really

far away cousins. But then there is a possibility that both of them are still carrying the defective gene, and in that case their children will definitely have

the defective gene express itself and cause the genetic abnormality in them as both the Chromosomes in the pair have the defective genes. Hence, the

marriages between cousins always have a chance of causing an otherwise recessive, defective genes to express themselves resulting in children with

genetic abnormalities.

So if the Vedic Rishis had allowed marriages within the same Gotras, then there were chances that the resulting male can be a victim of such defective

gene expression, and any such gene expressions which took place in the 5% exposed area of the Y Chromosome would be fatal for the continuity of

that Y Chromosome. Even after hundreds of generations there would still be chances of any defective genes being propagated within these successive

generations, and marriage within the same Gotra would provide a golden opportunity for these genes to express themselves, there by causing the

genetic abnormality in the offspring.

And hence the ancient Vedic Rishis created the Gotra system where they barred marriage between a boy and a girl belonging to the same Gotra no

matter how deep the lineage tree was, in a bid to prevent inbreeding and completely eliminate all recessive defective genes from the human DNA.

Gotra System – A window of opportunity to study the Genetics of ancient Vedic RishisTo add a final note, the veracity of the Gotra system can be checked by comparing the Y Chromosomes of males from different families of the same

Gotra who are religiously following the Gotra system even today. That would not only prove the maintenance of male lineage throughout generations

for thousands of years, but would also provide us with an opportunity to extract the Y Chromosomes of the ancient Vedic seers and study them.

NOTE: Section below added on April 28 2011 in response to this and this reader’s queries.

Why only the selected list of Rishis as root Gotras? Why not somebody else?When we look at the list of the Gotrakarni Rishis (ie the root Gotras), you may note that almost all of these Rishis are also Prajapatis – Prajapatis are

those who were the immediate descendants of Brahma (the Creator God) – who then went on to create their own progeny or lineage.

So having the Gotra system start from the very beginning of human lineage looks more apt and logical as this is where the chromosomes and genes

are still pure and free of any possible genetic defects. Hence the Prajapatis were selected as the root of the Gotra System.

Note that genetic defects or disorders or bad genes get eventually picked up over time during evolution due to genetic mutations.

Would love to know your thoughts on this 

NOTE: Section below added on April 30 2011 in response to a reader’s comment.

Is It adequate for a marriage if just the Gotra and Pravaras do not match?No. Please note that the intention of the Gotra system is to avoid marriage within the same family and lineage as mentioned above, and hence it also

states that marriages are not recommended with the maternal cousins even if the Gotras are different in this case.

To quote a rule of the Gotra System (Manusmriti 3/5)

AsapiMDAchayA mAtur sagOtrAchayA pituH |

sA praShasthA dvijAtInAM dArakarmaNi maithune ||

which means

When the man and woman do not belong to six generations from the maternal side

and also do not come from the father’s lineage, marriage between the two is good.

In other words, the Gotra System also does not recommend marriage with maternal cousins either, even if the Gotras are different in this case. This

again is scientifically correct because cousin marriages with maternal cousins (like the marriage of a Son with Mother’s Sister’s Daughter) are also

known to result in genetic disorders in the offspring.

NOTE: Section below added on May 4 2011 to prevent the misuse of this article by using this as a reference to prevent same Gotra marriages.

Should Gotra System be used to decide marriages?Please note that of all the scientific reasonings mentioned in the article about the Gotra System, the ONLY PROVED science is that the

Gotra System maintains a Genetic Male Lineage via Y Chromosome.

Cousin marriages within the immediate family relations are known to cause Genetic Disorders

Now considering the fact that we are thousands of years away from when this Gotra system originated, and the Indian demographics have undergone

substantial changes during this period – Whether we need to retain the Gotra rules in deciding marriage alliance and whether same Gotra Boy and Girl

(when they come from distant families) still share the same genes like between immediate cousins –should be left to Science.

The Gotra System might have had its benefits in its initial days as it prevented marriages between closely related cousins then. But how appropriate

would it be follow this system thousands of years later today in deciding matrimonial alliances? If Genetic studies based on analysis of Same Gotra

families have not found any problem with same Gotra marriages scientifically, then there is no point in continuing with the Gotra system to decide

matrimonial alliances.

Marriage is finally more of a bond between two souls rather than two bodies, so its nobody’s business to interfere in a marriage where the boy and girl

are above minimal legal age required for marriage and are marrying with mutual consent.