KOTHA GHAR, A TRADITONAL HOUSE OF BHUMIJ TRIBE
FROM BANKURA district, WEST BENGAL
Bhumij are one of the largest tribal communities primarily distributed in West Bengal, Jharkhand, Odisha, Assam and Tripura. Etymologically, the term Bhumij is derived from the word 'Bhu' means 'earth'.They call themselves the son of earth. In West Bengal they are concentrated in the districts of Bankura, Purulia, Midnapur and 24 Paragana. They speak Bhumij, but their mother tongue has been fully influenced by Bengali. Their main occupation is agriculture supplemented by fishing and hunting as their secondary occupation. They prefer to live in the rugged terrains of clad forested areas.
A typical Bhumij house is rectangular in ground plan, erected by layers of thick mud wall to keep the interior cool. The house presented here is a double storied house thatched on four slopped roof made with rafters of palm wood and thick bamboo frame, the Bhumij houses are one or two storied in structure. The plinth of the house is 1 and half ft high above the ground. The upper plan of the house is supported by wooden planks running horizontally across the beams to strengthen the ascribed floor of the room lying upper side. The house has an open court called Uthan, encircled by a low height boundary wall raised with thick mud. The upper portion of the boundary wall is covered with two-sided thatch in order to prevent the direct exposition of rain and scorchy sun. It has an entrance called Sadar facing towards the east. The house has two rooms one at the ground and the other one at the top: The room at the top is approached by a staircase raised with mud. It has a small covered veranda in front of the house which sometimes served as kitchen also. The kitchen is known as Rannaghar while in most of the cases they permanently use a kitchen that lie to the courtyard. The cattle shed is known as goshala/goalghar and the granary locally known as Marai, the pounding shed known as Dhenki shal are located inside the enclosure of the homestead. The cattle shed (goalghar) has some large earthen feeding mounds of clay generally placed by struck on the ground. Near the cattle shed the granary (Marai) made entirely of ropes of twisted straw with a circular thatch on the top. This can contain a quantity of paddy sufficient for one family from one harvest to another. The Bhumij keep their house neat and clean with an aesthetic sense. They plaster the walls with clay, cow dung and paddy husks, glazing it over with white clay. They decorate their houses with red, yellow earthen colours and black borders with the help of burnt straws.
Tulsi Mancha, in which a sacred plant Tulsi planted, is found in most of the Bhumij houses in Bankura. It is obligatory for the Bhumij that they orient their houses towards east because Sun occupies a significant role in their life. They revere Sun as the giver of harvest to man and the seasonal changes affecting their agricultural fortune. After completion, rituals are performed to examine the grace of deities. Bhumij propitiate some of their traditional deities.
Bhumij worship Sing Bonga, Dharam Devta, Gram Devta but do not build temples. They worship sal tree which has a great importance in their life. Sarna is a sacred groove invariably composed of purely jungle trees such as Sal. Karam and Sarhul are the main festivals of the Bhumij community. Sarhul is celebrated in the month of Chaitra to worship the Sal tree (March/April) preliminary for commencement of agricultural operation when the seeds are sown with a hope that mother earth will gift them a bountiful harvest. Karam is celebrated in the month of Bhadra (1st half of September). Karam is the famous festival which seems to be very popular and celebrated to worship Karam Devta the god of power, youthfulness and happiness of their children. They are very much fond of dance and music. Bandna is another festival which is celebrated in the month of Kartika when the cattle are worshiped.
