By Adity Choudhury
Ka Behdeiñkhlam, the festival of the Jaintia community, is closely tied to nature. In other words, it is a harvest festival, with ties to folklore. Important rites and rituals are “building blocks or the units of the festival”. The people pray to nature for a bountiful crop and to chase away plagues.
Omarlin Kyndiah, General-Secretary of Sein Raij Niamtre, the indigenous faith of the Jaintias, writes on the origin story, “In Niam Behdeiñkhlam, the ritual events are connected to the myth of U Lakriah and the descent of U Niaw Wasa (the Seven huts) through Ka Tangnoob Tangjri (the golden ladder).
During the festival, the Jaintia people remember their “Golden Age” through the myth, pointing to the rules of religious and social conduct as handed to U Niaw Wasa by God or U Tre Kirot through U Lakriah.”
In this piece, I steer away from the origin of this festival; instead, focus on the colonial policy toward Behdeiñkhlam.
Daw man! Daw man! Myn da wan kichong Laban,
Chynrang Khynthai wa io luti yei sur ka bom ka bhuri
Daw man! daw man! myn da wan kichong Laban
(It will happen! It will happen! When Laban people come,
Boys and girls are looking forward to the sound of drums and flute
It will happen! It will happen! When Laban people come)
From 1931 to 47, the British banned Behdeiñkhlam, causing discontentment among the people. The above lines are from a song, celebrating the revival of the festival.
It’s interesting to note that the people of Jowai refer to Shillong as “Laban” – it was the first locality of the city. Even now, people of Jowai travelling to the capital of Meghalaya say, “We’re going to Laban”.
Kyndiah said, “Two people quarrelled during the festival. The British took advantage of this situation and issued an order to ban Behdeiñkhlam.” The hidden agenda was the suppression of Jaintia indigenous customs and religious traditions. It was a golden opportunity for them to interfere in an internal matter of the Jaintias.
This is further corroborated in the book Haka Bri U: Hynñiew Trep, Ynñiaw Wasa by Belbin Kyndiah. He wrote:
Since the annexation of Jaintia Hills on 15th March 1835, the British government did not tolerate the custom and religion of the Pnars. The government was always on the look-out for an opportunity to disrupt the same, be it fair or foul… Another glaring example of the British intention to do away with the custom of the Pnars at Jowai was an attempt to forcibly stop them on their way to the cremation site for cremating their dead.
The book further mentions:
The bitterest incident was the part played by the Government in the year 1930 to eradicate the Behdeiñkhlam festival at Jowai. It was said that on this ill-fated year, while the community dance was going on at the immersion site, Aitnar pool, two persons were quarrelling a little apart from the site. The quarrel arose due to a personal grudge and it took a vicious turn when one of them threatened the life of the other. As a rule, such disturbing elements could have been easily picked up by the custodian of the law in order to maintain the law and order in the dancing arena. But instead of doing that, the British Government took it as a golden opportunity to eradicate the religion of the indigenous people. A notification was immediately issued to the effect that the Behdeiñkhlam was banned w.e.f 1931. This development led to a widespread discontent of the whole populace of Jowai. All became wild with rage and anger, as it was an insult to their religion.
Despite the anger, the situation never became violent. The people were hopeful about the revival of the festival. While the ban affected the public rites and rituals, rituals were observed at the family level. During the last years of colonial rule, a meeting was convened at the local durbar hall or Iungwalieh, Iongpiah locality. Community leaders from Shillong, U Harrison Kyndiah, U Pati Laloo, U Sahon Roy Lanong and U Pati Rangad decided to “reclaim their freedom of expression and rights to worship”.
This inspired the people of Jowai; for the British, this became a matter of concern. The latter perceived them as a threat and banned them from entering Jowai prior to 1947.
As a custom, a pig is slaughtered one week before the last day of Behdeiñkhlam. This ritual is Ka Knia Pyrthat. In 1947, 17 pigs were sacrificed to make up for the lost years. A skit was also organised to raise funds for celebrating the festival.
The spirit of Jaintia resistance to colonial oppression shows the importance of staying rooted in culture – the Jaintia people stood their ground, ever optimistic that their beloved Behdeiñkhlam would return.
(With inputs from Dr Omarlin Kyndiah, general-secretary of the Sein Raij Niamtre, Shillong)