Nuapada: An old couple from Chaukhutia Bhunjia tribe in Odisha’s Nuapada district, who participated in Republic Day parade in New Delhi, had to offer a feast as part of purification rituals to return to the community.
According to sources, the couple, Bhujabal Majhi and Kunjei Dei, were part of Odisha contingent that participated in the parade at the national capital. They had left for New Delhi on January 22 and returned to their native place at Cherchuan in Sunabeda wildlife sanctuary of the district on February 2.
On their arrival, the couple had to undergo ‘shuddhi’ (purification) rituals before being accepted by the community as they had violated the norms of the tribe.
The Chaukhutia Bhunjia tribals lead a very exclusive life inside their community. Going out of their geographical area in the sanctuary and taking food cooked by others, is considered as violation of their practices and disrespect to their presiding deity. Hence, anybody committing such mistake has to perform ‘shuddhi’ for acceptance by the community.
As per the practice, Bhujabal and Kunjei took holy dip in a stream, offered puja at Sunadei temple and hosted a community feast. During the puja, they offered a buck, pigeon and hens for sacrifice. Later, the meat of the sacrificed animals was cooked during the feast.
“We had to follow the practices of our community. As we violated the norms by taking food outside, we performed ‘shuddhi’ rituals and offered feast to the people of my community. There was no compulsion. We underwent the process on our own out of respect for our traditions,” said Bhujabal.
