Regional Culture of Purulia

A Journey Towards Ancient Mysticism

Kaustav Sanyal
Asst. Professor (BCA Dept.)
Bengal Institute of Science & Technology, Purulia

Abstract
The abstract of this paper is to analyze some of the cultural traits and beliefs of regional people of Purulia,
which looks regional or local from general perspective but are deeply influenced by ancient Vedic traditions
along with pre-Vedic mystic cults present and widely practiced along the continent. Even some of our
findings include the resemblance of some popular practices with some of the ancient rituals practiced out
of Indian sub-continent i.e. Egyptian, Mayan culture. The resemblance can prove that the ancient wisdom
of human consciousness still flows in remote tribes of Purulia and as long as their traditions are unaltered
by the time dependencies, the flow will be protected.

Keywords: Cultural traits, Purulia, Pre-Vedic Traditions, Vedas, Egypt, Maya.

1. Introduction
The term mysticism has many definitions and can be described in several dimensions. As the term
depicts mysticism can easily be defined as the one that is covered in darkness and is needed to be
decoded. The journey within the mystic cults somehow unfolds the mysteries of the universe in
depth as stated by the ancient people. Some of them managed to keep records of their
experiences on their way of enlightment and others are lost. We can’t say that whether the Vedic
rituals were closer to such rituals or not. We can’t analyze our recent regional and tribal activities
and cultures as the real core Vedic rituals are lost in time. Our boundaries don’t terminate here.
Most of the ancient tribes are lost, their scriptures, whatever they had are lost and unfortunately
the earth lost her ancient wise sons as later generations refused or got ineligible to continue the
responsibilities of carrying the wisdom. But the power and intensity of those rituals were so
dense, that even after thousands of years we can see the burning ashes of the fire sacrifices whose
flames once reached the sky and are ever ready to blaze her flames again. The blazes are
sometimes seen from a distance and illuminate our urban lifestyles and sometimes are dimmed
by the clouds of our ignorant urban minds. In this paper we will discuss three of such rituals that
have those dimmed fire, ready to be ignited again, but can be oppressed by today’s ignorant
mind’s rise as well.
2. Method
According to Thayer's Greek Lexicon, the term μυστήριον in classical Greek meant "a hidden
thing", "secret". A particular meaning it took in Classical antiquity was a religious secret or
religious secrets, confided only to the initiated and not to be communicated by them to ordinary
mortals. Now from this deep perception it is difficult for people who are still struggling in this
visible world to reach out to the subtle dimensions, to enter into its domain. So either we
acknowledge the level of the people practicing mystic cults as so subtle that they can move among
several dimensions or we can just coin them as blind practitioners who have no idea of what they
are following. Whatever it is the presence of the ancient wisdom is always inevitable with these
practices and moreover it can also be derived that even respectful approach towards the rituals,
without present complex minded interpretations can untie the knots of mysteries themselves.
We, while studying these cultures have found deep mystic wisdom that have resemblance with
some of the Egyptian and Mayan culture as well. Some resemblances with ancient Vedic practices
are so intense that it is hard to coin the traditions just tribal or regional as well. In the following
parts we will discuss about three cases out of hundreds and thousands of them. We will first state
the tradition then will try to explain it from a general dimension.
3. Case 1: Gajan
Gajan is though a very popular festival celebrated all across the Bengal it has certain practices that
should be considered. The person who becomes a ‘Bhakta’(the devoted one) is revered by others
all along just as a very dear one to their worshipped Lord. Knowingly or unknowingly that
becomes a practical use of the scriptural doctrine “Bhagwat-Bhakta-Bhagavaan”(Scripture-
Devotee-Lord). People in this festival hurt themselves badly followed by a tremendous fasting.
They do it so easily that walking on fire or piercing their own body with weapons look so easy and
at the same time instill fear in the viewer’s mind. Some criticize the practices out of their shallow
knowledge and overlook the devotion and background theories behind such magnificent
practices.
The people who initiated the practices of ‘Gajan’ may or may not know about the deep concept of
Lord Shiva as described as Rudra in the Vedas. In ‘Shukla-YajurVeda’ we get 8 chapters, popularly
known as the Rudrashtadhyayi dedicated to Him and those 8 chapters though described
thousands of dimensions of Rudra. It finally reflects the oneness of the universe. Say it Nature, or
God, or Rudra himself, ‘Rudrashtadhyayi’ is a prayer of seeking mercy to him. We must realize
that the traditional texts or practices were not just a result of ignorant mind’s fear. The ancient
people knew their limitations and their minds were so pure and unaltered with complex tries of
interpretations, some of nature’s unaltered truths reflected on their minds and they were able to
see their own follies. A man can’t be perfect in nature and he is probably always unconsciously
offensive towards nature. The Rudrashtadhyayi from one perception can be seen as just a seeking
of mercy for those continuous crimes/mistakes towards one’s own nature. In the Rudra-namakam
we come across this very raw version of prayer as:
मा नो महान्तमु तमानः अर्ब्भकम्मानः उक्षन्तमु तमानः उक्षक्षतम् । मा नो बध ः क्षितरम्मोतमातरम् मा नः
क्षियास्तन्वो रुद्रर ररषः ॥ (रुद्रनमकम् ५.१५)
This verse is clearly none other than seeking mercy for the misdeeds and at the same time
reminding one’s own self about them. The Gajan tradition can be seen as an applied extension of
that text [though as we have tried to discuss a Vedic text in such context, it shouldn’t be
encouraged for people like us and a manner like this]. People punishing themselves to please their
Lord are ancient ways to seek mercy. Somehow the practices lead towards something so similar to
the concept of the ‘Bhairavi Yatana’, that a man experiences at the time of his death at Kashi.
Similar perception is seen in an institution of the Roman Catholic Church named Opus Dei. Opus
Dei, though not so ancient, teaches its followers to lead a simple life along with to take the
punishment of God with ease. The followers sometimes have to hurt themselves with a whip
badly every night as their repentance of their unknown offenses throughout the day and have to
wear a thorn belt on their thigh all day long so that as they walk the thorns cut deep into their
flesh causing bleeding injuries.
The Bhaktaas of Gajan follow something similar but for a very short period of time and the
intensity is so high that it balances with the suffering of the Opus Dei members’ yearlong
practices. As believed and dedicated for a greater cause the suffering, though painful, is never
meaningless at all.
4. Case 2: Jhapan
The worship of serpent deities is present in several ancient cultures, particularly in religion and
mythology, where snakes were seen as entities of strength and renewal. We can see one thing that
throughout the world the significance of serpent energies have been acknowledged and revered
with greatness. The reason behind this can’t be exactly explained as of now but it is not only a
fruit of fear that can easily be understood and felt as well. Even our ancient scriptures have dealt
with this serpent energy with great respect. The Chakra meditation system is almost completely
based on the serpent energy within humans named as Kundalini.
Though Goddess Manasa is depicted as a manifestation of mother Goddess Parvati throughout
India, along with some parts of Bengal, people of Purulia have crowned Her as the majesty of the
Serpents. Goddess Manasa is worshipped in Purulia with great celebration and some of the parts
experience the tradition named ‘Jhapan’ festival. In this tradition people, undergoing fasting play
with poisonous as well as non poisonous snakes and sometimes receive the venom into their
bodies. With time their tradition is very rarely seen today. We are confirmed about the venomous
snakes’ uses in this tradition by several reputed sources. The snake park at Panchet has some
examples of such snakes there for educational exhibitions.
Egyptians Wadjet as their snake goddess along with Mayan goddess Kukulkan worshipped the
serpent energy kind of similarly as they also used living snakes’ association in their cultural
trends. In both the cases the worship is based on seeking protection. The purpose of Manasa puja
is exactly same with this; seeking protection. Though the significance of Jhapan doesn’t terminate
here as the worship of serpent energy itself is a huge field to be discussed upon this festival
somehow tries to connect with the eternal serpent energy of the universe.
5. Case 3: Dharna
Stillness and movement are the two entities in this universe that is mostly questioned from the
dawn of time. And the question is which one is ultimately true; the stillness or the movement? In
search of the answer people of several sects and cults have found out several more answers from
the nature. The final conclusion is described in the 6th chapter of ‘Katha Upanishad’. It says that
the movement is the only constant in this universe. From there the yogic theories evolved that
taught people about the stillness and silence amidst movement and noise. The Dharna tradition,
mostly seen in remote villages in Purulia reflects this idea in majority.
In this tradition a person, mostly the housewives of the households, in seek of some worldly wish
starts residing in a Shiva temple mostly without a single drop off food or water maintaining the
silence until her wish gets fulfilled. It is believed to be miraculous as several miraculous cures of
diseases and other impossible wishes of the devotees have been fulfilled.
Without any exceptions the Dharna tradition has several dimensional significances. One of them
is, the Dharna without checking one’s eligibility to perform the sacrificial deeds, enhances the
practitioner’s mind instantly into much deeper and denser dimension from where the mind
achieves its desired subtleness and attains all the answers it seeks. It is still unknown how it
happens when one out of several manages to attain that state of mind as it is said to be an effect
of much practices and devoted efforts of years. Here again we see the applied example of ancient
Sanskrit scriptural instructions on yoga which include attaining a desired state of mind which acts
as a source of the answers of all asked questions.
6. Conclusion
Apart from these three there are hundreds of traditions present in tribal and rural areas of
Purulia. Most of them are yet to be decoded and studied in depth. Every cultural tradition that
the rural people of Purulia follow has a very rich philosophical background as well as applied
significance. The ‘danDi’ tradition, the animal sacrifices, worship of tribal gods like ‘Marang buru’,
‘Bagrud’ and many other deities have their own significance which needs to be found out by our
present generation in order to save ourselves from the deprival of those ancient wisdom. Their
analysis could be included as the future work of this paper. Apart from analyzing the trends from
our perceptions it is also suggested to keep the mind open while studying to keep the doors
unlocked for the hidden wisdom’s welcome. Because the ancient says “what we feel is Matter” and
the ancient replies “and that only matters.”

References
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