Nagpuri culture refers to the culture of the Nagpuria people, the native speakers of the Nagpuri language, which includes literature, festivals, folk song and dance. [1] [2] It is also referred to as the culture related to the Nagpuri language. [3]
Nagpuri is the native language of Sadan, the Indo-Aryan ethnolinguistic group of Chotanagpur. It is spoken in the western and central Chota Nagpur plateau region. It is spoken by around 12 million people, 5 million as a native language and 7 million as a second language. [4] [5] The first evidence of poetry written in this language is from the 17th century. [6] The Nagvanshi king Raghunath Shah and Dalel Singh, the king of Ramgarh were the poets. [7] Some prominent poets were Hanuman Singh, Jaigovind Mishra, Barju Ram Pathak, Ghasiram Mahli and Das Mahli. [8] Some prominent writers in the modern period are Praful Kumar Rai, Lal Ranvijay Nath Shahdeo, Bisheshwar Prasad Keshari, Girdhari Ram Gonjhu and Sahani Upendra Pal Singh. [9]
Several festivals are observed by Sadans including Ashadhi Puja, Karam, Jitiya, Chhath, Nawakhani, Sohrai/Diwali, Surjahi Puja, Makar Sankranti, Fagun, Bad Pahari and Sarhul. [10] [11] [12]
Some Nagpuri folk dances are jhumair , mardani jhumar , janani jhumar , domkach , angnai , fagua, jadur, matha, natuaand paiki. [13] [5] [14] Paiki is ceremonial martial folk dance performed at marriages and other occasions in the Sadan community. [15] [16] The musical instruments used are dhol, mandar, bansi, nagara, dhak, shehnai, khartal, and narsinga. [13] [17] [18] These instruments are traditionally made by the Ghasi and Mahli community. [19] Akhra is important part of the Nagpuri culture which is where people dance in village. [10] [20] The Ghasi community has played important role in preservation of folk music. They have been playing musical instruments in marriage ceremonies. [21]
Nagpuri folk songs can be divided into four categories: seasonal, festival, Sanskar and dance songs. Seasonal songs are sung according to season, such as Udasi, Pawas, Fagua. Pawas songs are sung during the rainy season, Fagua during spring till Holi festival and Udasi during summer season. [22] Festival songs are sung during festivals such as Karam, Jitiya, Teej, Sohrai. Sanskar songs are sung during major rites such as child birth and weddings. Dance songs are dance oriented such as Mardani Jhumar, Janani Jhumar, Domkach and Khemta. [16]
Theth Nagpuri is a genre of typical Nagpuri music which is based on traditional ragas of folk songs such as Jhumar, Pawas, Udasi and Fagua. [23] It is connected to the Nagpuri tradition. [24] Notable exponent of Nagpuri folk music and dance are Govind Sharan Lohra, Mahavir Nayak and Mukund Nayak.
The traditional clothes of Sadan are Dhoti, Sari, Kurta and Chadar. But in the modern age, shirts, pants, and coats are also worn. Traditional jwellery worn by sadans are bracelet, necklace, clavicle, sikari, Chhchi, bullak, basar, mathiya, kan fool. Tattoo is also practiced by Sadan. [12]
Traditional clothes, Laal Paad, are made by the Chik Baraik in Chotanagpur. [25] People wear them at traditional festivals and functions. [26]
Sadan people traditionally use household items of earthenware, iron and bronze which includes gagri, handi, chuka, dhakni for cooking. Hunting tools used are nets, kumni, bow arrow, sword, spear and tangi. [12]
The Staple food of the region is rice. People also eat forest products such as wild flowers and fruits. Some traditional dishes are Chhilka Roti, Arsa roti, Malpua, Dhooska, Til laddu and Dudhauri. [27] [28] [29] Some traditional leafy vegetables or Saag are Khesari, Kohnda, Koinar, Methi, Munga, Poi, Putkal and Sarla saag. [30] Some wild edible wild flowers are as Jilhur phool and Sanai phool (Crotalaria juncea). Gunda is a traditional dish which is a powder of leafy vegetables which are dried and grinded and made into soup with rice water. Some Gunda are Chakod gunda, Munga Gunda and Sarla gunda etc. [31] Karil, the new bamboo shoots are edible. Some edible mushrooms are khukdi, especially the white mushroom, Putu (white puffball) and rugda (puffball), which grow during the rainy season in field and forest. [32] [33] [34] Mahua flower is edible and its seed used for preparation of oil. [35] The traditional alcoholic beverages are Handi, a rice bear and Mahua daru, a wine prepared by Mahua flowers. People drink it during festivals and marriage feasts. [36]
Sadan people observe festivals such as Asari, Karam, Jitiya, Nawakhani, Sohrai, Fagun and Bad Pahari. In these festivals the elder of family members propitates Sun, Moon, ancestors and other deities by offering sacrifices and liquor. [37] [38] In the village festival, the rituals are performed by the village priest "Pahan" and his assistant "Pujar", who offer sacrifice to village deity. [15] [39] According to scholars, the deities which are not found in Hindu scriptures are deities of folk tradition which is a non-vedic tradition. According to June McDaniel, folk Hinduism is based on local traditions and cults of local deities and is the oldest, non-literate system. It is a pre-vedic tradition extending back to prehistoric times, or before the writing of the Vedas. [40] The influence of Vedic religion reached in the region during the reign of the Nagvanshi. The Nagvanshi kings constructed several temples during their reign and invited Brahmins from various parts of the country for priestly duties. [41] But rituals in the village are carried out by village priest Pahan. [39] [42]
Megasthenes, the Greek Ambassador to Maurya, Emperor Chandragupta Maurya, mentioned India in his book Indica. According to him, Indians make wine from rice, drink rice bear in sacrifice and mainly eat rice pottage. [43] In 1989, the Jharkhand Co-ordination committee (JCC), who was instrumental in the demand for a separate Jharkhand state in front of the central government, also stated in their paper that Sadan may be the earliest Aryan population and could be the subcategoriable as Naga people as they differ from dominant Aryan group and did't strictly follow Brahmanical religion. [44]
Nagpuri weddings are held for several days. Prior to marriage, the groom's relatives go bride's home to see and negotiate for marriage and a token amount (bride price) is paid by the groom's family to the family of the bride. Some wedding rituals are madwa, baraat, parghani, sindoordan, bidai. [45] [46] Domkach folk dance is performed during the wedding. [47] The musical instruments used in the nagpuri wedding are nagara, dhak and shehnai. [18]
The practice of bride price was mentioned in Ramayana and Mahabharata where during weddings of Kaikeyi, Gandhari and Madri, bride price was given. The practice of giving bride price was considered Asura Vivah in Smriti texts such as Grihas Sutra and Dharma Sutra. [48] [49]
In Chotoanagpur, there was a traditional administrative system to govern villages known as to the Parha system. In the Parha system, there were the posts of Mahto (village chief), Pahan (village priest), Pujar or Pani bharwa (assistant of Pahan), Bhandari (treasurer), Chowkidar (watchman), Diwan (minister) and Raja (king). During the reign of Nagvanshi, the landowners were known as Bhuinhar. Bhuinhar refers to the first people who cleared forest, built farmland and houses in a village. Sadans were in the post of Diwan, Thakur, Pandey, Karta (executive), Lal, Mahato, Pahan and Raja. [12]
The owner of lands known as Bhuinhars. Mahto made assessments and settlement of all land not held by hereditary cultivators. He collects rent. Pahan, the village priest, does all the rituals for village deities. Bhandari assists with the collection of rents and summoning ryots who work for farmers or Zamindars. There was Gorait, who was a messenger to Zamindar, and Kotwar, who was a police officer in each village. The village has a blacksmith and a Gowala who rear the cattle of the village. [50]
Nagpuri language films have been produced since 1992. Sona Kar Nagpur (1992) was the first nagpuri film produced and directed by Dhananjay Nath Tiwari. The Nagpuri cinema faces several challenges, such as lack of funds and lack of infrastructure, as the majority of the audience reside in villages. Despite all these, several films are produced per year and few get released. [51]
Nagpuri is an Indo-Aryan language spoken in the Indian states of Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Odisha and Bihar. It is primarily spoken in the west and central Chota Nagpur plateau region. It is sometimes considered a dialect of Bhojpuri.
Paiki is a Sadani Nagpuri martial folk dance of the Chotanagpur plateau region of Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh and Odisha. In the dance, people wear dhoti, a turban with peacock feathers in it. They hold sword in their right hand, a shield in their left hand and dance to the tune of musical instruments of Nagara, Dhak, Shehnai and Narsingh. It is done by men and reflect valour. It is performed at weddings and functions. Paik were foot soldiers during medieval period. It is primarily performed by Rautia, who used to be soldiers during reign of Nagvanshi dynasty in Chotanagpur. It is also performed by some Munda tribe in Khunti and Mayurbhanj district.
Jhumair or Jhumar is an Indian folk dance from the Indian states of Jharkhand, Odisha, Chhattisgarh, Assam, Bihar and West Bengal. It is folk dance of Sadan, the Indo-Aryan ethnic groups of Chotanagpur. It is mainly performed during harvest season. The musical instruments used are Mandar, Dhol, Nagara, Bansuri. This dance style consists of performers standing in a row holding hands, singings couplets, swaying their bodies, clapping their hands and occasionally adding timed jumps.
Mardani Jhumar( also Mardana Jhumar) is a Nagpuri folk dance performed by men in the Indian states of Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh and Odisha. It is performed after harvest in fair. Men wear ghongroo, hold sword, shield and dance in a circle by holding each other's hand. Musical instruments used in this dance are mandar, nagara, dhak and Shehnai or bansi. The dance movement reflects masculine energy. Sometimes women dancers accompany them, who are known as Nacni.
The Nagpuria people, also Nagpuri or Sadan, are an Indo-Aryan speaking ethnolinguistic group who are the native speakers of the Nagpuri language and natives of the western Chota Nagpur Plateau region of Indian states of Jharkhand, Bihar, Chhattisgarh and Odisha.
Mukund Nayak, is an Indian artist. He is a folk singer, songwriter and dancer. Nayak is an exponent of Nagpuri folk dance Jhumar. He is recipient of the Padma Shri and Sangeet Natak Akademi Award.
Sadan are the native Indo-Aryan-speaking ethnolinguistic groups of Chota Nagpur Plateau consist of Indian state of Jharkhand and neighbouring states who speak Nagpuri, Khortha and Kurmali language as their native language.
Janani Jhumar also Janani Jhumair is a Nagpuri folk dance of the Chota Nagpur Plateau region of Jharkhand. It is a women centric dance. The music of instruments used, such as mandar, dhol and bansi. The women hold each other's hand, form a linear line and dance in a circle. The dance movements have feminine grace. While women sing and dance, men play musical instruments. This dance is performed in the festival of Karam and Jitiya.
Ghasi Ram Mahli was an Indian Nagpuri-language poet. He was a poet under the patronage of Nagvanshi Lal Thakur of Thakurgaon. He was the first poet of the Nagpuri language, whose book was published in 1911.
Girdhari Ram Gonjhu was a prominent scholar of the Nagpuri language. He was former chairman of the Tribal-Regional Language Department at Ranchi University in state of Jharkhand. He was awarded Padma Shri for his contribution in the field of literature and education in the Jharkhand posthumously in 2022.
Sahani Upendra Pal Singh was an Indian writer. He was one of the prominent writers in the Nagpuri-language in the modern period. He translated "Ram Charit Manas" in Nagpuri. He wrote around 20 books in nagpuri. He was awarded "Jharkhand Ratna", "Praful Samman", "Seva Ratna" and "BCCL Koyal Bharti Rajbhasha award".
Sarhul is a spring festival in the Indian state of Jharkhand. It is a symbol of commencement of the new year. The festival is celebrated for three days, from the 3rd day of Chaitra month in Sukla Paksh to Chaitra Purnima. In the festival, the village priest Pahan offers sacrifice of flowers, fruit, vermilion, rooster and tapan (liquor) in Sarna to Sun, village deity and ancestor for good fortune of the village. Then the locals dance holding flowers of the sal tree. According to the tradition, it also symbolises marriage between the Earth and the Sun. It is an important festival observed by the Kurukh and Sadan. Among Kurukh it is known as Khaddi in Kurukh.
Sarna is a place of worship in the Chotanagpur region of Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh and Odisha. It is a sacred grove, where people of village gather to perform rituals in village festival.
Nagpuri literature refers to literature in the Nagpuri language, the language of Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh and Odisha. The earliest literature started in the nagpuri language when the Nagvanshi king and king of Ramgarh Raj started writing poetry in the 17th century. Since then, various literature has been written. Although in the present century, Nagpuri was never considered worthy of literary development. But some dedicated writers have engaged in writing short stories, plays and poetry.
Dinesh Deva is an Indian actor and dancer. He works in Nagpuri albums and Nagpuri films. He is working in the industry since 2001. He is known for the Nagpuri albums and films Nagpur Kar Bhoot, Mahuua, Hum Bhi to Ashique Hain and Gangwa.
Surjahi Puja is a puja celebrated by the Sadan people of Jharkhand.
Raman Gupta is an Indian actor, dancer and singer. He works in Nagpuri albums, Nagpuri films and Khortha film. He also acted in many hindi films. He is known for the Nagpuri film Sun Sajna, Deva Rikshawala and Gangwa. He was awarded best regional actor award in Jharkhand International Film Festival Awards in 2018 and Best Evergreen Actor in Jhollywood Award Show in 2022.
Lohra is a community found in Jharkhand. They are traditionally associated with works of iron smelting.
Mahavir Nayak, is a nagpuri singer and songwriter. He is an exponent of Theth Nagpuri music, which is a genre of typical Nagpuri music, based on traditional Nagpuri folk music. He is the recipient of Sangeet Natak Akademi Amrit Award (2022), Lok Kala Ratna Award (2014) and Praful Samman (2019) for his contribution in folk music.