CHAITI GHODA OF KAIBARTAS

 INTRODUCTION : 

Odisha is a state of rich culture and horary traditions . From Ancient time onwards ,Odisha had been a major center for different episodes of events . Whether it's the Great Kalinga war of Ashoka or the emergence of different forms of Brahmanical worship , Odisha has always played a major role in the synthesis. It's the home of Dravidians , Aryans and Tribal people making the culture of the state diversified and vibrant . Earlier , Odisha was known as "Utkal" which stands out as ‘The Land of Exciting Cultures',  thus justifying the vivid and affluent nature of the state . All the archaeological and historical evidence shows that the state came into the frame almost during the mid of 3rd CE BCE . So the antiquity of the state goes back to the time period of Mahajan padas and Maurya which shows that the state also had been actively involved in the field of trade and politics. All these features make it a prime zone for the development of multiple cultures and communities with distinct ways of living , thinking and executing of traditions. In this current article , we are going to explore one of the famous Folk dances, Chaiti Ghoda , practiced by the fishermen community of Kabarti which is one of the celebrated folk dances in the contemporary era.

Chaiti Ghoda dance performance, Courtesy: The CSR Journal

FOLK DANCES OF ODISHA WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO CHAITI GHODA:

This state probably has the greatest number of folk dances of India , due to the existence of multiple tribal communities in the current population . It has made huge contributions towards the growth and the enrichment of the folk culture giving it a special identity of the traditions. The antiquity of folk dances goes back to the reign of Kharvela dynasty , where it is clearly mentioned  in the ‘Hathigumpha’ , one of the ancient rock engraved cave inscriptions , about the festivals and public gathering along with the cultural performances such as dance , performance , instrument as well as vocal songs were sang for the purpose of entertainment, which suggests the  primitive society also propagate their own culture within the society. References to the use of drums and flute  can be found in the later Vedic literatures such as puranas and the mentioning of pole dancers can be found in the Yajurveda , which indicates that the society was not only active in in the political and economic dynamics but the concept of entertainment was also prevalent among the Vedic people. Dance is the main and most popular art performed in Odisha . The art is evolved from the natural instincts of the tribal community, which has enriched the cultural traditions of the state from the very early times . Although some of them have lost their identity with the passage of time , quite a number of different forms of dances are still continuing their originality in the present era . These dances , particularly performed by different communities or different tribes, are basically based on the mythical legends and folk tales while some just for merry making. Dance forms like Chhau , Paika Nrutya, Martial Dances, Gotipua , Chaiti Ghoda , Ghumura, Danda Nrutya, Paraja, Koya , Bandi Butal  , Birli , Humo and Bauli , Pushpunei etc are worth mentioning . Among all these, Chaiti Ghoda dance is the most popular form performed in the present day society.

Costume for Chaiti Ghoda dance at Odisha Crafts Museum, Courtesy: Subhashish Panigrahi  

Chaiti Ghoda Nacha is a popular dance form performed by a fishing community, named Kaibartas, during the Hindu month of Chaitra ( month of march - April ) . The dance is carried out for the whole month , starting from the Chaitra Purnima ( full moon in the month of march ) and ends in the Baisakhi Purnima ( full moon in the month of April ). This ethnic dance, which is celebrated for one month long , is dedicated to the regional deity of the fisherman community i.e. goddess Vasuli or Goddess Baseli . The origin of this folk dance has many legends which are widely popular among the population. It is said that the worship of Goddess Vasuli, who is a local form of Bhairavi devi, somewhat started around 10th CE , when the cult of Shakti was very much prevalent in the society due to the merging of Hindu and Buddhist tantrism. Another legend hovers around a mythical story of lord Vishnu, that there was a time when the whole earth was in the state of spate and there was no place for God Vishnu to rest, that time he reduced his form and rested in a banyan tree leaf . Because of the dwindling of the stormy waves of the water, he was not able to rest peacefully and to handle the situation, with his power, he created a man from the dirt of his ear. But eventually, he fell into the ocean, where a big demonic fish called 'Raghabh' swallowed him. When Vishnu noticed his absence, He quickly understood the situation, killed the demonic fish and  protected the man from death. For the rescue of the man, Vishnu turned the banyan leaf into the horse and asked Vishwakarma to make him a boat. Then he asked the man to take the horse to the community  where it will be worshiped as Baseli in the full moon of Chaitra and named the community as Kaibartas. Also Lord assigned him with the occupation of Fishing since he was almost killed by the fish, so he will live by killing their species for their own  livelihood. Since it's a mythological story, it does not provide any archaeological evidence about the antiquity of the folk dance. This dance is also linked with the Epic of Ramayana, where Lord Rama presented a horse to a boatman to help him to cross the Sarayu River in his Vanvasa period. Thus, in the representation of Lord Rama and to signify the moment , this popular dance with Dummy Horse is being performed. 

Staged performance of the dance form, Courtesy: Wikimedia commons

The fisherman community of the Kaibartas is Traditional riverine and estuarine fisherfolk castes of North Orissa and one of the largest fisherfolk found along the coastal sides of Puri , Cuttack and Balasore districts of Odisha. Commonly known as 'Kewats' or  'Keotas', these are commonly divided into Chasi Kaibarta and Adi Kaibartas or Jalia Kaibartas. It is not specifically known that the origin of this fisherman community was indigenous or was migration but the evidence of the communities taking up fishing as their livelihood goes back around later Vedic period. They are economically backward, an educationally weaker section of the society and their livelihood is totally dependent upon fishing and on the folk dance of Chaiti Ghoda which they play for a month. This Chaiti Ghodha Festival is so auspicious for this community that, during the whole celebration they don't go out fishing or boating and dedicate their all time to celebrate and enjoy this festival. The rituals of this festival and the details of the worship has been given in the 'Kaibarta Geeta', a book dedicated to this community festival, written by  Achutananda Das, one of the poets of Panch Sakha group of Odisha came into light during 15th-16th CE. Some of the songs, which are to be sung during the dance program or during rituals, based on the origin, functions, livelihood, traditions and culture of the community, are also mentioned in the book, making it a great source of research for their origin and ethnicity of the culture of this particular community. 

Street art on Chaiti Ghoda theme, Courtesy: Wikimedia commons

To make the idol, they choose the auspicious day of Chait Purnima, they worship a bamboo branch, putting vermillion and candle paste and then split the bamboo in pieces, in a very ritualistic way  . Out of all the pieces , only the best 12 pieces are selected to make the head of the horse. Then the wooden Head of the horse is coated with red clay and an indigenous silk cloth of Odisha , locally called as Pata. After the bamboo head is dried , it is painted colorfully and then fitted into the frame , where it gets decorated with a variety of flowers, especially with hibiscus (garland of Mandara) before the worship. This dummy is then worshiped till Ashtami , the eighth day of lunar fortnight and then the dummy is taken out for the dance . Inside the dummy , A hole is kept behind the neck from where the man enters and then he wears a long gown type dress to cover the back portion. Now the man is ready , in kingly costumes , to dance in front of the audience . Special songs are sung during the performance , which varies from the mythological narratives or folk stories or describing the scenes of household chore or even the verbal debate and taunting between the poets (also called Kobial Gaan). Earlier , the songs were mainly religious based but at the present scenario songs such as Karam Bai Ghoda Nacha Voice By Manmohan Samal Sarthak , Ghoda Nacha Gita Sati by Jajanika Sidharth , Ghoda Nacha Gita By Uchhaba Charan Das  are mainly sang during the performances . Instruments like Dhol , the country drum , Mahuri , a kind of local musical instrument and a Jodhi nagara player are basically used to give rhythm to the songs. During the performance they try to act like running , twisting , binding and put different types of facial expressions to make the dance play and the dummy horse look real. 

During the dance performance , there was one male , one female ( earlier it was male in female attire ) , a drummer , a piper , a jodi nagara player and a clown , while the dummy was placed in the center of the stage. The male character is called as Chadua or Rauta and the female character is called as Chaduani or Rautani . While performing the dance , the character uses expression to display the emotions of love and friendship with subtle humor and satire. They play in the form of questions and answers as if the battle of knowledge , about the war scenes and even invoking each other in folklore .  The importance of clowning to make people laugh is one of the most important parts of the play as it helps to engage the audience in the show . His actions and songs are only meant for humor . In this Folk art performance , we can see the intermixing of two sub-castes , like the musicians belonging to some different caste i.e. Harijan and the dancers from the fisherman community come together to celebrate the festival of dance and joy , which shows the harmony between the different castes. According to some scholars ,  the Kunjanga fishing community used this folk dance for the freedom fighting  movements as this helps to mobilize and escape some freedom fighters from the despotic rule of Britishers. At the end of this festival , the dummy is kept in the local temple and is worshiped again for the rest of the year .  

Although, due to the technological advancement and the and the upcoming of new and young generation of science , this folk culture is losing the cultural importance among the present generation , ethnographer are still trying to document and preserve the beautiful culture among the local residents of Odisha so that one day we don't to face its existence crisis.

- Risha Priyanshi

References-

•  Behera Kumar, Sri Jayanta . “Tribal and Traditional Folk Dances of Odisha ." Centre for Cultural Resources and Training (CCRT). ( Kalahandi , Odissa , 2017): 23-29.

• Mahapatra, Ashish . “The Essence of Popular Folk Dance Odisha .” IOSR, Journal of Humanities and Social Science 22, no. 1 (January 2017): 29–32.

• Mohapatro, Ashis . “Dummy Horse : A Folk Art of Odisha .” Indian Journal of Applied Research 3, no. 5 (May 2013): 30–31.

• Naskar, Palash . “A Study of Changing Livelihoods of Odisha’s Coastal Fishing Communities.” International Journal of Humanities and Social Science Invention  7, no. 06 (2018).

• Miss Subhasmita Tarai, Pabitra Mohan Nayak. “Socio-Economic Background of Fishing Community in Odisha: An Empirical Analysis”. European Economic Letters (EEL) 14 no. 1 (2024):1510-18

• Kalavathy, MH. " Ethical and socio-cultural background of marine fishing communities in Orissa. " In Artisanal Marine Fisherfolk of Orissa: Study of Their Technology, Economic Status, Social Organization and Cognitive Patterns, (2004) 59–79.

• Padhy, Manmath. " Folk Dance: A Distinctive Performing Art Tradition of Odisha " , International Journal of Management and Applied Science (IJMAS) 3, no. 03(2017 ): 83-873.

• Odissa Review ( Department of Information and public relation , Government of Odisha). “Eternal Beauty Wandering on Its Way.” November 2019.