Sansari Puja – Worship of “World” as "Mother" by nature worshipper Gorkha community.

~ Nanda K Dewan

World Environment Day will keep reminding us of the wrong we did to our environment and the right we need to do to correct it all. The theme of World Environment Day 2022 is “Only One Earth”, focusing on “Living Sustainably in Harmony with Nature”. The day aims to focus on the importance of the environment and to remind people that nature should not be taken for granted. Therefore, World Environment Day calls for “collective, transformative action on a global scale to celebrate, protect and restore our planet,” encouraging everyone, everywhere, to live sustainably and address the climate change.

Gorkhas have always been nature worshippers. They worship rivers, mountains, streams,  forests, and the biodiversity and all these are always treated as sacred. For the Gorkhas nature is not means of  “resources extraction” rather it is treated as  benevolent “Mother” who provides bounties for community sustenance. With the advent of globalization, Gorkhas too today are a part of the greater “global village" keeping it's love for nature and conservation intact worshipping 'World' as a 'Woman' and 'Earth' as 'Mother' and it is called the Sansari Puja. Sansari in Gorkha bhasa means 'The World is Ours' and Puja means Worship. In layman language 'Sansari Puja' would 'Worship of Our Own World' which the United Nations (UN) celebrates as 'World Environment Day' metaphorically.

Sansari Puja is performed  between 2nd week of April to 1st week of June. Last Saturday it was performed along the Assam Nagaland bordering at Chandanpur under Sarupani Gaon Panchayat and PS Merapani under Golaghat district of Assam.  All through the year Gorkhas have traditional festivals with respect to nature, farm, harvest offer home grown foods and fruits to their ancestors which is celebrated to honour various aspects of nature. Sansari Puja is undertaken  as the month of Baishak (Bohag) begins – the first month of a new calender – to invoke Sansari Maai ( Maai is combination of two words Amaa and Aai which in Gorkha and Assamese language means Mother)– who the Gorkhas consider the Mother of all Creations – and to appeal to her for timely rain and to bless the community with abundant produces and good harvest with health and happiness in the year ahead. The shamans/priest also prays for well being of the community with peace and prosperity. Sansari puja is a community celebration, where people irrespective of their way of worship join the festivities. Once the date for Sansari Puja is finalised and must be on a Saturday, elders from every household from the community come to worship venue with rice, vegetables, dal, fruits and a mandatory local hen egg with flowers, home grown rice,mustard oil, incense sticks, pure ghee and diyas. This whole worship package is called Akxeta ( meant only for worship or performing puja). The eggs have to be organic home grown chicken eggs as the fate of the donating family and the entire village for the year is predicted through these eggs. Each family writes the name of individual members in the eggs or name of the family in the eggs they donate, which is collected along with other Akxeta items and the villagers go to pray to Sansari Maai. Each community/village will have a designated place where they perform the puja to the Forest and other Nature Gods, and that is where the people go to pray for Sansari Maai. At the worship site, the traditional shaman or the village elder pray to Sansari Maai and invoke the ancestors and various protective deities. Invocation chants called the Mundhum include references to __Yuma Theba ( Grandfather and Grand Mother), Hangba Raja-Hangba Rani…(Honourable King and Queen),Jangalma Basne Timi ( Dwellers of Forests)… Nad Nadi-Nala Dharti Timi ( Oceans, Rivers, Streams and Land).. Ukkali-Orali, Derorali  ko Devi-Deuta timi ( You are the God and Godess of ( Uphills, Down Hills and God's Hill)... Thado-Terso Dobhanama Timi ( You are in Horizontal, Vertical and All Directions)... Akash-Dharti-Patal ma Timi ( You are in the Sky, Earth and Underground)... Charai-disa Khola-Nala timi (You are in all the four directions, Herbs and Shrubs, Steams and Lakes)...Brahmaputra ko Oripari Baroh Jilla  Assam ko Raja Rani Timi ( You are the King and Queen of Brahmaputra Valley and 12 Districts of Assam )and so on …*_ thus acknowledging the presence of Sansari Maai in each and every aspect of our environment. The Shaman then breaks each egg and reads out the projection for the year ahead for each family. A clear egg means the year will be uneventful, a fertilized egg could mean there will be birth in the family or ensuing prosperity, and egg which has blood in it (very rare) is meant to convey there will be death in the family. The collection of eggs, and the summary of the predictions provides a general picture for the village on what to expect in the year ahead. After all the village is an extended family, so every birth and death becomes a family event.

Sansari Puja is performed by a Shaman which is done in two parts. Talking to this correspondent Dambar Bahadur Yayamba Yakkha the head shaman who performed the Sansari Puja here said, 'Firstly the Lord Ganesha is worshipped in the form of Elephant with bettlenut, leaf flowers and etc. Than 'Jal Shikari' meaning  'Hunters in Water' are offered prayers with a local egg and all the worship items to keep community free from water borne diseases. Thereafter prayers is offered to 'Jungali' ( Forest Dweller Ancestors) with a pair of local hen and cock sacrificed for them with all the puja items so that no untoward incidents happens in the forests for the entire years. The 'Jal Daangrey' meaning 'Bramaputra and All Water Bodies' are offered prayers with a full grown male duck followed by "Maharani" which is believed to be the mother of all households is offered all fresh and new harvest from the orchard or garden along with pair of cock and hen sacrifice  seeking her stay happily in the homee and blessings to the family. The 'Madani' meaning  'Even' Goddess is worshipped with sacrifice of a hen with hope that no surface accidents happens in the community or the village.'

"The 'Lahurey Shikari' is offered prayers in phase two so that no soldiers are killed or injured in the battlefield with a full grown old cock and before offering prayers to Sansari Maai the Bhagawati - the nature god responsible for Sacrifices is offered prayers with a full grown pair of pigeon which is allowed to fly. The 'Sansari Maai' - is offered all worship items like ghee, oil, fresh flowers, fruit vegetables, roasted eggs and meats along with a young female goat that hasn't conceived. It is sacrificed before 'Sansaari Maai' with the hope that she would protect us from all untoward incidents, obstacles and shortcomings.' added shaman the Sansari Puja priest better known Dambar Bahadur. The shaman/ priest also through his mundhum begs Sansari Maai for adequate rainfall, pleasent weather, good harvest and over all peace and happiness in the community. The place worship is constructed using bamboo leaves and branches with bannana leaves below. The leaves are decorated with mostly red and white clothes pieces and few yellow ones which is later distributed as sacred thread after the puja, to be tied in right hand. All items needed in normal puja are used in the place prepared for Sansari Puja besides sacrifices, home made ricebeer and indigenous wine. Vegetarians avoid sacrifices and create goats, hens, cocks out of water melon, vegetable gaurds, pumpkins, fruits fixing four or two sticks as per the requirement in sacrifices. Even the vegetarians use the local hen egg which is mandatory for Sansari Puja.

The Sansari Puja is followed by community fest which is cooked from from the voluntary donations recieved in kind at the worship location. People from all walks of life, be they rich or poor, be they of any faith or religion, all cook together and eat together. Gorkhas of today's generation in rural area are glad that the community still celebrates Sansari Puja and upholds this unique tribal tradition but same is not true for the urban dwellers. Gorkhas have a very unique and rich cultural heritage, and it is duty and responsibility of youngsters to uphold our traditional practices for those are our roots and the stronger our roots are the taller we can grow as a community.