BOITA BANDANA- Ritual with History's stamp of approval

Kartik Purnima is the day both Hindus and Sikhs wait for. For the Dev Deepavali in Varanasi and Puri, the holy dip in Prayag, the Pushkar Mela, the Ras Utsav in Bengal, Tripura and Orissa and the Guru Nanak Jayanti. Different from all these, the Oriyas have something exclusive of their own on this holy day---the BOITA BANDANA (Decorating and worshiping ships). This is the day whenall Oriyas, poor and rich, rural and urban, beggars and business tycoons get massed near water bodies and floatboat-replicas made of banana stem, paper, thermocol etc.They light lamps in memory of the ancient traders called Sadhavas who had established overseas trade links. Betelleaves, areca nut and rice are put in the small boats.

As a child when I was competing with my brother and the neighborhood friends to make the finest boat-replica using bananastem, I did not know the underlying philosophy of this festival. Idid not know its centuries old acceptance by Oriyas until I joined ETV in 2004. I did not know it is not all about myths or beliefs.This is the only festival I have ever known which has stamp of approval from history. Sadhavas, the Oriya traders used to start their voyage on theKartik Purnima day and the Sadhavanis ( their wives ) were bidingthem farewell by worshiping them and the ships. Even today thecustomary Boita Bandana by Sadhavanis is organized in various partsof the state. Our Sadhavas were going mainly to Srilanka, Java,Borneo and Bali in Indonesia and Sumatra in Malaysia. They used to stay for months together in these foreign lands facilitating socialand cultural exchange. One can sense it even now. There are hundreds of towns and villages in Indonesia with similar names asthose in coastal Orissa. Balijatra ( the festival dedicated to trade and culture which starts following Kartik Purnima ) in Cuttack and Paradeep has its name linked to Bali in Indonesia. There is plenty of other archaeological evidences about Orissa'smaritime history. Antique Pots, coins and materials used in portshave been found in large number from Orissa coast.

My festival with cent percent support from history has something even more amazing. This is the festival of mass thanksgiving, not to any deity but to those traders who had made Orissa rich and prosperous. An occasion centering itself around human beings—by, for and of. Unlike the Pitrupaksh (where whole Aryan community perform Pinddaan for their ancestors, mainly the ancestors they know ), Boita Bandana is nothing but the heartfelt gratitude of a whole community ( Oriyas ) to those traders whom they have not seen.

This spectacular festival reminded me of Bihar's own Chhath. Both Boita Bandana and Chhath are wee hour rituals. Chhath is anunique festival dedicated to Sun God (the most visible deity) andChhathi Maiya ( mother nature ). But the polluted ghats of Ganga (Patna) Burhi Gandak ( Muzaffarpur), Phalgu ( Gaya ) to name some, were forcing people to complete the Chhatpuja rituals intheir courtyards. Contrary to this, our geography supported us incelebrating Boita Bandana in a better way. Our vast coastline, relatively less polluted rivers and the village ponds were the supporters. I thought, Chhat would have been even more spectacular had Bihar a coastline. And this deficiency hadprompted the Magadha king Ashoka to invade Orissa ( as some historians say ) in 3rd century B.C. Ashoka had the desire to geta sea front and leave the legacy of a great maritime history whichMagadh did not have.

Boita Bandana is to remember the maritime history, celebrate the present and pray for its revival in future. Oriyas celebrated theday by floating boats. Unlike my childhood days, boat-replicasare now sold in large numbers. Karik Purnima offers an opportunity of earning to the boat-makers. As a child I was often failing tomake a fine boat. Now I am failing to float one even though ready-made ones are easily available. But thanks to our army of reporters who made me feel the festival in a click of the mouse.

This write up was written by my little sister Kalyani Sanghamitra.