Bhubaneswar
Bhagawata Tungi or Ghara (house), both a hub and a haven of spiritual and social action and activity in Odishan religious landscape during times of yore, has all but lost its past piousness and prominence in the rough and tumble of modern life. Yet a few in the State’s backwaters still cling to their pristine posture.
The Bhagawata Tungi (a small house for Bhagawat Purana discourses) in the tribal village Gaudanali of about 25 Kisan families in Deogarh District is one such example that still retains a semblance of purity despite the aggressive showbiz of new-fangled lifestyle.
Now housed in an asbestos-roofed structure, Bhagawata Tungi in Gaudanali poses a veritable epicenter and epitome of rural bond and bonhomie. When evening draws in, the villagers flock to this site to sink in the discourses and discussions on holy Bhagawata, the literary magnum opus penned by Atibadi Jagannath Das, one among Panchasakha (five saint-litterateurs of medieval Odisha — Balaram Das, Jagannatha Das, Achyutananda Das, Yosobanta Das and Sisu Ananta Das).
“Earlier, our Tungi had been functioning in a tumbledown thatched house. Later an asbestos-roofed structure was erected to house it. Every Kisan family in Gaudanali chipped in with its tika (contribution) for the new structure to come up,” 46-year-old Bhagawata Guru Arjun Mohan Pradhan of Gaudanali tells The Indian Tribal.
“Each family also contributes tika to run the show in our Tungi. This corroborates the affability and affinity among the tribal villagers,” he informs.
“Though religious discourses and discussions, bhajans and kirtans hold the lifeline of our Bhagawata Tungi, domestic problems are also brought up here for amicable settlements. A panel of about 20 seniors under me listens to the complaints before it finds out solutions to problems through debate and discussion. It’s a sort of religious, spiritual and social democracy that has been in vogue from time immemorial,” explains Guru Arjun.
Guru Arjun recites out 12 skandas (chapters) of the Bhagawata one after another in front of a gathering that congregates for days together. Before the commencement of this phase, Guru does a puja for the Bhagawata that is placed on a ‘khatuli’ (a wooden seat made) in the ‘asthana’ (the demarcated sacred area of the Bhagawata).
Many a time non-tribals of neighbouring villages are invited to Tungi on special occasions. Both tribals and non-tribals relish a feast of dalma and chaul after the recitation, according to Saraswati Kisan, a woman pala gayika and the vice-president of Deogarh Zilla Sanskrutika Sangh.
“Mostly the Bhagawata recitation that is followed by a feast takes place on auspicious occasions like ‘Janmashtami’, ‘Bhadrava Purnima’, ‘Magha Yatra’ and ‘Manabasa Gurubara’,” says Saraswati.
The seniors and Guru Arjun wish to enlarge their Tungi with financial assistance that the state government now provides to revive the culture of Bhagawata Ghara. “We provide Rs. 50,000 in two phases to a Tungi for its revival,” says an official of Deogarh District District Administration.
