Bhoot Chaturdashi - the eastern rituals
History and evolution of mankind often throw interesting facts that time has the tenacity to add various ritual of different times and all the practices gets into the multiple narratives of the same pagan festivity. On the day preceding the Amabashya night falls the Chaturdashi (14th day) of the Krishna Paksha in the Vikram Samvat Hindu calendar month of Kartika and this festivity is celebrated all through the eastern provinces of South Asia - the Hindu families pay obeisance to their ancestors and Bengali Hindus observe the day as Bhut Chaturdashi.
When we were kids, we heard from the elders that ghosts become active on this night - the night preceding the day of Amavasya ( preceding day of the no-moon night). So all homes have to light ritualistic fourteen lamps and place it on the key passages of our home, the doors, the windows, especially the main entrance door.
And the ancillary ritual of mandatory cooking together of the prescribed fourteen types of fresh vegetable together and eat as one and only item that must be eaten by the family in the main meal of the day - called locally the Choudya Sagh. The choudha sag cosists of (1)Helencha ba hinche sak, (2) ooal pata ba sak,(3.)mankochu pata, (4)kulekhara ba kule sak, (5)beto sag, (6) sorshe sak, (7) guloncho (8)jayanti sak,(9)ghetu sag ba vhat pata (10).keu sak (11)sushni sak (12)sanji ba santi sag (13)kalmegh, (14)neem pata ( images of leaves )
[ I surveyed the local vegetable markets and were not amused that most of these leafy vegetables no longer adore a Bengali lunch spread. We could lay hands only on the Sorso sag, the Neem leaves or the Kulekhara sag. No wonder we are failing in our duties by allowing to vanish the wonderful naturopathy that we have inherited from our ancestors which were eaten on this day to overcome diseases and improve immunity to face the seasonal change. ]
It seems apparent though, that these two rituals have been simultaneously practised since ages, and at one point in time, these were amalgamated into a single ritual under Bhoot Chaturdashi for the eastern region of South Asia.
This twin ritual has many other narratives that co-exist as a counter or parallel narratives. Hindu religion or Sanatani has no one core book nor one common God or Goddess. So various faith that collaborates and at times, compete and challenge the other and develop a new interpretation of wisdom words and new mythological narratives get incorporated. Thus, pagan rituals, the various new narratives and the new interpretations are chosen as per the inclination of the sects. The approach of the great Shaiva sect and it's various sub-sect of Gorokhnath, Aghori, Nagas et Cetra may have differences and even various Akharas may agree to disagree on some critical interpretations regarding the various tantric Margs for uniting with the Mahakal and the Supreme God. The second of the trinity, the Vaishnava sect and its various tributaries may attain union with God through Prem Marg, Bhakti Marg, Gyan Margs or any other uncharted route and who can ignore the undisputed Vedic age guru Brihaspati and His disciples' various Vedic approaches and narratives including the Charbak sect and the Charbak philosophy standing as across current with " Wrinog Kritya Gritong Pibet" hedonism.
So, we may observe that an added narrative popular amongst the locals to light the lambs and offer simple prayers for the dead ancestors - last fourteen generations as per certain scriptures and others presume it to mean all dead ancestors of the family tree.
The keyword Bhut of Bhut Chaturdashi has two or more popular interpretations, popular among the local as facing and protecting from evil spirit - the Bhoot. In that narrative, the heirs welcome the good spirit of ancestors who visit and try to reach out to their homes where new generations live. It sounds similar to the Haloween Festival of the far west. Even in south-east Asian countries, they do observe a day of celebration of the dead. So, the cultural and ritual linkage across the continents is natural and logical too. But it signifies that either there was a genetic and cultural linkage since pre-historic times or else these ghost worship syndromes evolved independently because the origin of ghost lies in our uncertainty of life and fear of death in a hostile environment and believing that we do not die and the spirit of the tribesmen remain in the vicinity to protect and offer blessings in winning wars and killing ferocious animals.
The Other interpretation - as per the Vedic faith system Bhut has five basic elements of life - Prithivi/Bhudevi(earth, soil), Varuna/Apasa(water), Agni(Fire), Vayu(Air) and Akasha ( sky or space) and life is born out of Pancha Bhuta and on death, merge into the Pancha Bhuta. So, with a shift in vision, Bhut Choturdoshi is a celebration of the cycle of life and death. The Aghori, the Nagas, the Tantrik - the purist followers of Shiva for millennium years living away from family and away from the active Janapadas and settle down in lonely burial places and burning ghats where only dead people are worshipped. So while we discuss Bhuut Choturdashi, invoking Ma Kali on the following night of Amabashya, we cannot close our eyes for the age-old Shivaite sects who do not publicise their vision of life and worship Shiv and Ma Kali, through the cult of Skull worship and dealing with the spirit of the dead, and daily cover bodies with ashes from dead bodies placed for the funeral as a ritual and a constant reminder to the Aghoris of the futility of worldly aspirations and they remain detached from Sansar and cohabit with the dead bodies.
God Shiva and the Ghosts: Shiva makes His anger manifest in the image of the fearsome Kalabhairava, and the terrible Aghora. His another name is Bhuta-Natsh, the protector of ghosts, and is being assisted by various types of powerful ghosts and goblins like Bhutas, Pretas, Dakinis, Joginis, Pisachas, Vetalas, Brahma-rakshasa and Rakshosi or Daitya. (Of all kinds of ghosts, the Brahma-daitya or Brahma-rakshasas are very powerful Brahmanas transferred to the role of ghosts.). Purana mythology narrates that Uma ( the domesticated image of angry Ma Kali) once asked Shiva, the husband, why he liked to reside in cremation grounds, among the ghosts,danavs, jackals and corpses and make his body paint in fire burnt ashes of Yagnya, when he could live and enjoy like so many other Gods in the glittering comfort, the Bhootnath replied that he was looking for a sacred place to meditate in and out of anger and frustration, created the terrible pishachas, flesh-eating ghouls and terrible rakshasas, and made them stay in the cremation ground.
[ The people living in the eastern and southern belts, people living in the Vindhyachal, ie, Vindyachali and in the hills and deep forests- the aborigines with distinct age-old rituals, unique habits and special talents and intellect, have been variously addressed in the Vedas, Upanishads, Puranas( and in the evolving epics of Mahabharata and Ramayana) as Danav, Asuras, Raksasa Yaksha, Daitya, Pisacha. ]
Bhut Chaturdasi is unique to the Bengal and evident from the fact that while the following day the inhabitants of the western and northern parts of South Asia celebrate Diwali as the victory of Ram, Bengal uniquely differs in ritual and culture by celebrating the worship of the Goddess Ma Kali, the Vindhyaswari on Amabashya( the moon-less night) and interestingly, the ideal time and tithi to invoke Ma Kali on Amabashya, but as a noticeable departure, Kali is worshipped before the full eclipse of the moon, i.e, on the Chaturdashi.
Festival of Lights - Commencement of DeepDan Utsam during Chatrapati King Ashoka reign( 232 BC to 304 BC): As per Budhisht scriptures of Sri Lankan origin, the practice of lighting of Diya began only during the reign of Ashoka as per the emperor's state welfare initiatives. Ashok had earlier ordered the construction of eighty-four thousands Buddha Vihars across the kingdom. After three years, on completion of the task, Ashoka introduced the DeepDan Utsav on a grand scale. As per the ritual of the time, each family would decorate home with flowers, take bath and wear new clothes, have grand meal and have meetings with neighbours, relatives and wellwishers and in the night, they would light lamps at home and later carry the lights and place it in front of the neighbour's door, as a gesture of goodwill.
Further, as per traveller Al Baruni's Travelogue of his India visit in the tenth century AD, he noted in detail how the festival of Divali was celebrated by the people but the linage of Diwali with the return of Ram to Ayodhya was nowhere mentioned. A section of the Buddhist researchers also places on record that till around 1000 AD, the celebration of Deepavali, the festival of light was not associated with Ram's victory over Ravana and his return - rather, this narrative was added in the second millennium and that silently put to rest the historical relevance of DeepDan Utsav introduced by Samrat Ashoka on the Amabashya night of the month of Kartika.
#Chaturdashi #Bhoot-Chaturdashi #Shiva #Kali #kali-chaudas #Deepdana #pancha-bhuta #ghost #Aghori #Deepavali
From Ray's Gupi Gyne Bagha Byne - The Bhoot Dance
https://youtu.be/OWxV_qCf2zE
Bhoot Dance comedy
https://youtu.be/wjL3IMYkEts
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