Bathou Bwrai and Siva revisited
Bathou is the indigenous religion of Bodo tribe. The religion played an important role in building socio-economic and cultural life of the traditional Bodos. Bathou Bwrai is worshipped as the Supreme God. He is also referred to as Anan Gosai, Bathou Raja, Khoria Bwrai, Sijou Bwrai etc. Bodos have their own theory of creation of universe. According to the myth, as believed by Bodos, before the creation of universe there was absolute vacuum, but an eternal God called Obonglawri who existed formlessly in a great void became tired of his formless existence and desired to take the form of flesh and blood. Thus he shaped himself into a lively human being and called himself Jiu Bwrai. It is for this reason he is believed to be the first holy man to possess a human soul. When he emerged into the vast void he uttered the first five spiritual words; awng (earth), hring (water), khling (air), fwt (fire) and che (sky). Thus he created the first five elements of life.
Literally “Ba” means five and “thou” means principle. Thus Bathou is referred to be five deep philosophical facts of Bathou bwrai and also the custodian of five basic elements of creation. The Sijou tree (Euphorbia neriifolia) is planted and worshiped as an emblem of the supreme God at the altar of Bathou.
We can find most of its philosophies similar to Siva and that of Vedas. In the Indian mythology Siva has a paramount importance and presence. His existence can also be traced back to the period of Indus valley civilization. Along with the resemblance to the theory of creation of universe, like Bathou Bwrai, Siva is also called by different names like Bhupati, Pashupati, Pretapati etc. Similar to Siva’s Tandava that produced ragas like Basanta Bhairava, Panchamas, Megha Parvati, Jarapagla’s cosmic dance also produced same ragas. Due to these reasons and textually supported by Mahabharata, Kalika Purana and Yogini Tantra many of Kiratas believe Siva to be their original God. Thus we find Bathou Siva Dharma as one of the sects of Bathou.
Such equivalence in the philosophy of five elements of life can also be found in Vedas as Pancha bhoota. The following verse from Yajur Veda signifies theory similar to that of Bathou.
Tasmadva etasmadatmana akash sambhutah |
Akasadvayuh | Vayoragnih | Agnerapah |
Adbhyah prithvi | Prithivya osadhayah |
Osadhibhyosnam |Annat purusah ||
Moreover, Bathou though believe in one Supreme God, it has got many manifestations that Bodos worship as lesser deities which can be seen in Hinduism too.
The purpose of this post is not to denigrate Bathou in any manner but to bring out the deep philosophical and cultural commonalities they share with each other and Bodos should have no reason to be apprehensive about assimilation and conversion towards Hindu religion. In fact it is in India, a hindu majority country where every religion and sect enjoys equal freedom and there has never been forceful conversion. For too long we have been fed by misconceptions and suspicions towards Hinduism which is directly/indirectly benefiting the foreign elements.
From recent past the dynamics of external aggression has changed because it is no more limited to arms but ideology. It has penetrated deep into our society for which it has become difficult to identify them. Religious conversion has become another kind of war imposed on us, a War of Demography and the religions which did not originate from this land are the biggest threats. The reason behind it is once converted the person tends to detach itself from anything native to this country and develop a sense of allegiance towards the culture and ideology of converted religion. Besides, sharing borders with China, Pakistan and Bangladesh has only heightened the possibilities of war like situation.
The post is only a glimpse of magnificent bond we share with the whole country and it will only deepen if we delve into it more. So the intelligence is in to identify our real threat and eradicate the walls we have built around among ourselves. If we don’t then it won’t take too long for the history to repeat itself.
Literally “Ba” means five and “thou” means principle. Thus Bathou is referred to be five deep philosophical facts of Bathou bwrai and also the custodian of five basic elements of creation. The Sijou tree (Euphorbia neriifolia) is planted and worshiped as an emblem of the supreme God at the altar of Bathou.
We can find most of its philosophies similar to Siva and that of Vedas. In the Indian mythology Siva has a paramount importance and presence. His existence can also be traced back to the period of Indus valley civilization. Along with the resemblance to the theory of creation of universe, like Bathou Bwrai, Siva is also called by different names like Bhupati, Pashupati, Pretapati etc. Similar to Siva’s Tandava that produced ragas like Basanta Bhairava, Panchamas, Megha Parvati, Jarapagla’s cosmic dance also produced same ragas. Due to these reasons and textually supported by Mahabharata, Kalika Purana and Yogini Tantra many of Kiratas believe Siva to be their original God. Thus we find Bathou Siva Dharma as one of the sects of Bathou.
Such equivalence in the philosophy of five elements of life can also be found in Vedas as Pancha bhoota. The following verse from Yajur Veda signifies theory similar to that of Bathou.
Tasmadva etasmadatmana akash sambhutah |
Akasadvayuh | Vayoragnih | Agnerapah |
Adbhyah prithvi | Prithivya osadhayah |
Osadhibhyosnam |Annat purusah ||
Moreover, Bathou though believe in one Supreme God, it has got many manifestations that Bodos worship as lesser deities which can be seen in Hinduism too.
The purpose of this post is not to denigrate Bathou in any manner but to bring out the deep philosophical and cultural commonalities they share with each other and Bodos should have no reason to be apprehensive about assimilation and conversion towards Hindu religion. In fact it is in India, a hindu majority country where every religion and sect enjoys equal freedom and there has never been forceful conversion. For too long we have been fed by misconceptions and suspicions towards Hinduism which is directly/indirectly benefiting the foreign elements.
From recent past the dynamics of external aggression has changed because it is no more limited to arms but ideology. It has penetrated deep into our society for which it has become difficult to identify them. Religious conversion has become another kind of war imposed on us, a War of Demography and the religions which did not originate from this land are the biggest threats. The reason behind it is once converted the person tends to detach itself from anything native to this country and develop a sense of allegiance towards the culture and ideology of converted religion. Besides, sharing borders with China, Pakistan and Bangladesh has only heightened the possibilities of war like situation.
The post is only a glimpse of magnificent bond we share with the whole country and it will only deepen if we delve into it more. So the intelligence is in to identify our real threat and eradicate the walls we have built around among ourselves. If we don’t then it won’t take too long for the history to repeat itself.
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