An Exhibition on ‘Naga Memoirs - Narrating the Cult of Fertility’ was inaugurated on Thursday at Veethi Sankul indoor exhibition building of the Indira Gandhi Rashtriya Museum for Man by renowned anthropologist Dr. Ajit K Danda.
The Nagas, a largest tribal group of the North-east India have their glorious culture that fascinates the world. The Naga villages used to have a very profound social and political organisation instituted to control the society under the administrative head of the Village Chief. Founded with a strong religious belief, the concept of fertility had been the core element that unites the diverse Naga communities. life of the Nagas, be it birth, death, feasting, sex, martial proficiency etc. all are manifested with the underlying idea of fertility. Naga believed in the content of a soul substance associated with the dead, and this life substance carried in human head could bring fertility of the soil and prosperity of the village. Human head was seen as the seat of wisdom, fertility and repository of power.
As part of 41st Foundation Day celebrations the rituals of Maw-Bu-Khar sacred groves of Meghalaya was carried out at IGRMS. Sacred groves have been a part of the life and culture of the people of Meghalaya. Many sacred groves are still well protected, in spite of rapid decline in the traditional value system. The traditional religious belief is that the Gods and spirits of ancestors live in these groves. A large number of groves are located in the Cherrapunji region of the east Khasi Hill District. The Mawphlang grove, close to Shillong town, and the Mawsmai grove in Cherrapunji are some of the famous groves in the Northeast India. Traditionally, people around these groves believe that removal of plants or plant parts would offend the ruling deity, leading to local calamities. The Maw-bu-khar is the sacred grove of the Khasis of Maw Phlang area, and the sacred stone pillars represent Khasi Gods.
Meghlaya has three main hills – Garo, Khasi and Jaintia and all have different language and cuisine. They prepared food by bringing different types of leaves, herbs, seeds, grains, fungi, flowers, twigs, barks, stems, roots and different types of edible mushrooms etc from forests of Meghalaya. Bhopalites enjoyed all three cuisines of Meghalaya on reasonable prices and requested Director, IGRMS to organize similar food festivals of other tribal communities as well.