Baliyatra, which literally means “a journey to Bali (Indonesia)”, is a weeklong cultural festival celebrated every year on the bank of river Mahanadi in Cuttack beginning on the Kartik Purnima.
The festival is observed to remember the ancient Odia mariners, called the Sadhabs, who used to begin their voyage on the full moon night of lunar month of Kartik to overseas land of Bali and other islands of present Indonesia, Sri lanka, Burma and China. They used large wooden vessels which are called “Boitas” in local language. The voyage begins on Kartika Purnima to take advantage of the favorable wind blowing during this season in Bay of Bengal. Besides Cuttack, the Odias living in different parts of the State, sail symbolic boats on rivers and ponds made out of cork, papers, banana tree barks reciting the old Odia lyric, 'Aa-Ka-Ma-Bai, Pana-Gua- Thoi' to mark the maritime glory.
The sailors of Kalinga reached South-East Asia in very early times but have not left any records of their trading voyages. Their voyages have become part of Odia folk stories. According to RD Banarjee, Hindus from Kalinga took a leading role in establishing Hindu culture in Java. An expedition from Kalinga reportedly established a colony in Java in 75 BC. Early legends of Java mention that 20,000 families were sent to Java by the prince of Kalinga. Even King Jayabhaya (12th century AD) believed himself to be descendant of Kalinga family. Arab historians described the 8th century AD Sailendra dynasty of Java as originating from Kalinga. Maa lakshmi is worshipped as Goddess of wealth in Bali.
The tie and die weaving traditions of western Odisha have close resemblance with Balinese textiles traditions. Trade with Bali appears to have started before the Christian Era. Bali had many products that were attractive to Kalinga's traders such as cinnamon, long pepper, white pepper, cardamom, pearls, gems, silk and so on. The trade began to decline in the 8th century AD. It is surprising that a race in possession of such a fierce skill and business entrepreneurship did vanish from the global maritime history early. Had they continued their practice, today’s Odisha would have grown as a colonial power like the Portuguese or British and Odisha would have become an Independent nation.
No one has done a systematic study on the reasons of decline of such entrepreneurship ability. Some analysts think that siltation of river mouths could be a cause. But that does not satisfy the answer seekers as the sailors could have discovered alternative means. It is also said that the Arabs became the predominant maritime power in the region, displacing Sadhabas. This is not a satisfying argument too. One reason that appears to be reasonably satisfying is the social pull against these mariners. The “Taa-Poi” folk story speaks about the untold sufferings of the sister of a mariners group by their wives when they were abroad. The folk story depicts a gloomy picture of the absence of any support system to the family members of the adventurous mariners. Neither the villagers nor the religious philosophy nor the kings appeared to have supported the distressed family members of the mariners in their absence. Apart from sufferings of family members, many would have lost lives while pursing the adventurous trade. Their families would have become paupers in absence of social or ruler’s support. The Hindu priest of the village, who pursues a philosophy of non-materialistic living, would have counseled the mariners to give up the trade for “family peace”. It is just like the soldier families of many States who seldom get moral support from their villagers and are advised to pull back their children from army for a peaceful living in the village, eating “bhat and dal” rather than earning more.
While Odisha sailors killed their voyage skills due to lack of social support, the British and European sailors were successful in nurturing their sea conquering skills which led to fortune through establishment of colonies eventually. Perhaps their social system supported the high risk of sea voyage.
The prevalence of primogeniture- inheritance system in those nations in the past, which offered inheritance rights to the eldest son, could be a motivation factor for the younger sons to leave their villages and search for treasures off shore. Churches gave them the moral support even in the name of Great Crusades later. Those societies did not have material aversion in their spiritual codes unlike Hindu moral codes of that era. While the west gave up farming for navigation, Kalinga shifted from sea to crop fields. As a result, the Odias became poorer subsequently due to effect of natural disasters on agriculture and British exploitation of farming system. Odisha went to British hands ultimately and remained under Bengal Province, losing its identity by 1800 AD.
After Independence, when sea fishing requirements arose, Odias were found fearing the sea. They have already lost the skills .This led to import of fisher folk from the neighbouring Andhra Pradesh who were far ahead of Odias in sea fishing. Due to fishing needs, Odias also did not object to the settlement of Bangladeshis in Cuttack district. When the State Government floated fisher folk cooperative societies under FishFed banner, the marine fisher folk wing was seen dominated by non-Odia fishermen while the in-land wing was occupied by Odia fishermen. Such was the situation of sea-fear. Odias entered into sea fishing only when the improved technique of trawler fishing came into existence. Till today, sea fishing is not much liked by Odia fishermen. No Government tried to enhance the marine fishing skills of the poor inland fisher folk to earn income from sea. So where is the glory of a sailor raceIJ It was a matter of satisfaction that at least Odia leaders could establish a sarkari port at Paradip as reminiscence of sea-trade tradition of the race. How long shall we dance with amusement on our past gloryIJ Of course, we are proud to have produced NRIs, the modern “sadhabas”. But we have to remember that we have failed as a race in ushering development to large mass of Odias. We are battling with mass poverty and hunger, as manifested in Nagada child deaths or in last year’s farmers’ suicide. We should raise the question to ourselves, “Do we exist as a race like the Bengalis or the TamilsIJ”
When Odisha was formed as a separate State in 1936 due to the relentless efforts of our great freedom fighters, some portions were left out which was later integrated to Odisha. Dr Harekrishna Mahatab was a pioneer in the creation of the post-independent new State. Did coastal Odisha, Gadjat Odisha, south tribal Odisha and north Odisha integrate or there are wide cultural gaps still existing, indicating Odias as a fractured race IJ
Naveen Patnaik stood for Odia race integration in 2009 and 2014, winning for BJD more than 100 seats each time. It was a surprise to see Patnaik emerging as a race integration political force even though he does not know Odia language fully. Besides, political integration, Odia newspapers and Government education system contributed to the unity of the race. But is the integration completeIJ
The major weakness still remains in the cultural integration of coastal, western and tribal Odias.
(The writer is a socio-political development analyst. Mobile-9439178588)