Danda Nata

Prafulla Kumar Mohanty

Superstitions stem from fear, the fear of the unknown. This fear stems from ignorance of reality. Ignorance stems from incomprehension or incomplete understanding of the world. Of course the reality of the world can never be fully explored. Certain things will elude us. All our modern sciences can boast of partial understanding of reality. But culture society and civilization are all evolving concepts and no society or civilization at any given point of time can claim perfect understanding of anything. The Rigveda, a 3500 year old Indian text raises seminal questions whose validity remains unchallenged despite the explosion of knowledge over centuries of quest for knowledge. The Nasadiya Sukta (Hymns of creation) raises issues which no knowledge can ever resolve:

Who really knows? And who can say?

Whence did it all come? And how did creation happen?

The gods themselves are later than creation,

So who knows truly whence this great creation sprang?

Who knows whence this creation had its origin?

He, whether He fashioned it or whether He did not,

He , who surveys it all from the highest heaven,

He knows- or may be even He does not know(x 129)

If creation precedes gods, it is man through his quest for knowledge of nature and reality created gods. The sages, prophets and men of perceptions created religions which became life management systems tying up a group of human beings with a cosmology imaginatively conceived and convincingly professed whose logic did not extend beyond acceptance. Refinement and reformation by later generations of imaginative philosophers supported by texts and discourses have made religion acceptable to larger groups. To engage the minds of people in an active celebration of life, rituals have also been created to suit human minds in their seasonal variations. The religion of the Hindus is open to a variety of streams and faiths branching off the central faith in the Principle of Brahmanic Energy. Sectarian variations spearheaded by some sages too have been  permitted within the Sanatan umbrella. When agriculture came up in a big way  some rituals associated with fertility myths were added to the existing sets and some were abandoned like the ritual worship of Indra, the rain god.

The creation of the Trinity-Brahma the Creator ; Vishnu the Administrator and Shiva the Lord of time and death also brought changes in the worship mode and the accompanying rituals. Since the season of Danda Nacha(nata) has just come to an end I would like to touch upon the ritualistic practice to highlight   my conviction how faith and rituals are appeasatory agrarian rituals. Man’s desire for well being compels him to practice even masochistic rituals.

Danda Nata is a penance ritual. The belief that low birth and penury in this life is because of prarabdha or some sin committed in the past birth has been ingrained in the minds of people much before the theory of karma was preached. And the remedy for this painful low birth is expiation by self punishment. This Danda Nata, some scholars believe, originated in the10th century BC, in the Suktimati civilization that came up along the Tel river. It is a ritualistic performing art. We can say Danda Nata is the first pre –dramatic form of India in which the processional forms took roots. The name derives from Danda (staff or stick) which symbolizes the Phallic authority of Shiva. The staff and the smaller two sticks or the earthen bowl represents the male and female sex organs.  The Danda also stands for the body- temple- stupa in an imagistic form for the illiterate people. The earth, water, fire and ether, the body and the elements represent creation. The human creative process is represented by the phallus and the female organ. It is in this sense a fertility ritual associated with the agrarian cycle. The festival begins 13 days before the Visuva Sankranti which ushers in the rains. Danduas gather at the Kamanaghar or the house of desires – to be freed of pain or bad luck or to ward off evil or to get a son. Danduas gather at midnight and take a ceremonial bath, after which sacred threads are given to them and they take a vow.  Danduas are made to believe that the sins of their previous birth would be purged if they voluntarily undergo penances. The penances are Dhooli Danda, Agani Danda(fire), Pani Danda (water) and the punishment in the forest. The danduas for these 13 days stay away from home and all worldly pleasures. All caste barriers vanish as they perform acrobatics, music with sincerity and commitment. The Kamana danda and the canes symbolize Shiva and Gouri. The Yajna or the fire ritual revitalizes the danduas to perform life’s activities with purity and commitment. The Chadheya with his three –eyed staff is Shiva and the person in the role of Chadheya identifies himself with Shiva. The Bana Danda suggests a life of retirement. It is similar to the Vanaprasta. Phallus and fire are the beginning and the end of this ritualistic performance. Life is energized by the element of Fire – vitality which also purifies the soul. The Dandua returns to his family and society as a purified soul to make a new beginning with his worldly life.

After this very brief account of the danda nata I may say that this festival is now confined to very few places. The tribals are now modernized. The rituals now include many images which dilute the austerities. But in Ganjam, Koraput and Bolangir it is still performed although the tinsel bravado and artificialities have entered the performances in a fantastic way. Hosts too are now few and far between. Yet what is of great satisfaction is that despite adulterated filmy gimmics danda nata is still not listed as a dying art.