Saoras: The Highland Artists

Be it mural painting, or singing an impromptu-composed poem, or colourful traditional dancing, Saoras of highlands are born artists, a discussion by Dr. Swarnalata Sahoo

The wall has just received a fresh coat of red mud. The bowls containing colors prepared from the mixture of rice flour, ash with water are ready. Brushes fashioned from tender bamboo shoots to be used in creating the painting are neatly arranged besides the bowls of colours. Rice and wine to be offered by the artist to the concerned God or ancestor and beg an apology for any mistake that might arise in the process is already arranged. And  alize and draw the Ikon on the wall.  Guess What? You are watching the actual making of a fascinating mural painting in the house of a Saora. The occasion could be any one among Nuakhia (Abdur), birth of a child, karjya,  kudanboi teaching, guar etc. or the festivals related to agrarian cycles. The routine is to take the help of Kudan or kudanboi’ (Lady Shaman) and paint what they prescribe to appease the gods and ancestors so as not receive their shower displeasure on the inhabitants of that Saora tribe household. 
Saora living style is not complete without Ikons. It has to be there fitting into all occasions, happenings, be it religious, social or even events related to a family like child birth, harvest, marriage and the construction of a new house.. The artistic skills of this primitive tribe, also known as Sabara, Sahar, Saur, Saura, and Sora expressed in their wall painting are ingenious for its style and depiction. The sketches of human beings, horse, elephant, gunman, aeroplane, cycle, Sun, moon religious practices. Considered as one of India’s most intriguing tribal art forms, Saora painting is a treasure that brings richness to the tapestry of India’s cultural diversity.
Be it fine arts, expression art, or rich oral tradition, or even being the finest exerts in terraced cultivation with meticulous irrigation system, Saoras are known for their distinct identity, cultural ethos, and traditional way of life.Their racial affinity is with the proto-Austroloid stock, and they speak in Munadari language. They live in deep forest and highlands of Gajapati, Rayagada and Bargarh districts of Odisha, and are also spread to nearby north coastal districts of Srikakulam, Vizianagaram and Vishakhapatnam in Andhra Pradesh..
Being one of the oldest tribe of this land, Saoras find mention in classic epics such as Mahabharata and Ramayana and other Puranas of ancient times. In Odisha, this tribe is closely related to the cult of Jagannatha, who was once used to be their deity (Shabara Devata) known as Nila Madhaba. The story of Shabara chief  Viswabasu and priest explorer Vidyapati related to Nilamadhab, and his subsequent reappearance as Darubrahma because of kin  g Indradyumna’s devotion and austerity is much famous in Jagannatha tradition. Daitapati servitors of Lord Jagannatha temple are of Sabara origin. Saoras are sturdy, but not strongly built physically like other tribe such as Kondha. They are known for their agility and efficiency in climbing and walking on hills. They are distinguished by their characteristic style of dressing, especially the long ended loincloth of males about six feet long and about ten inches in breadth that hangs at the front and back-the rear end being longer than the front end. This may be plain or may be decorated with red tassels at the ends. The traditional dress of a Saora woman is a waist cloth with gray borders which hardly reaches the knees.  These cloths are woven by the Dom weavers from the yarn hand spun by the Saoras themselves. Women decorate themselves with spiral rings made of brass, round wooden plugs, necklaces made from beads, bell-metal or aluminum made rings on fingers and toes. This traditional dressing style has now being replaced by today’s clothing like sari, blouse, pants, shirts, t-shirts etc. 
Birinda or the extended family descended from a common ancestor is the core unit of Saora society. This is the reason why Saoras do not have institutions like totemism and taboos in marriage relationship. Although there are two broad class of Saora settlements, one inhabiting hills and the other inhabiting the low country, primarily their society has as many as 25 subdivisions such as Jara, Kumbi, Basu, Kapu, Jati, Sudho, Jadu, Duara or Muli, Kindal, Arsi, Lanjia, etc. based on occupation, food habit, social status, customs and traditions. Unlike other tribal societies Saora society do not follow exogamous totemic clans, phratries, and moieties. Marriage is not permitted within a Birinda as members of a Birinda are considered blood brothers and sisters. When a person of a Birinda dies, all member families contribute to his gaur and karja rituals, which are conducted to facilitate the entry of the departed to the underworld. Even a migrated member of a Birinda retains his rights of kinship. His mortal remains are brought back to his original place of birth for final rites. Interesting, unlike mainstream practice, a girl’s membership to her Birinda is not altered after her marriage. She continues to be the member of her Birinda, and her funeral rites and gaur are performed by her own Birinda. 
The preferred form of marriage in the tribe is marriage by arrangement even though capture, elopement or service forms of marriage are accepted. The groom’s parents and relatives pay a visit to the girl’s house taking a pot of liquor with them. Marriages are fixed by negotiations based on the socio economic status of both parties. In case of disparity in status of Birindas representing both side such as in case the boy is from a lower Birinda than the girl, boy’s side offer more pots of liquor. If the girl’s side agree to the proposal, then the liquor brought by the boy’s side is accepted and drunk in the presence of few important people of the village. However, the girl’s opinion is also taken before approving a proposal. The boy’s side after this keep on visiting the girl’s house with pots of liquor. An arrow is presented in one such visit finalizing the engagement, panshal or bride price is negotiated on another such visit. It is paid generally with cash or eight pots of liquor. On marriage day, groom’s party arrives with nine pots of liquor for marriage ceremony. On this occasion, the bride’s side entertain the groom’ side by offering a feast of rice, buffalo meat and liquor. But the bride does not move to the boy’s house. After a year, she is brought to her husband’s house which is celebrated with feast, booze and dance. 
The practice of Ding Ding Boi or marriage by capture is not that much prevalent in Saora society presently as was used to be in the past. This practice is frowned upon and considered dishonorable. Saoras practice polygamy. Remarriage of widow, widower and divorcees are permitted in Saora society.
The Saoras mostly work with gubla or a hoe to cultivate their land. Saora villages are well demarcated as hills are distributed on the basis of Birindas and encroachment is not allowed. Members of the Birinda are allotted plots or swiddens on their allocated hill. Saoras practice shifting as well as terrace cultivation. The shifting land is called bagado and farming in bagado is called bagado chas. Birinda allotted plots are owned by the farmer until he carries out farming activities, but is given to others when the farmer is unable to continue farm activities anymore, because no plot is left uncultivated.
Mixed crop of cereals, minor millets and pulses are grown in a piece of land for two to three years, and then is abandoned to recuperate. This practice of rowing mixed crops is dictated by their food habits and the ecological conditions. Terrace cultivation is another specialty of Saoras. Their ingenious, traditional expertise is marked by the inbuilt water management system they prepare for terrace cultivation. Rice is grown in terraced fields on lower hill slopes and bottoms called saroba, and a variety of minor millets, cereals and pulses are cultivated in shifting cultivation fields.
A very remarkable feature of their socio-economic life is their traditional system of labour cooperative called ansir, in which they cooperate with each other in heavy labour intensive works like swidden cultivation, house construction, etc.
They cultivate ragi (elusine corocana), biri  (phaseolus mungo) and kulthi (dolichos biflorus) in upper terrace fields which are relatively dry. From right up the beds of hill streams terrace field can extend to many hundred feet, even some times to the top of a hill. Terrace fields exhibit Saoras’ great engineering skills. Falls of terrace is packed with stones in such a way that soil erosion does not happen when water flows down.
Saoras take great care of fruit plants like date palm, mango, jackfruit, tamarind, Mohul, Salap, Ramphal, Sitaphal etc. in their surrounding as these are vital source of food to them. They also raise kitchen garden and orchards in the backyards. They supplement their food and earnings by occasional hunting, fishing, wage earning and by collecting forest produces. They also rear animals like bullocks, buffaloes, cows, pigs, goats and poultry for agriculture, ritual and consumption purposes. 
Saora-built settlements do not conform to any particular pattern, However, one thing is common to every Saora village. Two wooden posts representing Gasadasum and Kitungsum are installed at its entrance as the guardian deities of the village. Saora villages are comparatively small with average size of population between 200 and 800. Another feature that actually gives out a Saora Village is te existence of megaliths erected to commemorate the dead close to their settlement. A one roomed thatched house of low roof with red colored stone and mud walls with a high varendah is a normal Saora house.  Fire in the hearth is kept burning continuously. They hang pots, gourds and baskets containing the ancestors’ clothes and tutelary deities on the wall, which is decorated with ikons. A fowl pen and a shelter for the pigs are provided on the verandah and there could be a cowshed on one side of the house.
Every Saora Village used to function as an independent, autonomous and self-sufficient socio-political unit. The traditional village management system has a Birinada Neti, the democratically organized village council consisting of family heads with its head man called Gomango or Naiko, a sacerdotal head called Buya, Karji or Jani, and subordinate functionaries. Headman’s subordinate is called Mandal or Dalbehera, the messenger called Barik, the astrologer called Disari and the shaman called Kudan, all having well defined roles in the smooth function of the village. Decisions are made mostly by consensus. Dispute regarding partition of property, sale and mortgage of land, adultery, marriage, divorce are resolved by the council. Offenders are punished with imposition of fines in form of cash, liquor, goat, fowl etc. that are then offered to the gods and spirits and then consumed in a community feast.
Each Saora is an artist in some form. Could be a poet, or singer, or dancer, or all together. It comes somehow naturally to them. Anyone can coin a song and sing that as and when required. The songs are usually melodious with full of romance, sarcasm and a great deal of humor. They are also great dancers. They organize colorful dances on many occasions. Most of the festivals revolve round agricultural cycle and lifecycle rituals.  Soara men and women mix together and face the drummers, advance in rhythm towards each other with different moves. They decorate themselves with males using turbans, and women using clothes wrapped around their chests, wear white feathers and peacock plumes. They carry swords, sticks, and umbrella. During the dance they blow whistles and make peculiar sounds. Many type of drums, cymbals, gongs, string instrument like fiddle are their favorite instruments to produce melodious compositions. 
Saoras have a complex and elaborate magico-religious system which is not found perhaps in any other tribe. There are no fixed gods and they keep changing as new one are brought in and old ones forgotten. However, ancestor worship is the mainstay in their belief system. Numerous gods, deities and spirit of all sorts, both benevolent and malevolent are acknowledges by Saora community. Saora deities are generally called sonnum such as Labo Sum, Rude Sum and Karuni Sum, etc.  According to Saora belief, all the gods, deities and spirits demand attention and treatment from the living ones. And if they are ignored, they cause harm. Malevolent spirits are more of concern and are regularly appeased. Sacrifices are offered for the safety and wellbeing of family members. Ikon painting form part of this and other rituals. There are different functionaries who conduct different rituals. The Buyya conducts all festivals related to agriculture.  Kudan and Kudan boi, the unit of shaman and shamani duo function as priest, prophet and medicine man being the medium to the ethereal world. They are diviners, physician and healers who diagnose and prescribe remedies for all sorts of illness and trouble believed to be caused by the wrath of evils. Farming cycle and lifecycle rituals call for festivals in Saora tribe. Rituals and rites related to birth of a child, marriage and death are carried out by concerned family.  Festivals related to farming operations as well as the guar which is ether a biennial or triennial ceremony taken as the secondary death rites are observed by the whole village. Fear of religion are indispensable part of Saora living
A person who dies of cholera or smallpox receives a burial, else all deads are cremated. The dead body in taken to the cremation ground with musical band playing. Next day, family members of the deceased visit the cremationsite and looks for signs in the ash to ascertain the cause of death. That evening, a fowl is killed and gets cooked in rice and bitter leaves which is then eaten by the mourners. An elaborate guar ceremony is organized for the deceased in which buffalos are sacrificed and menhirs are erected for the deceased. Then follows three karja ceremony every second or third year to remember and honour the people who have died in that period. As appeasing ancestors are very dear to Saora tribe, they prefer to name their child with the name of their ancestors.