Critical-18

1.1.1.      Completion of all Religious Rites (pakikhaihna)

Pakikhaihna sacrificial feast was the final means to earn the coveted title ‘taotheihna’. In the Mara traditional religion, establishing religious, bull sacrifice, and honoring ancestors were all prerequisite and preparatory steps in ascending order to the pakikhaina feast. None of the steps were to be skipped for pakikhaihna feast was meritoriously honored because it was essential for the attainment of a special title taotheihna, which customarily meant performing and fulfilling all the religious rites and domestic feasts.

After all the religious rites and sacrificial feasts were over, the performer became ‘taotheihtupa’. He was dubbed as pakihtupa meaning ‘one who had completed everything’. Peihrâ (paradise) was now virtually his place of abode when he died.

1.2.Killing prescribed wild animals

Hunting animals had theological significance in the Mara traditional religion for it provided the way to obtain the prestigious title of ‘taothei’. In order to get this title a person had to kill animals such as elephant, bear, wild bison, stag, barking deer, wild boar and human ( after clan feuds and internecine wars were forbidden, the killing of human being especially enemies was exempted). Besides these, king cobra (viper), eagle and flying lemur were to be killed. One may have killed over a hundred animals but unless he killed all the aforementioned creatures, he could not earn the taotheihna title. The taothei person possessed the spirits of all the animals in order to take him safely to peihrâ (paradise).

From this it is clear that the Mara expectation of peihrâh was not too high. This may be due to the poverty and scarcity of food in the hill tracts that forced the Maras to work all day long to get enough food for the entire family. Therefore their poor daily lives formed their expectation of peihrâh, where food is available without any labours; this understanding made peihrâh as the place of bliss or paradise to the Mara people.

In this concluding remarks about the Mara Religion, Mara religion begins and ends with the fulfillment of the prescribed religious rites without touching any morality. Fulfillments were the primary concerns and even immoralities such as telling lies or stealing were neglected for these immoralities could not negate the performers of the feast of meritorious sacrifice to the entrance of peihrâh. The futuristic expectations were neither based on righteousness nor justice, but on the prestige to outdo others only.

2.      Community Worship

In the primitive Mara society the sense of community was so strong that they gave priority to their community in their thinking and actions rather than to their individual needs. Ultimately the Mara identified himself or herself with the community and the village community became their own identity. When a Mara met a stranger, he would ask the name of his/her village instead of asking his/her name. In reply the person would tell the name of the village. Communitarian life was very strong in the Mara society and as a result there were numbers of community worship practices in the Mara traditional religion which will now be discussed.

A public religious sacrifice (Khitla atheihna) was performed every year as an obligation. This was a religious community sacrifice asking god to bless the whole village with animals and human (enemies) heads.  Accordingly, one or two days before the festival, the village priest, the chief and the leading persons of the village performed this ceremony together to invoke the blessing of Khazohpa for a hunting party which was supposed to go on a hunt and provide meat for the feast as well as for their families. This was done to ensure that in the New Year the villagers would be lucky in hunting, trapping animals, capturing slaves, winning in wars and taking heads of enemies and also that the crop would grow well.

A place was cleared on the road side or just outside the village and ash-sand was strewn on it. Two posts were erected on each side of this place and a cane was hung up between them across the road. The theithaipa then sacrificed the pig and chanted all the names of the animals except tiger. After the sacrificial meat was cooked, they would offer certain parts of meat to the spirit and the rest would be eaten by the participants at the sacrificial place. No leftovers were allowed. The road surface between the two posts would be evenly dusted with ash in order to get the foot print of any animals crossing that place at night. They all left the sacrificial place by evening. On the night this ceremony was performed no strangers were allowed to enter the village and if any strangers came, they were asked to go on elsewhere.

Absentees were liable to be fined. The chief and his party would sing and drink rice-beer for the whole night.

Early next morning, some young men would go to the place where ash was put to see the foot print of animals and carefully scrutinize the place. If they happened to find an animal foot print, they would interpret it as a good sign for success in hunting. On the other hand, if human or tiger foot prints were found, these would be interpreted as a harbinger of accidental death and they would have to perform the same sacrificial ceremony again.

Moreover, an annual sacrifice (kôvei phanawpa ta atheihna) was made to god at the time of cultivating with the purpose of asking god to protect and bless crops so that they would have a luxuriant crop. This was performed at the gate of the road leading to the place where seeds are cultivated. Since it was a communal sacrifice, any paraphernalia would be brought and performed by the priest. After the incantation, sacrificial animals would be killed and feasting would take place at the house of the village chief. A day was observed as a rest day, even pounding of the rice was not allowed. By observing this they hoped to harvest good crops and to have plants and vegetables which flourished. The first generation Christians did not participate in this sacrificial ceremony and did not even observe the day as a rest day and thus problems started between the Mara Christians and the non-Christians.

The Mara traditional religion when examined from the heritagist reading can be seen to have some elements which can be taken as theological hermeneutics such as the concept of pleasing God. From the beginning to the end of all religious sacrificial ceremonies a number of sacrifices were made to please God. Participation of the whole community was evident in all these religious feasts. Children, youths and adults received their own share in the ceremonies. Equality played an important part in all the feasts uniting and integrating the whole village community. In all other religious rites all clans participated equally and this gave a sense of equality and brotherhood. The rights of children and women were respected and they had their own share to enjoy without any guilt and shame. However, the western missionaries failed to see all these good elements in the Mara primal religion like pleasing God, equality, and sharing and community participation in all the religious feasts. They blindly disapproved and negated these as pagan religion with drinking bouts and animistic practices.