Entry gate sans aesthetics by D. Bosai, The Arunachal Times, 16 September 2008
ITANAGAR, Sept 15: The entry gate or welcome gate to any place is an important and significant structure. It depicts in brief the culture and identity of the people living in that place. Little wonder then, in depth research is necessary to select proper and right materials and the best architects of the land should be involved to construct such an entry gate.
Opinions and views of social scientists and academicians and thinkers should be sought before creating such an important structure. However, the entry gate to the state capital, Itanagar at Banderdewa is bereft of all aesthetic material that depicts the cultural identity of the tribals of Arunachal Pradesh. An entry or welcome gate must not only be a feast to the eyes of the beholders but must necessarily carry a meaningful message. No doubt, the structure at Banderdewa is huge and stands dominantly towering over the ambience of the place. Surely a huge amount must have been spent and great effort must have been put in to erect it. But the monumental effort apparently seems to be an effort in futility as the gate has little to offer in terms of displaying the spirit and life style of the tribal people of the state. In other words, this huge structure is serving little or no purpose. In fact many feel that in many ways the mithun gate at Itanagar was better than the present entry gate at Banderdewa.
There is no dearth of traditional artifacts in the state for inclusion in such a structure like podum (Nyishi head gear), ngama joan (traditional hat of the Monpas), pasong (spear of the Noctes and Wanchos), kong (gong of the Khamtis, Tangsas and Singphos), Nara (cane bag of the Adis) and traditional cane hat of the Gallos, Tagins, and Idu Mishmis. Inclusion of these traditional articles in the gate will not only enhance the beauty of the gate but will add meaning and substance. Even the exotic animals and birds of the state like mithun, yak, hornbill etc. can also be symbolically used as they are dear to the tribals.
Our engineers and architects need to take a leaf from the book of the Nagas. In Nagaland most private and government buildings and even churches are built with an ethnic touch. The traditional gates there need to be seen to believe. They are so magnificent and depict the Naga way of life very vividly. A casual glance at the entry gate to Kohima located between Dimapur and Kohima will tell you without doubt that you have entered Nagaland. The Nagas may be in news for all the wrong reasons today, but we must admit that they have preserved their tradition jealously and with great success. Sadly, we the Arunachalees do not have even a false pride of being what we are, leave alone genuine pride. Erecting traditional gates depicting the traditional practices of our society can be a small step to show to the world that ‘we love and care for our ethnic traditions’.
(The writer is a DIPRO, Khonsa)
Showing posts with label Tradition and Culture. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Tradition and Culture. Show all posts
16 September 2008
03 September 2008
Culture of Taniland
Is it Westernization, Sanskritization or "Neo-Hinduism" ?
Innocent people of Taniland should not be fooled by the Sangh Parivar in the name of preservation of tradition and culture. Our identity is based on our ethnicity, not on religion as the Indian state do. The whole of North East India (United States of Asia) base their identity on ethnicity not on religion. So, you'll here the words like Meitei, Naga, Khasi, Kuki, Ahom, Bodo, Monpa...The Westerners might be Christians but when it comes to identity they are the German (Deutsche) and so on. The partition of British India into Pakistan and India shows us how religious based identities can divide people of the same ethnic group. We Tani's should be aware of propagandas made by the Hindutva forces in Taniland, in the name of culture to divide us. Looking the future ahead, the Tanibrotherhood stands for fraternity and brotherhood among the Tani's, irrespective of whatever faith one belongs to.
We are Tani's, that's our identity.
Cultures grow and are not static.
Faith, religion, a personal matter.
Son and daughters of Tani, the first life known.
Let communal fascist forces come,but we are Tani's.
That's our Identity and need no preservation.
No preservatives required, we are not pickles.
An identity which won't perish, looking for.
We are Tani's, that's our identity.
09 July 2008
Sarma, Alpana (2005) “Indian state fights to preserve animist religion”, Dawn, 16 May 2005.
ITANAGAR (India): Tamo Mindo, a slight man with creased eyes, stares intently at the liver of a chicken he has just killed. Mindo, a 58-year-old shaman belonging to the animist Donyi Polo religion, is looking for clues to help him tell which spirit has possessed a woman he has been asked to cure. Mindo is among the few people trying to preserve his religion from the increasing influence of Hinduism and Christianity in the remote northeastern Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh.Donyi Polo, one of a few surviving centuries-old animist religions in the hilly state home to about 20 major tribes, means sun and moon. The tribes believe the sun and moon are the eyes of god and nothing can ever be hidden from god. While Arunachal Pradesh, or land of the rising sun, is still largely animist unlike India’s other northeastern states which have become heavily Christianised, the number of Christian converts has increased over the years.The number of Christians had increased to about 18 per cent of the sparsely populated state of a little over 1 million in 2001 from 10.3 per cent in 1991. Christians account for barely 2 per cent of India’s total population of more than a billion.“What is alarming is not how many Christians there are, but the pace at which conversions have taken place from the 1990s,” said filmmaker Moji Riba, who has been documenting changes among tribes in Arunachal Pradesh.In the mid-1980s, Arunachal, long isolated from the rest of India to protect the faith of tribes from Christian missionaries, saw a movement to convert Donyi Polo into an organized religion and make it more palatable to the masses.In an effort to combat the threat from Christianity, temples were built, Saturday was set aside as a day for worship and ritual sacrifice was curbed.
ANTI-CONVERSION BILLS: Still, Christianity has become a sensitive issue in this hilly state today.Tony Koyu, a 43-year-old radio artist who has been developing a script to preserve the oral traditions of tribes in Arunachal Pradesh, said “alien religions and alien cultures have very badly affected our traditional faith”.Some Hindu groups in India accuse Christian missionaries of using inducements such as schooling to lure poor people to the faith, and have also launched a movement to reconvert many tribal Christians back to Hinduism.Several states have passed anti-conversion bills aimed primarily at preventing people from converting to Christianity. Arunachal passed such a bill in 1978. The western state of Gujarat, which was torn by India’s worst religious riots in India in a decade in 2002, passed an anti-conversion bill in 2003.The desert state of Rajasthan, which is ruled by the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party, also plans to introduce a similar bill. The move has met with considerable opposition with the state where Christians form just about 0.1 per cent of the population.“We would bring an anti-conversion bill aimed at containing ‘forceful religious conversion’ by any organisation in the state,” said Rajasthan’s social welfare minister, Madan Dilwar.Last month, a hardline Hindu group, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, converted some 3,200 Muslims to Hinduism in a huge ceremony in Rajasthan.“When we have religious freedom in the constitution, I don’t think there is any necessity to bring this bill,” Emmanuel Mission International Chairman M.N. Thomas told Reuters.
STRADDLING: But Arunachal’s animistic traditions are under threat not only from Christianity, but also Hinduism. Although the number of Hindus in the state dropped to 34.6 per cent in 2001 from 37.0 per cent a decade ago, Hinduism does pose a threat to the traditional practices and beliefs of the tribes.“Hindu missionaries are going ahead with the reinvention of the traditional faith with temples being built, the tying of holy thread and even the ringing of bells,” said filmmaker Riba.As the two identities clash in this isolated state flanked by China, Bhutan and Myanmar, Mindo finds himself straddling the diverse worlds of animism and Hinduism. Not only does he head an association of shamans, or nyibos, in the state capital, Itanagar, he is also a member of the Hindu nationalist Vishwa Hindu Parishad.But for Mindo, there is no conflict between the two offices he holds. He believes that Hinduism and Donyi Polo are closely aligned in their basic faith and practices. And Mindo’s house reflects the duality of his religious beliefs. He worships not only Yapom, the Donyi Polo god of the mountains, but also Shiva, the Hindu god of destruction. Both jostle for space in his home and both are worshipped with equal devotion.“People tell me to not join the Hindus. Even though they don’t know what it’s about, they say the VHP is bad,” Mindo said.—Reuters
VOICE OF TANILAND-http://tanibrotherhood.blogspot.com/
ITANAGAR (India): Tamo Mindo, a slight man with creased eyes, stares intently at the liver of a chicken he has just killed. Mindo, a 58-year-old shaman belonging to the animist Donyi Polo religion, is looking for clues to help him tell which spirit has possessed a woman he has been asked to cure. Mindo is among the few people trying to preserve his religion from the increasing influence of Hinduism and Christianity in the remote northeastern Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh.Donyi Polo, one of a few surviving centuries-old animist religions in the hilly state home to about 20 major tribes, means sun and moon. The tribes believe the sun and moon are the eyes of god and nothing can ever be hidden from god. While Arunachal Pradesh, or land of the rising sun, is still largely animist unlike India’s other northeastern states which have become heavily Christianised, the number of Christian converts has increased over the years.The number of Christians had increased to about 18 per cent of the sparsely populated state of a little over 1 million in 2001 from 10.3 per cent in 1991. Christians account for barely 2 per cent of India’s total population of more than a billion.“What is alarming is not how many Christians there are, but the pace at which conversions have taken place from the 1990s,” said filmmaker Moji Riba, who has been documenting changes among tribes in Arunachal Pradesh.In the mid-1980s, Arunachal, long isolated from the rest of India to protect the faith of tribes from Christian missionaries, saw a movement to convert Donyi Polo into an organized religion and make it more palatable to the masses.In an effort to combat the threat from Christianity, temples were built, Saturday was set aside as a day for worship and ritual sacrifice was curbed.
ANTI-CONVERSION BILLS: Still, Christianity has become a sensitive issue in this hilly state today.Tony Koyu, a 43-year-old radio artist who has been developing a script to preserve the oral traditions of tribes in Arunachal Pradesh, said “alien religions and alien cultures have very badly affected our traditional faith”.Some Hindu groups in India accuse Christian missionaries of using inducements such as schooling to lure poor people to the faith, and have also launched a movement to reconvert many tribal Christians back to Hinduism.Several states have passed anti-conversion bills aimed primarily at preventing people from converting to Christianity. Arunachal passed such a bill in 1978. The western state of Gujarat, which was torn by India’s worst religious riots in India in a decade in 2002, passed an anti-conversion bill in 2003.The desert state of Rajasthan, which is ruled by the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party, also plans to introduce a similar bill. The move has met with considerable opposition with the state where Christians form just about 0.1 per cent of the population.“We would bring an anti-conversion bill aimed at containing ‘forceful religious conversion’ by any organisation in the state,” said Rajasthan’s social welfare minister, Madan Dilwar.Last month, a hardline Hindu group, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, converted some 3,200 Muslims to Hinduism in a huge ceremony in Rajasthan.“When we have religious freedom in the constitution, I don’t think there is any necessity to bring this bill,” Emmanuel Mission International Chairman M.N. Thomas told Reuters.
STRADDLING: But Arunachal’s animistic traditions are under threat not only from Christianity, but also Hinduism. Although the number of Hindus in the state dropped to 34.6 per cent in 2001 from 37.0 per cent a decade ago, Hinduism does pose a threat to the traditional practices and beliefs of the tribes.“Hindu missionaries are going ahead with the reinvention of the traditional faith with temples being built, the tying of holy thread and even the ringing of bells,” said filmmaker Riba.As the two identities clash in this isolated state flanked by China, Bhutan and Myanmar, Mindo finds himself straddling the diverse worlds of animism and Hinduism. Not only does he head an association of shamans, or nyibos, in the state capital, Itanagar, he is also a member of the Hindu nationalist Vishwa Hindu Parishad.But for Mindo, there is no conflict between the two offices he holds. He believes that Hinduism and Donyi Polo are closely aligned in their basic faith and practices. And Mindo’s house reflects the duality of his religious beliefs. He worships not only Yapom, the Donyi Polo god of the mountains, but also Shiva, the Hindu god of destruction. Both jostle for space in his home and both are worshipped with equal devotion.“People tell me to not join the Hindus. Even though they don’t know what it’s about, they say the VHP is bad,” Mindo said.—Reuters
VOICE OF TANILAND-http://tanibrotherhood.blogspot.com/
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