Sarhul is a regional festival in the eastern Indian state of Jharkhand on Chaitra Shukla Tritiya, the third day of the waxing moon in the Hindu month of Chaitra which usually means it falls in March or April in the western calendar.
In this unique and important festival, festivities revolve around the sal tree. Sarhul means “worship of sal”.
The Sal tree is the most important source of timber in Jharkhand and its leaves are used to make bowls in which offerings are made to deities during festivals.
At the start of spring, the tree flowers and new growth begins. In a tradition that stretches back over 2,000 years, this flowering has been the trigger for villagers to offer prayers to the village God, the protector of the tribe.
The Saal flowers are used for the worship of the deity during Sarhul. On the eve of the festival, the Pahan (village priest) fills three new clay pots with water.
After bathing early in the morning, the priest checks the water level inside the earthen pots. If the water level has dropped, that is a sign of famine or less rain. If the water is about the same level, it indicates that there will be plenty of rain during the growing season.
Sarhul is an important festival of the Oraon, the Munda and the Ho tribes. Another larger tribe of Jharkhand, the Santals also celebrate the festival as the “festival of flowers”.
Significance of Sarhul Festival
Sarhul festival is marked with the worship of the Sal Tree which has been providing them with shelter, firewood, and protection from the weather. The belief is that Mother Nature (the Sanskrit word being ‘Prakriti’) resides on this tree and hence the offerings are made at the foot of some selected Sal Trees which may be in the Jungle or within the perimeter of the settlement. These Sal Trees are called ‘Jaher’ meaning the sacred grove.
This festival comes in the middle of April when the winter has gone decisively and spring has set in. The first offerings of fruits, vegetables, and even paddy are made to the deity and only after the offering ceremony is over the tribal people will consume these gifts of nature. The appeasement of the deity is the most significant aspect of this festival.
Though like all festivals this Sarhul also ends with songs and dance, but not until the ceremony is over and the priest (locally called ‘Pahan’) has completed performing all the rituals. The importance of Sarhul Festival is apparent by the disciplined way of coming together for worshipping the deity and is the main aim of this festival. It is after this festival that seeds are sown with a hope that Mother Nature will gift them a bountiful harvest.
Tribes were nomadic in the past and were fully dependent on Mother Nature for their livelihood and existence. Even today, when quite a few tribes have adopted agricultural way of life, they continue to look up to nature for blessing them with adequate rainfall, not too harsh summers and of course a plentiful harvest. Sarhul is a tribal festival of various tribes living for centuries in Jharkhand (Bihar) and in this festival, Mother Nature is worshipped for getting the blessing and being spared from her wrath. This year due to Coronavirus lockdown people in Jharkhand are not able to celebrate their festival but they are worshipping their deity in their heart and praying to save them from their wrath.
