Procession to the Village
After all the groups have finished eating, all the men assemble for a joint entrance into the village. The pujari again leads the way and marks the passage into the village on the main road in the same way as before on the path through the fields. All the village dignitaries are then raised on the affines’ shoulders. The pujari, randari, boro naik, sano naik, and the sacrificer of the he-goat are carried into the village in this way (see photo 11). The procession first goes to the pujari’s house, where his wife and other married Sisa women greet the carried dignitaries, the carriers, and the drummers with tika and wash their feet. In the house, the pujari performs libations with liquor for his house god and at the threshold of the house. After the contents of the cups have been mingled, the dignitaries drink beer together with some senior Gadaba, including affines. The barik is served beer on the veranda. Accompanied by music and dancing by the young men, the procession then moves on to the house of the senior naik, then to that of the randari. The journey through the village ends on the upper side in the house of the junior naik. Beer, ritually brewed about three days earlier, is drunk in the houses of all the dignitaries; the libation is made only in the pujari’s house.[1]
Photos 9 and 10: Tsoru rice for the Four Brothers
After the gods of the Great House have been provided their sacrificial meal, the rice for the Four Brothers or “earth people” is cooked and distributed on leaf platters. The sacrificer (left in photo 10) and the cook are the first to begin the meal, immediately next to the shrine.
With the sacrifice at the Great House, chaitporbo becomes “visible.” The ritual sowing of the seeds was performed by the village ritual specialists among themselves; the sacrifice for pat kanda, in contrast, attracts a great deal of attention and participation. It is considered one of the most important sacrifices in the annual cycle. From this day on, mangos can be eaten, and demsa, the Gadaba circle dance, is danced on the village plaza in the evenings. Until the chief festival day about ten days later, the Gadaba themselves do the drumming, since the Dombo musicians are not brought to Gudapada until that “festival day” (porbo din). On the evenings before the festival day, it is primarily girls who dance, not adult women and men, and even very young girls have an opportunity to practice the dance steps. The village young people are left to themselves under the light of the waxing moon, for which reason there is also an opportunity for joking and flirtation between girls and boys.
- [1] The ritual brewing of beer is called landa bija. Landa refers to a drink similar to pendom andconsumed more by the Joria than by the Gadaba; bija means “pouring out on” or “watering” (asin the case of the fields: palla bija).
