By Ranjit Barman, Shyamnagar, Satkhira
The traditional Karam Festival of the Indigenous Munda community was celebrated with various cultural activities recently, in Datinakhali village, adjacent to the Sundarbans in Shyamnagar upazila of Satkhira. The festival was organized under the theme, “Come forward to protect Indigenous life and traditional knowledge.”
As part of the traditional ritual, rice was placed before a live chicken in the name of God. The Munda community believes that the chicken’s response provides an indication of the year ahead; if it eats the rice, it is considered a sign of a good harvest.
Gopal Chandra Munda and priest Narayan Chandra Munda said the Munda community in Shyamnagar has celebrated the Karam Festival for generations, centring on the Karam tree, as part of a wider Indigenous tradition. They said that the festival had not been held in Shyamnagar for nearly 12 years following the devastating Cyclone Aila. They expressed their happiness at being able to revive the festival and reconnect with an important part of their cultural heritage.
The festival traditionally lasts three, five or seven days. The seven-day celebration in Datinakhali concluded on Tuesday. As part of the closing rituals, priest Narayan Chandra Munda, known as Pahan, offered a chicken to the deity Karam. After the Karam tree was cut, participants shared traditional knowledge through storytelling, songs, Indigenous dances and other cultural performances.
The organizers said that, according to tradition, four unmarried girls and two women carry out the main rituals of the festival. Karam is primarily a tree, and a Karam tree is traditionally grown by planting Karam seeds as part of the festival.
At the closing ceremony, Shyamnagar Upazila Nirbahi Officer (UNO) Shamsuzzahan Kanak attended as chief guest. The event was chaired by Gopal Munda, president of SAMS, an organization of the Munda community, and moderated by SAMS Director Krishnapada Munda. Special guests included Father Luigi Pazzi, Director of Ishwaripur Jishu Naam Ashram; Samiul Azam Monir, President of Shyamnagar Upazila Press Club; researcher Arifur Rahman; Anondini Munda; and community leaders from the Munda communities of Koyra in Khulna, Tala and Shyamnagar in Satkhira. Pahan Narayan Chandra Munda of the Datinakhali Munda community served as the priest.