Growth and Development of BATHOU (SIVA) Worship amongst the BODOs

The worship of the Earth as yoni goddess in India is as ancient as the Indus Valley civilization. A nude female figure on a Harappa plate showing itself kept upside down with legs in the air and a plant issuing from her womb or yoni was not a mere toy. A terracotta relief of the early Gupta age from the figure of a female figure was the improvement of the yoni conception over the former, because here any part of her body (i.e. the Earth) was conceived as yoni. Therefore, the conception of the entire valley of Assam as yoni was not new to the ancient Bodos during the period of Mother-Right or matriarchal social system of theirs.

Some southward projections and spurs of the Himalayan ranges in the north and some northward projections and spurs of the Khasi hills and the Garo hills meet at Tezpur-Silghat, Gauhati-Kamãkhya and Jogighopa-Tura allowing the Brahmaputra river to pass through them, and these have created at least three basins (Thou) in the valley. The early Bodos had experienced the existence of mysterious Feminine spirit (Bã) prevailing in the basin-shaped valley ('Thou') of Assam that was worshipped as 'Bãthou' (Bã + Thou), i.e. the Femine spirit. (7). The valley remained moist and fertile due to wash by water of the river and rivulets the tributaries of the Brahmaputra and by water of rain-falls, Bathou was conceived as yoni spirit or yoni-goddess. As such Bãthou was initially the name of Goddess and not of God. This deity had no connection with Siva in this stage. She rose gradually to the status of Mother Goddess equivalent to Mahãmãyã of the Hindus. Her male consort Bathou Brai had no importance in the early matriarchal system of Bodo society. We will see later how Bãtho Brãi rose to the status of supreme God identified with Siva.

Later on, a new name Khãmkhi or Khãmmai-Khi came to be attached to the Godess Bãthou. 'Khamkhi' means 'bhasma' (burnt ashes). Tall grasses and shrubs were slashed and burnt to get moist soil (yoni-soil) on which the jhoomiyas planted or sowed seeds after dibbling or hoeing. Green crop plants grew out from the soil thus manured by Khãmkhi (bhasm). This archaic belief went to make 'khãmkhi' a goddess, named Bhasma Devi. The cereal food was called khãm in Bodo after the name Khãmkhi Khãm in Bodo after the name Khãmkhi as it was the Prasad of the Goddess. The cereal food from rice variety was called mãi-khãm>mi-khãm, imkhãm, ingkhãm, onkhãm. Similarly, cereal food from maize was called 'Zokhãm'. Since in Assam the Devi Khãmkhi is generally associated with rice production, khãmkhi came to be known as 'khãm-mãi-khi', later Sanskritised as 'Kãmãkhyã' by the Hindus.

The land used for 'slash-and-burn' cultivation was called khãm-hã > khãmã>khãmã where hã or ã means land or soil. The soft alluvial land, once washed by river or seawater was called khãmãrubu, sanskritised as kãmrupa i.e the soft alluvial land on which slash-and-burn was practiced. As the soil of khãmã was moist and fertile, remaining covered under thick, tall grasses and shrubs, khãma was regarded as yoni land. From this standpoint, too, khãmkhi or khãm-mãikhi was regarded as yoni goddesses. Here khi is to be taken as female suffix instead of ashes or dust. The jhoomias in Bodo were called 'khamboja', analysed as kham-a-bong-ja(-cha) > kham-bong-ja > khambooja(sanskritised as kamboja) where khama =jhoomable land + bong, bongra = jungles + ja, cha = to eat, to enjoy; that is those who enjoy(cultivate) the land by adoping slash-and-burn method. Later from the khambojas the tribe komcha or Koch emerged. The western Bodos, Koches and the Meches continued to practice jhoom cultivation upto the end of the 19th century.

There was a time when kham-mai-khi alone was worshipped as a virgin goddess although the conception of the Bathou Brai was not absent. No image was used to be worshipped as a virgin goddess although the concept of the Bathou Brai was not absent. No image was used to worship Her. As the whole earth was concieved as yoni, a circular earthen altar with a Tulasi branch and grass blades was prepared for khamkhi or kham-mai-khi worship. This circuler earthen altar was the symbol of yonimondal (yoni circle) as described in the yogini Tantra. The Goddess was worshipped at many place, (8). but the central places of worship were Sadiya, Nowgong and the Nilachal hill (near Gauhati). During the period of yearly menstruation of the Devi, the Bodo tribes gather at these places and performed sacrificial rites. The Khasis also worshipped the Devi on he Nilachal hill. Each of the tribes paved for respective use, a staired stonepath for climbing the Nilachal from the foot upto the shrine, and thus avoided collision between tribes in the the use of a single path. The tribes who could not get accommodation on the hill worshipped kham-mai-khi at a spot near Jor-pukhuri where the temple of Ugro Tara now stands.

During the period of matriarchy of the Bodos, the position of Bathou Brai was quite obscure. The very name Bathou Brai meant 'Bathou-ni-Brai', the male consort of Bathou, the Goddess.The Than or Temple of the Bathou Brai was found always erected at some distance from that of the Goddess. Later, a bachelor God; Si-Brai or Sri-Brai came with a subsequent group of the Bodos who migrated from a region around the great lake Mansaravor (then within Tibet) and taking the eastward course of the Tsampo entered the Valley of Assam perhaps through a duwar of Bhutan. Si-Bwrai was identical with Shiva or Mahadeva, who came later with the Hindus from mid-India. Si- Bwrai's main emblem was a stone. Siju (cactus) plant was the second emblem representing His striking power or weapon. The Si-Bwrai cult was gradually got absorbed within the Bathou cult of the earlier Bodos, and with this assimilation of the cult of male God Si-Brai, the male image of Bathou Brai began to rise. Bathou Brai and Si-Brai became two alternative names of the same God. Like Si-Brai, Bathou Brai also began to be identified with Shiva or Mahadeva. In fact, Mahadeu came to be the substitute name for Bathou Brai and for all the aboriginal chief male deities of other Bodo tribes.

In the meanwhile the Bodos were evolving to patriarchy on account of the introduction of plough cultivation and of the agricultural life coming to them. With this, the social image of the male members improved. Now, Bathou Brai rose to the status of the supreme God especially in the lower valley. In the upper valley, however, the Goddess Bathou with Her new designation as Khamkhi or Kham-mai-khi continued to rise as the supreme mother Goddess.This was due to Saktaism which came to Assam with the Hindus. It is said that the 'historical' Naraka first introduced Saktaism in the early period of Gupta Age, the estimated time of his rule. (His time in the puranic traditions is fantastically very old.) Naraka was Vaisnava.He worshipped Kham-mai-khi as Mahamaya, Sakti of Siva.All the Hindu and the (8). Hinuised tribal ruler worshipped Her as Sakti a success-giver goddess in time of war for the purpose of defence or offence. Royal patronages to Kham-mai-khi worship made this goddess popular far and wide. This relegated Shiva worship in to the background.

On the contrary, in the populated areas, the popularity of Bathou Brai continued to rise and Bathou worship was now understood as the worship of Bathou Brai. 'Bathou' was no longer the name of yoni-goddess. It became the name of God. Some thinkers even speculating 'Bathou'as the name of Bathou Gudi, formless and attributeless, neither male nor female, neither He nor She, but 'It'.And suffixation of Brai and Brui began to suggest manifestations of the 'unmanifest' as dual principles- Bathou Brai and Bathou Brui, the first creative Tattvas equivalent to Shiva and Sakti of Kashmiri Saivism. But to the common people, Bathou with or without the suffix Brai or Brui remained Bathou Brai who was Si-Brai or Shiva or Mahadeo.

As stated already, Si-Brai was a bachelor God. He came with the migrating Bodos through the trans-Himalayan route and got Himself established at Sonitpur. The royal Bodo families and the nobles worship Si-Brai as Hatakeswar Shiva. Finding Himself alone, Si-Brai created Si-Brui out of His own energy. Later, Si-Brai and Si-Brui remained conjoined as yoni spirit and Ludoi-Fa in the forms of 'stone' planted in the 'yoni' earth on the Umananda hillock at the prayer of their devotees for rain & fertility to save themselves from drought, famine and destruction. Thus Ludoi-Fa stone cult developed from Si-Brui cult. The Hindus worshipped this stone as Shiva-Linga and from this developed Shiva-Linga cult in Assam. In the beginning, Ludoi-Fa or stone cult as well as Shiva-Linga cult were the fertility cult where Bathou-Brui as well as Shiva-Parvati was worshipped as dual principles remaining coalesced for the welfare of Prakriti and the living beings. The fertility concept gradually disappeared from the Shiva-Linga cult owing to male supremacy in Hindu society although yoni-basin on which Siva-Linga was planted would be distinctly visible as a symbol of the yoni goddess. Fertility was connected with agriculture and food production. The Brahmans who were the guardians of the Hindu religion were not food producers. They hated manual labour as it belonged to the Vaisyas and Sudras. All the Hindu religious scriptures remained silent about agriculture. On the other hand, Bathou religion and its traditions are based on the backgrounds of the socio-economic conditions of the Bodos.

But the fertility concept continued to be main theme in the Ludoi-Fa stone cult as well as in the present Bathou-Sizu cult, because the Bodos were and are agriculturists. Though now Bathou-Sizu cult goes in the name of Bathou Brai, both the Brai-Brui are called upon by the ozas (Man who chant Mantras and administer herbal medicine) on behalf of the devotees to share grace or blessings. In a Shiva temple there may be only Shiva-Linga, but in Shiva temple of kham-mai-khi or any of Her Tantric form, there would always be Shiva-Linga near the yoni temple. This indicates separation of the fertility theme from Shiva-linga and revival of the Bodo method of kham-mai-khi worship in which Bathou Brai was given a subordinate place at some distance from the kham-mai-khi than during the period of matriarchal condition of the society. Unless the yoni symbol of the Devi and Siva-linga are erected side by side in same temple it will not be possible for the Hindus to pair-worship (yamala) in Assam... even among the Bathou worshippers, although the Brai-Brui are found instlled in a coalesced poise in Bathou altar like that of the Ludoi-Fa stone cult or Siva-Linga cult, and the couple are called upon as the Great Father and Great Mother in main or community puja of Bathou, yet for daily worship especially by the women folk Bathou Brui or Ai kham-mai-khi is found separated from Bathou Brai and Ishing-No (Sacred Chamber of the House) awarding Her the title of Mainao Brui, Goddess of Fortune) allowing Bathou Brai to remain alone in the main altar unsheltered in the family courtyard. This is the vestige of matriarchal kham-mai-khi worship. Even in Garja Puja the ancestral deities Zõmõn Zõlã and Zõmõn Zõ are never housed together.

The history of Bãthou cult was highly chequered from the time of Naraka. A Vaisnava leader brought Naraka from Mithila and installed him as the king of Pragjyotisha subject to the condition that he would worship only kham-mai-khi (Kãmãkhyã), the yoni goddess as Mahãmãyã. He could not transfer his devotion to any other god or goddess except on penalty of his death, nor could he allow his subjects to do so. Therefore, the worship of Ludoi Fa stone and Shiva-Linga was prohibited in Pragjyotisha of Naraka, whereas this worship was openly done in the neighbouring country Shonitpur of king Bãna. The Vaisnava were Vedic followers and the Vedas condemn Shiva-Linga and Ludoi Fa stone as phallus. In reality 'linga' meant sign or symbol and not phallus. So, Shiva-Linga was the sign or symbol of Siva. Siva or Si-Brai was the mountain god and stone was used by the mountain people to symbolise not only Siva but any gods and goddess worshiped by them. The Bodos who were once mountain dwellers used and still use stones, pebbles to symbolise their deities. In fact, Ludoi Fa merely meant 'water-pouring (raining) god', ie. Rain-god and neither phallus, nor male-genital organ. But the Vedic followers condemn such symbols as phallus, and there were occasional reports of inconoclasm all over India. As a result, in Naraka's country the Kiratas and Saivites had to worship Si-Brai (Ludoi-Fã) and Sambhu (Shiva) very secretly.

The king Bãna of Sonitpur was a devout Shiva follower. He befriended Naraka. Naraka began to like Saivic way of life and began to show negligence to khãm-mãi-khi worship and disrespect to the Vaisnava dvijas. This was breach of the condition set by the Vaisnava leader. So the new Vaisnava leader (Krsna) came and killed Naraka in the battle. After Naraka, Kham-mai-khi was affiliated with Saivism and became the darling of Shiva. The rule of king Bãna also came to an end after Hari-Hara battle. Now the Bodos discontinued to practice Ludoi-Fã stone cult as they did not want to further hurt the sentiments of the Vedic followers. However, the Saivites continued Siva-Linga worship. The coalesced Brai-Brui of the Ludoi-Fa stone cult was now bifurcated into two individual deities- Brai-Brui, and the duals were first installed in a temple at Sadiya where two stone blocks joined together with iron-pins, were planted symbolizing Brai-Brui. As they were in pair there was no more phallus concept in these stones. In Hindu way they came to be known as Burhã-Burhi (Hara-Gauri). The Chutiyas called them Kundi-Mãmã and the Sonawal Kacharis called them Girã-Girãsi. Gradually the couple got mixed up with local traditions, which made their origin and history obscure.

The impact of the bifurcation of Brai-Brui from the poise of fusion or coalescence was great and the Brai-Brui form at Sadiya was the effort to bring the duals together on a single altar in the form of married couple because the Bodos did not like to go back to the matriarchal condition. Proper marriage system may have been evolved in the society by that time and the Brai-Brui at Sadiya could be regarded as the symbol of such marriage. From this dual or pair system, a ceremonial worship known as Phusli Hãbã (doll-marriage) developed in the former districts of Kamrup and Darrang, in which a boy and a girl Rãonã and Rãoni, as the tradition goes, were married in the presence of Man-sin-sin Brãi and Dibã Brãi-Dibi Brui and since then this ceremony is performed every year as rain-making puja by using the dolls of the above five. Bãthou worshipping families began to place two stones in Than of No-Ishing in the honour of Bãthou Brãi and Bãthou Brui. But this system was not followed uniformly in all the places. In many places Bãthou Brãi could not get place in No-Ishing. King Vanamãlavarman (835-860 A.D.) of the Prãlambha (or Sãl-Thong-Phãng) dynasty built a temple on the Kãmakuta hill near Silghat, in which Mahadeva and khãm-mãi-khi were installed and the couple were worshipped as Kameswara-Mahã Gauri who were equivalent to Khãmkhã-khãmkhi of the Bãthou cult. Perhaps, this was the only Hindu temple in which yãmala or pair -worship was attempted.

The Mahayana Buddhism introduced by Nagarjuna in the first century A.D. saved Buddhism from extinction in India. This new religion flourished by absorbing into it aboriginal religious traditions, which were the archaic Tantra traditions in which union of male and female principles for fertility was conceived and worshipped. The Mahayana religion was made to look Buddhistic by retaining in it the philosophy and philosophical terminologies of the orginal Buddhism. Such pairs of Buddhistic terminologies as Sunyata and Karuna; Prajnã and Upaya; Vajra and Padma were made to stand for the pairs of males and females and the union of pair was only the union of the sexes. This was the challenge thrown before the orthodox Brahmanical religion. The challenge was accepted and the Brahmanical dvijas spread all over India though the schemes of land grants of aboriginal kings. They started absorbing aboriginal deities, especially the female deities into Hinduism. The scheme of land grants started from the 5th century in Assam, and it is said that in the 7th century alone 205 Brahmans were settled in Assam. Already Naraka had brought a large number of dvijas to introduce Saktism in Assam. But now the coming of the Brahmans was to introduce Brahmanical Tantra religion in Assam by absorbing khãm-mãi-khi into it.

The philosophical thought in Brahmanical Tantra is based on the Vedanta of the Upanisads, arbitrarily grafted on the archaic Tantra puja of the deities originating from aboriginal traditions. In Tantra practice it is the aim of the human personality to merge into the Supreme Spirit, the Parã Brahman (Brahma). One of the objectives is to conceive the supreme Brahman as the Great Mother of the Universe. Connected with Tantra are the practices of Yoga in order to make the human spirit rise supreme over the body and to make the body rise above the mundane conditions. The union of the divine principles is conceived, in Hindu Tantra, in terms of the Siva and Sakti, or Hara and Gauri. In the Vaishnava Sahajiya cult this is conceived as the union of Krishna and Radha. This union is regarded as the union of the cosmic principles.

In order to transform khãm-mãi-khi into Tantric form of Mother Goddess, the three main places of khãm-mãi-khi worship viz. the Nilachal hill (near Guwahati) and Sadiya were associated with the falling parts of Sati's dead body, namely yoni,navel and head respectively; then some of the Ten Wisdom Forms (Dasamahãvidya) were grafted on the Devi at these places. Thus, khãm-mãi-khi on the Nilachal became Kãli and Tripura Sundari, that on the Jor-pukhuri Ugra-Tara and that at Sadiya Lalitã-Kãntã, Tiksna-kanta, Ugra-Tara and Eka-Jãtã, later locally named as Tamreswari and Kechaikhati. In this way the name and the form of khãm-mãi-khi at other places, too, completely changed, eclipsing Her originality. Thus the Thãn of khãm-mãi-khi at Kaliyabar, Nowgong is no other than the Thãn of Kãli and Durgã. Sakti thus reinforced tantricism, which continued to relegate Shiva-worship into the background. 'The Kãmrupa king' probably after Brahmapala, adopted tantricism as their tenet and, as a result of this royal patronage, Kãmãkshyã soon became a renowed centre of tantric sacrifices, mysticism and sorcery' (K L Barua's Early History of Kamrupa, p.101).The author of the Kãlika purãn completed the job intelligently in the eleventh century on the episode of the parts of Sati's dead body falling in Assam and regularized the Tantra practices that had started in the 9th -10th century.

The yoga aspect of Tantricism greatly influenced the intelligence level of Bãthou worshippers and they, like Hindu yogis began to think about Bãthou in terms of circle, bindu, triangles, 'manifest' and 'unmanifest' in order to conceive Bãthou Brãi-Bathou Brui and the universe merging with and emerging from Bãthou Gudi. The Ultimate Reality formless and attributeless. In this way, the Tantra puja and meditation started. But this philosophical way of puja and yoga was restricted within the selected class of Bãthou aspirants and thinkers, who wanted to make this yoga-oriented Bãthou puja popular, understandable and acceptable to common people. A way was to be found out for an elaborate yet simple symbolization. Already, the common people were not so much happy with the bifurcation of Brãi-Brui as individual deities from the poise of fusion or coalescence, because with this bifurcation for Brãi and Brui worshippers are compelled to offer Puja at separate Thãns or Dhams.

As stated already, Si-Brai came as a bachelor god, and an erect or a round stone (block) was His main emblem and a Sizu plant was his secondary emblem presumably of His striking power or weapon like the shaft (danda) in the hand of Hatakeswar or Hatakasulin Shiva (Golden Shiva) and the Trishul in the hand of Mahadeva. As the Bãthou aspirants could not go back for a stone block for use as the main emblem of Bathou Brai, they decided to use a Sizu branch as the main emblem and the round stone as his secondary emblem, symbolic of His eternity. A tradition about Sizu plant was popular at that time. This made the people's opinion favourable for selection of this plant. It is said that when Si-Brai created the vegetation world, He created the Sizu plant first and than when Mansinsin Brai came down from Heaven to the earth from time to time in the guise of a very old and wise man to His children, grandchildren. He used to sit under a Sizu (cactus) tree before the gathering of village the people and solved their social problems and imparted to the people the knowledge about Bathou Gudi, Bathou Brai, Si-Brai, cosmic creations, religions, ethics, morality and social norms needed to live a peaceful social life.

Now, there in place of a diagrammatic circle, a circular earth altar was raised. This would symbolize the universe i.e. the Brahmanda (the Egg of Brahma) in which God sows His seeds for manifestations or phenomena. From the standpoint of the fertile Earth, this circular altar would also symbolize the yoni -mondal of Ai Khãm-mãi-khi, as described in the Y.T. A Tulsi (basil) plant would be a secondary emblem of Ai Kãm-mãi-khi, to be regarded as Maithãnsri or Laksmi, another aspect of Devi. One more secondary symbol of Devi would be a life-egg of a hen representing her fertility aspect. Now installation: A branch of Sizu tree was brought from a parent Sizu tree performing puja and observing ancient matrilineal marriage system and planted in the centre point of the circular altar symbolizing yoni-mandal and then a round stone was placed near the Sizu plant; a tulsi plant was planted and an egg placed near it.

Now, to make this symbolization more spectacular and philosophically yogic or tantric, a rectangular flag of white cloth was hoisted from a pole planted to the east near the Bãthou circle (altar) to symbolize unmanifest Bãthou Gudi (Parama Shiva). Then, two poles hoisting triangular flags in cross (×) position and these replaced the two Brai-Brui triangles of the yogic diagram or yantra. This was the new symbolization in replacement of circle, a bindu and Brai-Brui triangles of yogic diagram or yantra for puja and meditation. In this symbolization-cum-altar, Brai-Brui again remained conjoined together. This could be viewed as the reintroduction of the Ludoi-Fa stone or Shiva-Linga in a new form marked by the absence of stone block as the main emblem.

But when the yoga or tantra age came to an end, the people gradually mixed up their age-old puja of the kherai or Ker deities with this simple yoga oriented system. Surrounded and obscured by the kherai deities, now designated as the Ganas of the Bathou couple in centre of the sacred circle, Bãthou-Sizu cult was transformed into a polytheistic religion. The scope for a Bãthou philosophy or its theological speculation has been further widened and at the same time made more obscure but challenging.