Social Folk customs of the Sonowal and Thengal Kacharis
by Suravi Gohain Duwarah | 2022 | 50,902 words
This essay studies the customs and folk traditions of the Sonowal and Thengal Kacharis of Assam—both of Mongoloid origin and part of the Tibeto-Burman linguistic family. These tribes possess rich customs, traditions, and oral histories. This study explores the similarities and differences between the Sonowal and Thengal Kachari tribes by emphasizin...
Glossary
Aai — Goddess
Aathmongola — A ritual of marriage
Agoli kolpaat — Plantain leaf
Ahin — Assamese calendrical month
Ahot paat — Peepul leaf
Akhoi guri — Powder of parched rice
Akhoi phutua — Process of preparing the parched rice
Akhoi — Parched rice
Akon — Swallow wart
Alokhoni — Kind of witch/spirit which disturbs the bowl
Alua rangar kukura — Red hen
Anguli Pitha — A type of traditional rice cake of the shape of a finger
Aunipaan — Type of betel creeper
Baghdhekia — A type of fern
Bam meteka — A type of hyacinth
Banshas — Lineage
Barik — Headman among 20 household of a village
Basare basare barhi ja — As years roll on let the growth take place
Bastra — Cloth
Bati — Bowl
Batolu guti — Clay pellet/Small Earthen ball
Bator jeng bipod apod dur houk — Let the unseen hurdles in life be removed
Bei — Place of bathing the bride or the groom
Bel paat — Leaves of a wood apple
Betgaj — Cane shoot
Betupaat — Kind of leaf
Bez — A person who does magico-religious treatment
Bhakats — Devotee of God
Bhapot diya sawal — Steamed rice
Bhar — Load
Bhat dimoru guti — Seed of a tree
Bhimkol — A variety of banana
Bhoral — Barn
Bhujoni — Eatables offered on special occasions
Bihu — A traditional festival of the Assamese society celebrated by all caste and communities living in Assam
Biya naam — Marriage songs
Bogori jeng — Twigs and branches of thorny plum plant
Bohaag — First month of Assamese calendrical year
Bon Debota — God of the Jungle
Bhoot jora mantro — Magical charms for chasing ghosts
Bor tengesi — A sour plant
Bora chawal — A variety of rice (usually sticky)
Borghor — Main house in a traditional Assamese house
Borpitha — Traditional Assamese rice cake
Borsaang — A bamboo structure hang above the fireplace in the kitchen
Bos — A type of herb
Brahmi — A type of herb
Chadar — A cloth used as a dress of woman
Changi — Bamboo frame used for carrying the corpse
Cheleng Chador — A traditional piece of cloth
Choitra — An Assamese calendrical month
Choraghor — Outside sitting room
Choru — Utensil used for cooking
Da — Chopping sword
Dhari — Traditional mat
Dheki thura — Pestle
Dheki Xal — Shed where the pounding pedal is kept
Dheki — Pounding Pedal
Dhip — Earthen mound
Dhol — Traditional drum
Dhuliya bheti — An open ground where bihu dance is performed
Dhup — A type of ball made from cloth
Doha — Death ritual observed on the 10th day
Dola/Kula — Tray like rounded wicker work used for keeping paddy
Dubori bon — Kind of grass
Dul — Thread with magical charms
Dung — Vessel made of banana sheath
Dunori — A basket made of bamboo
Dupor tenga — A kind of acidic herb
Ekhetiya — Dress of woman
Era guti — Castor seed
Gamusa — Traditional Assamese towel
Garu — Pillow
Gathiyon — A kind of aromatic medicinal plant
Gayon Bayan — A group of folk singers usually performed during rituals and special occasions
Ghai — The centre pole
Ghatuyoi — Ferryman
Ghila pitha — A variety of rice cake
Ghila — Seed of Sea Bean (disc shaped seed of a plant)
Ghoti — Brass pot
Gor — Piece of log
Gorokhiya — A boy who looks after the cowherds
Goru bihu — First day of Bihu where cow is worshipped
Goru — Cow/Bull
Gosa — A stand for placing the lamp
Guhali — Cowshed
Gur — Molasses
Guriyal — Leader
Gutung sula — Traditional shirt of Sonowal Kachari male
Gyati kharidiya — Custom of putting fire wood into the burning pyre of a dead by kith and kins and people present in the cremation ground
Gyati — Kinsman
Halodhi — Turmeric
Hamuk — Snail
Hasoti — A small piece of cloth used of tying betel nut
Hauguri Tula — Customs of marriage
Hedali — A hurdle or network of split bamboo used as a shelf
Heta — A ladle
Hetamari — A ladle
Hijua kol — Boilded banana
Hogphul — Type of flower
Juit pori nomoribi — Not to die by burning
Hukan masor hukoti — Powder of dried fish
Hukan puthimas — A variety of dried fish
Hukloti — A type of herb
Ikora — A variety of reed
Jakoi — A type of bamboo instrument used for catching fish
Jalor tukura — Piece of fishing net
Jamuk gos — Blackberry tree
Jamuk kath — Blackberry wood
Jamuk — Blackberry fruit
Janoni Diya — Information
Japi — Wicker hat serving as an umbrella
Jara-phuka — Magical charms
Jathi-jung — Spear and bamboo weapon
Jeura — Fencing made of bamboo
Joha chawal — Variety of aromatic rice
Jori paat — Banyan leaf
Jujona — Prelude of a bihu song
Jur — Lighted torch
Kaaj — Death ritual observed on the eleventh/ thirteenth/ one month
Kahi — Dish
Karmi — Workers
Kati — An Assamese calendrical month
Kehraj — A type of herb
Kerahi — Pan
Kesa mythoi — Unbaked rice flour balls
Kesa pithaguri — Unbaked rice flour
Kesheru — A type of tree
Khaji — Eatables collected from the jungle
Khar — Traditional alkaline water
Kharahi — A type of bamboo basket
Kharika — Split bamboo piece
Khel — Clan
Kheror jumuthi — Lighted braided wisp of straw
Khoniya Kapur — Traditional cloth
Khorom — Slippers made from wood
Khuba Khubuni — A ritual during marriage function
Khuliya — A person who plays the music instrument known as ‘Khul’
Khundana — Small mortar for pounding things
Koldil — Spadix of banana
Kolosi — A vessel made from brass
Kona himolu — A type of herb
Konai — A ritual in puberty ceremony
Koni Junj — A traditional game of hitting eggs of duck or hen during Bohag bihu
Kopou — Dove
Korkora bhat — Rice of the previous night
Korobi — A kind of flower
Kosu jaal — Custom of feeding the mother with taro leaves, peeper, fish or meat cooked together after the birth of a child
Kosu — Taro plant
Kotari — Knife
Koupat — A type of leaf
Kukur Xuta — Kind of wood
Kukura junj — Kind of traditional game (Cock fight)
Kukura petu — Entrails of a hen
Kumura — A Gourd variety
Lakhimi ona — Custom of bringing the paddy to the house
Lakhimi Singa — Custom related to harvesting
Lakhuti — Walking stick
Lau kha benega kha — Have gourd and brinjals
Luka Luki — Hide and seek (A Folk game)
Maah Prasad — Offerings to a diety
Maan daan — Custom of gifting different items during marriage
Maar hour baper hour — Both mother and father are small in size
Maas-bhat sua — A custom related to death where meal is served with fish
Mahalaya — The day which heralds the advent of Goddess Durga to the earth
Mahudi lota — A kind of herb
Mala gatha — Process of making a garland
Manda — A sword used for sacrificing
Maral — Design made with rice powder
Maralghor — Inner apartment of a house
Mati Kanduri — A type of herb
Mejenga — A type of herb
Mekhela — Dress worn by woman in the lower part of the body
Mera bhat — Fermented rice used for making rice beer
Mesaki — A type of herb
Methoni — Piece of cloth tied around the breast of a woman
Mogu — A bean variety
Mola — Round small earthen vessel
Mridongiya — Use of a particular musical instrument called ‘Mridanga’
Mukh loga mantro — Magical charms to get rid of evil eyes
Mukhagni — Custom performed during cremation of a dead
Mukhloga — Influence of evil eyes
Naam kirtan — Group of devotees of God perform naam or prayers to God
Na-guj-lua — Custom practiced before the cultivation work starts
Nai — Umbilical chord
Na-Purush — Ancestors upto ninth generation
Narji — Marigold
Nephaphu — A type of herb
Nimakh — Salt
Nolsunga — A type of reed can
Nolor sungare dusunga — Two tubes measured by reed can
Norohingho — A kind of medicinal plant
Nuai Tuloni biya — Ceremony of puberty rites of a girl child
Omora — Hog plum tree
Oza — Man who cures ailments by incantation
Panipota — Eaves drop
Panit pori nomoribi — Not to die by drowning
Patidoi — Type of reed
Patot diya pitha — A type of traditional rice cake wrapped in banana leaf
Pengeri lata — A type of creeper herb
Pepa — Traditional musical instrument
Pera — Wooden box
Petu — Entrails
Phalguna — An Assamese calendrical month
Pinda — Oblation to the deceased person
Pira — Wooden stool
Pithaguri — Rice flour
Pitika — Mashed eatables
Pokhoru tung — Lining of the cloth in which betel nut is carried
Poroli — Covering made of grass or thatch
Pota guti — A stone used for crushing eatables
Pujari — Priest
Pura kol — A banana variety usually used as vegetable
Randhoni — Cook
Randhoni ghor — Kitchen
Rans — Reed of an Assamese loom
Robab Tenga — A Citrus fruit variety
Robha — Temporary roof for celebration
Rohi mod — A variety of rice beer
Sabah — Holy rituals
Sai — Ash
Saki — Earthen lamp
Sal — Place of worship
Sandoh — Coarse powder of parched rice
Sasthi — The sixth day of Durga puja
Sati — Umbrella
Sengeli maas — A type of fish
Sesu — A sharp split piece of bamboo
Sesur — A type of tree
Sewa bhat — Steamed rice
Shakti — Power
Sua — Impurity
Suddhi Sabah — Purification ceremony
Sunga Sawal — Steamed rice made in bamboo can
Sutal — Courtyard
Tabiz — Amulet
Tamul gos — Betel nut tree
Tamul paan — Betel nut and leaf
Tang guti — A kind of folk game
Tel pitha — A variety of rice cake
Thereju — A type of fruit
Thuriya Tamul — Rolled up betel nut in betel leaf
Til — Sesame
Tilani — Death ritual observed on the 3rd day
Tiphai — Altar
Tithi — Anniversary
Toi hobi bor bor goru — You grow to be a huge cow
Tolxora mod — A variety of rice beer
Tomal — Bamboo split used for tying bundle of paddy
Tongloti paat — A type of leaf
Tora — Kind of wild cardamon plant
Tora pogha — A rope prepared from a tora plant to tie cattle
Tum — A type of bamboo basket
Tupula bondha — Custom of wrapping betel nut and leaf for a sacred purpose
Ulu kher — A type of reed
Uposthar — Male organ
Uroni — Tradition of covering the head of a woman with a cloth
Uruli — Shrilling sound made by woman in some rituals
Vijaya Dashami — Tenth Day of Durga puja
Xalita — Cotton used for lightning earthen lamp
Xanti Jal — Purified water
Xarana — Initiation into a particular religious faith
Xarkota bon — Kind of grass
Xereka — Traditional rice beer of Thengal Kacharis
Xilikha — Terminalia Chebulla fruit
Xohoya bon — Kind of grass
Xorai — Tray mounted on a base