Birth, Marriage & Death
The rites in this sphere are not very
distinct. For birth and the newly born the “normal” Hindu
custom is negligibly modified. For marriage, there is a special ritual
with account on simplicity-Brahma Vivahana- during which the hands of
bride and bridegroom are put together. Unlike the common custom of cremating,
the dead are mostly buried.
It is striking that the last one takes
place relatively often, the Mahima marriage ceremony, however, takes place
only seldom. It is on one had due to the fact that mostly individuals
and not so often entire families only. On the other hand, marriage, with
its economical implications, is a decisive, constitutive element of the
Indian society and it is certain that a possible change in this society
will affect this element slowly.
Places of Cult and Prayers
Since Mahima Dharma rejects idol worship
of traditional Hinduism, this sect recognizes no proper temple and just
as little any proper worship. Seen from outside, principal shrines are,
of course, in accordance with the Orissa pattern of hindu temple, yet
they have no sculpture of any sort. Most places of worship only occasionally
contain a fire, none of them however, have any idol or other symbols.
Bhajanalaya, Caupadhi, Asrama &
Matha
In some isolated village a bhajanalaya,
a simple fire-place, is mostly built to begin with, which is provided
with leafy canopy on Purnima days or other occasions and becomes the meeting
place of believers. The next stage is the building of a caupadhi or Asrama
or Matha. Caupadhi denotes a simple hall, a thatched rood on four posts.
But it is also called the “village school” or a Sanskrit school
in which teaching is imparted free of cost. The taking up of just this
idea is characteristic of the sect’s tendency. The word Asrama has
probably been introduced by Visvanatha Baba and denotes a fixed dwelling.
Asrama and Caupadhi are meeting places for the followers and serve as
lodging for the monks passing along that way. The Asramas are mostly inhabited
by Apara Samnyasis who are not bound by the obligation of wandering constantly.
Unlike the traditional Asramas of the Balkaladhari group do not possess
land of any sort and depend on Joranda for their financial needs. The
construction of such buildings always takes place out of embarked donations
made by the local communities, whereas the Mathas of the Kaupina group
frequently possess land and are often set up on the individual initiative
of a Baba who attaches a place of worship to its estate.
Tungi
Caupadhi or Asramas, are often complemented
by a Tungi, a separate fenced building in which monks are allowed to enter.
Mostly it contains nothing and serves as a store for unused palm umbrellas
and Balkala or Kaupinas of the monks. The main function of these buildings
appears to be a sphere of special purity.
Perhaps this is just an adaptation
or reaction to a particularly wide-spread rural institution in the last
century, i.e. a special house for the preservation of Bhagabata Purana.
These houses or huts were also called Tungis and members of lower castes
were not permitted to enter them, a fact which played a considerable role
in the biography of Bhima Bhoi.
Joranda
The central shrine of all denominations
is Joranda, a small village in the north-west of Dhenkanal, the so called
Mahima Gaddi, “Gaddi” literally means “throne”
or “mountain”, as well as the seat of god, a king or a great
personality and also his samadhi or the seat.
There is a Gaddi of this purpose for
some of the Panchasakha, too, e.g. : in Nembala, the principal temple
in Joranda is accordingly the gaddi Mandira which has nothing other than
a small platform. Besides this there is also a Dhuni Mandira in Joranda
which ahs a constantly burning fire, the ash of which is preserved and
has healling effects. And there is a sunya Mandira- naturally completely
empty- which is situated some what away and is visited infrequently.
In front of the entrance of the Gaddi
Mandira there is a fenced place with a small sunya Mandira and a shrine
for Dhuni. This place serves the Kaupinadhari group exclusively, that
celebrates Purnima here. Besides thee three temples, Mahima Gaddi consists
of several “monastery enclosures” each of which contains different
Tungi, Asrams and Caupadhis. The Balkaladhari group maintains the two
largest enclosures. The chief utility of one of these is to enable the
Para Samnyasis to stay in Joranda for a longer period. By spending every
alternated night there, they do not violate the commandment of a constant
traveling. The second complex probably the oldest is very large and has
a simhadvara (“lion gate”), like at the Jagannatha temple.
It includes lodgings for pilgrims, a school in which novices and younger
monks can learn Sanskrit, libraries a sort of archive and also a conscious
approximation to Puri- a store room in which banners, standards and lamps
are stored that are used in the Guru Purnima celebrations. The Kaupinas
possess in Joranda in the heart of the village relatively small complex.
In the middle stands, a large Caupadhi which distinguishes itself by the
presence of tables an chairs, the use of which is permissible to the group.
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