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All About The Rituals Associated With Collection Of ‘Chikita Mati’
Amidst the rhythmic sound of ‘dhol’, ‘mahuri’ and ‘ghanta’, a procession of 500 people moves with huge flags of Hanuman, ‘Sankh’ (conch shell), ‘Gada’, ‘Padma’ and ‘Garuda’ towards Kathajodi river, a tributary of the Mahanadi in Cuttack city.
This frenzied exercise is part of Alisha Bazar puja rituals to collect ‘chikitamati’ (gluey clay) to shape out the ‘mrinamayamurti’ (clay image) of the Divine Mother for Dussehra. This religious pageant becomes the show of the day just after ‘Janmashtami’ (the birthday of Lord Krishna).
“This clay is collected after doing ‘havan’ and observing all the requisite rites and rituals. Then the clay is carried by the person-who has done the ‘sankalpa’ for this task—to our puja mandap where it is kept for a month to flag off the image-making at an appropriate ‘tithi’ and time,” said Badrinarayan Singh, the secretary of Alisha Bazar Puja Committee.
While most puja committees like those of Alisha Bazar, Sheikh Bazar and Choudhury Bazar choosethe day of ‘Nanda Utsav’ (the next day to Janmashtami) for this ritual, a few focus on ‘Radha Ashtami’ (the birthday of Radha) that falls during the month of August-September, a fortnight after ‘Janmashtami’. With a lot of pomp and show, a ceremony is observed elaborately on both the occasions before clay is collected from the banks of either Kathajodi or Mahanadi.
“When we receive the ‘Agyna Mala’(a kind of invitation for Devi Durga to descend on earth) from the Gopal Jew Math in our area, we proceed to collect the ‘chikitamati’ from Kathajodi on ‘Nanda Utsav’. This has been the practice in our area for years together,” said Purna Chandra Singh, secretary of the Choudhury Bazar Puja Committee.
However, certain puja committees like the one in Bepari Sahi, who worship Mahadev during Dussehra, do not follow the ceremonial procedure to collect ‘chikitamati’. “We have a budget of Rs 28,000 for image-making that is handed over to the leader of five artisans who erects the images of Mahadev and the side deities during Dussehra. It is his responsibility to collect ‘chikitamati’ to make the images,” informed Chandan Bhagat, secretary of the Bepari Sahi Puja Committee.
Leader artisan Narottama Rana of the Bepari Sahi Puja Committee admitted that he and his team do not adhere to any ritualistic paraphernalia. “We only place an order with an owner of a tractor for a trip to a riparian field from where we collect the ‘chikitamati’. We do not observe any ritualistic ceremony, as we do our week-long puja during the Odana Sasthi when Lord Jagannath and His sibling Balram are dressed in starched cloth in Puri during the onset of winter season,” said Narottama.
However, many others from his profession, who shoulder the responsibility of image-making, do a puja before starting off with the image-making process, “Before we start erecting the images of the principal deity and side deities at any puja mandap, we sanctify the site by breaking coconut and lighting the sacred lamp. This, we feel, augurs well for our work,” said Laxmidhar Rana who assists his brother-in-law and leader artisan Sharat Chandra. Both the brothers-in-law and their four assistants have taken up the task of making images for the Chauliaganj Puja Committee.
The artisans erect the images in a series of phases. The artisans shape out the frames of the deities with straws during the first phase. The second phase, called ‘Ek Matia’, is the stage when a mixture of ‘chikitamati’ and ‘chasu’ (husks) is layered on the straw frames. During the second phase, called ‘Do Matia’, a thick layer of a mix of sand and ‘chikitamati’ is plastered on the layer of ‘Ek Matia’
“We let the images of ‘Ek Matia’ to dry for some days. The husks in the ‘chikitamati’ prevent the development of cracks on the images. Then the work for ‘Do Matia’ begins with the mixture of sand and ‘chikitamati’. The sand in ‘chikitamati’ lends finish and finesse to our images. Then, we start colouring the images on the day of ‘Rangakara Amabasya’ that falls after Mahalaya,” said Lamidhar, who belongs to Mahakalapada of Cuttack district.
When asked as to why only ‘chikitamati’ is used in image-making, leader artisan Narottama explained, “This type of clay has a gluey and glossy effect. It not only keeps the images intact, but also helps them to have a smooth get-up.”