Arup Saikia
arupsaikia07@gmail.com
Every place has had its own uniqueness since immemorial times. This may be a historical incident or any other social tradition. The “Baghbheta”, enclosing a tiger, was a thrilling and memorable festival of Jamugurihat. The local people are still exhilaratingly rejuvenating their memories. It existed approximately from the 1940s to the 1960s.
BACKGROUND
At one time, the Jamugurihat area was very sparsely populated. Every village was covered with thick forests of bamboo and wood. At that time, tigers strayed from the forests and temporarily settled in these village forests in the hope of easily available prey. The tiger sometimes caught and ate domestic cows from the barn and sometimes from the herd. When the tiger starts killing the cows, the people of the neighbouring villages come together and plan to kill the tiger to make them safe. In those days, killing wild animals was not a crime.
BAGHBHETA
When a tiger came to a human settlement to kill and torture livestock, the people of different villages gathered together and used a special method to tie the tiger. The few nets made of cotton rope catch the tiger and keep it for public display for several days. This is called “Baghbheta” or enclosing a tiger. Only the most violent of the usual tigers, the Panthera tigris or Royal Bengal Tiger, was caught in this way. The rest of the tigers were captured and killed by jumping, i.e., digging a pit to fall tactfully while coming to eat previously killed prey. The tiger enclosing system, which was cleverly enjoyed by thousands of people, became one of the festivals of the region. This is still remembered by the people of the present time with much curiosity.
PROCEDURE
The tiger is hunted by looking for signs of killing a cow or buffalo or by observing other animals that indicate the presence of a tiger. The main tool for this tiger catch was the jute net. A tiger net is knit to a certain size in length and breadth. The specific measurements of a net hole in knitting are maintained so that tigers can’t insert their mouths.
In those days, it was the custom for the people of each village to keep a tiger trap. These nets were carefully kept in the Namghars (Assamese prayer houses). Usually, people prepare to catch the tiger when two or four cows are killed and it starts attacking them. The tiger chungi (a person who finds out the location of a tiger) would detect the place where the tiger lives in the forest. Two or three very skilled, brave, and wise men come together and find the tiger. The findings and sightings of the tiger are called “Tigerchanda”, and the area is named “Chandi Chong. The approximate boundary of Chandi Chong is defined as being encircled by a net. News of “Bagh Chong” or tiger finding, spreads instantly by word of mouth from one village to another. After receiving the news, the people of each village came and covered the forest with nets. It is mandatory for all villages to carry nets to catch tigers. Every “khel” or group of villagers who come to hunt the tiger, is called a ‘baha’. In each ‘baha’, a shed should be built and a fire lit next to it. It is also forbidden to eat food in Tiger Chong. The biggest group with the maximum number of people gets the honour of ‘first baha’. A village headman in Tiger Chong is elected to keep the news of the hunting updated.
Tiger Changi (the tiger’s search) is a very skilled and important science. The position of the tiger is determined on various grounds, such as their footsteps, dead prey, etc. The path used by tigers in tiger chong is called Go (cow) Khoj’. Tigers usually go to and fro from tiger chongs by the same route. So the first “baha” (first seat) is placed in that path.
One village elder goes ahead and chants the mantra (sacred hymns), and the people follow him and cut down the forest and arrange for the nets to be set. The clearing of forests is called ‘cheuni cutting’. The tiger net is set with the help of strong bamboo poles, namely “tongi” and “kukur”.
The Kukur poles are two feet long. The tip is sharpened and buried completely, leaving only three to four inches to bind the net with a bamboo hook. These kukur poles are placed at a two-foot gap. The tiger may slip underneath if the poles are not fitted properly. On the other hand, tongi poles are seven to eight feet long. The Tongi poles raise the generally ten-foot-high net, twisting it from outside and inside. The poles are kept in a slanted position. The two strong ropes fitted on the top and bottom of the net are called “Don”. The entire force of the net is controlled by the two “Dons”.
ENTERTAINMENT
One big bamboo is positioned from outside into the innermost areas of the net as a revolving see-saw or Assamese manual thrashing machine “Dheki”. The villagers term it as “Ra-bamboo”. This long bamboo frequently irritates or provokes the tiger physically. Moreover, the movement of the “Ra-bamboo” around the area flattens the jungle. So the people with a clear view enjoy the angry moods of the tiger. This way, after three or four days, the enclosed tiger is killed.
SCIENTIFIC SKILL
There was a lot of unity, harmony, and enthusiasm among every village in Jamugurihat for the Baghbheta festival. At that time, people had no book knowledge, but all the craftsmanship associated with Baghbheta was scientific. A tiger is capable of jumping twelve feet high but can be imprisoned in a six-foot-high net.
In fact, each of the net’s holes had a ‘Makori ghila’ tied to it. The “Makori ghila” is an edible fruit of reddish chocolate colour, mostly found in the foothills of Arunachal Pradesh. After analysing the scientific explanation, one villager explained, “This obfuscates the vision of the standing tiger and eventually makes him forget to jump. There was a fixed rule that if a tiger broke through the net of a particular village, the village would be guilty and punished by the people of the all-Jamuguri regional committee (Baresohoria Sabha).
FOREIGN EXPOSURE
In 1955, O.D.C. Film Production, a film company from the United States, produced a film about a man eating a tiger, The Man Eater” . The tiger-enclosing technique of Jamugurihat is shown in the film. The team reached Calcutta. The entire shooting was done in Routa, Darrang district.
According to the agreement with the film production, the people of 25 villages in Jamugurihat took 25 nets and went to Routa to catch the tiger. As usual, the tiger was killed after the scene was filmed.
Later, a protected wildlife law was passed, and the thrilling “Baghbheta” festival of Jamugurihat disappeared.
This custom or festival was grown for the socio-economic and life security of agrarian people.
However, the thrilling experiences of the Baghbheta festival, which once carried the sign of courage, unity, and solidarity, are still alive in the minds of the people of Jamugurihat.