Possessed woman dispenses cures from sacred Sijou tree

our CORRESPONDENT

KOKRAJHAR, April 10: Believe it or not, in an age where science and technology lords over everything, a spiritually possessed woman spent over 24 hours on a cactus tree at Aminpara under Patgaon police outpost in Kokrajhar district on Thursday.

This particular cactus is a sacred tree of Bathou religion and is referred to as Sijou.

Bathou followers among the Bodos plant the Sijou (a cactus species) in their house. The tree has large thorns and normally no one can climb on a Sijou tree. But the woman is said to have spent the night on the tree which surprised the people.

Villagers said one Satyabati Basumatary, wife of Pray Basumatary of Aminpara village under Patgaon police outpost, was a follower of Ms. Mwje Basumatary at Dayapara Temple near Simbwrgaon. She used to stay at Dayapara Temple and ‘treated’ ailing people. Later, she established Rwikhati Temple at her own residence in 2014 and started the worship of Bathou. Followers used to come to her temple during the full moon days and other special occasions.

Villagers said that on Thursday morning Satyabati climbed on the Sijou (cactus) tree. The villagers thronged the place, gathered around the Bathou and chanted prayers seeking solutions to their problems.

A follower Rimal Mashahary said Satyabati climbed on the Sijou tree at 7 am on Thursday and spent the night on the tree. She came down at 8.40 am on Friday after a prolonged prayer by the followers.

Several hundreds of people today rushed to the place to witness the event. Many people were seen imploring for solutions to their problems and cure from diseases. Many claimed to have got relief from their ailments like back pain etc. Long queues of vehicles were seen at Aminpara village since morning today as hundreds of people rushed to the temple from various parts of the district.