Celebrating the beauty of mother nature, the tribals, mainly Santhals, are observing ‘Sarhul’ or blossom festival in Mayurbhanj district.

The unique festival, which is known as ‘Baha’ is dedicated to flowers. It is held between second of February and mid-March every year and celebrates the relationship between nature, flowers and tribal community, said Salai Murmu, a scholar of Santhal community.

One of the major events of the festival is decoration of holy places with flowers, crushed straws and branches of blackberry trees.

The tribal as practice, do not pluck or use the flowers and berries for other purposes.

Highlighting the special features of the festival, the community priest who is known as Nayake or Majhihalam has key role in the festival, Mr Ramchandra Baskey informed that the priest’s wife grind’s flour on day one of the festival while village headman called ‘Godet’ goes round the village collecting rice, salt and chicken.

He collects the ingredients in a big basket while a bachelor, who accompanies him, carries a small pot of holy water. Several other rituals are also conducted at a holy place, called ‘Jahersthan’.

The day of the event, which symbolizes the return to home, is devoted to general feasting and merry making. On this day the priest returns home.

The girls in the first house wash the feet of the priest with holy water and get Sal flowers in return as ritual of the event. The rituals are now a day’s being performed in ‘Jaherasthan’, said Gurva Soren, Society for Research and Development of Tribal Culture.

This ritual is a water festival where water is sprinkling on all. The festival is similar to Holi but colours are not used in our event, said Mr. Soren.

According to Mr. Soren, the festival is dedicated to flower and berries while followers of Sal, Mango, Jackleg, Mahula, Simuli, and Dhatika trees are blossomed from February towards.

“It is a special feature for the celebration of ‘Baha’ festival that not a single Santhal people does not eat or used fruits and plucked flower till the celebration it by the community.

The festival must be completed within Pana Sankrati. If any people of the community will play holi or the colour of holi touches his body he has not entered into his own house and living outsider’s house.

He has allowed to his own house after he attending the ‘Baha’ festival, Mr. Soren added that Marangburu Menko Turak means Pandab’s five brothers and Darupadi also observed the flower festival at the forest during their Vanabas dedicate to nature.

The festivities concluded with songs and dances in which the whole village joins the merry maker’s procession which starts from priest’s house and ends it in the headman’s house.