Sarna is a place of worship in Chotanagpur region of
Jharkhand
Jharkhand (; ; ) is a state in eastern India. The state shares its border with the states of West Bengal to the east, Chhattisgarh to the west, Uttar Pradesh to the northwest, Bihar to the north and Odisha to the south. It has an area of . It ...
,
Chhattisgarh
Chhattisgarh (, ) is a landlocked state in Central India. It is the ninth largest state by area, and with a population of roughly 30 million, the seventeenth most populous. It borders seven states – Uttar Pradesh to the north, Madhya Prade ...
and
Odisha
Odisha (English: , ), formerly Orissa ( the official name until 2011), is an Indian state located in Eastern India. It is the 8th largest state by area, and the 11th largest by population. The state has the third largest population of ...
. It is a
sacred grove
Sacred groves or sacred woods are groves of trees and have special religious importance within a particular culture. Sacred groves feature in various cultures throughout the world. They were important features of the mythological landscape and ...
, where people of village gather to perform rituals in village festival.
Ritual
Sarna is scared groove consist of Sal tree called ''Sarai'' in Chotanagpur. It is remaintant of forest patch in the village, where spirit reside.
According to traditional belief, Sarna is residing place of gaon khut (village deity), the founder of village. Each year people gather to offer sacrifice to Sun, village deity and ancestors for good harvest and safety of village. The village priest in Chotanagpur is known as ''Pahan,'' sometimes called ''Laya. Pahan'' and his assistant ''Pujar'' sacrifice animals especially goat. Then cooked meat is eaten with Tapan (liquor).
The ritual of
Sarhul
Sarhul is a spring festival in the Indian state of Jharkhand. The festival is celebrated for three days, from the 3rd day of Chaitra month in Sukla Paksh to Chaitra Purnima. In the festival, the village priest ''Pahan'' offers sacrifice of flowers, ...
festival takes place in Sarna.
Sarna is place of worship in village of the
Sadan and
Kurukh of Chotanagpur.
Several tribal organization including Santal are demanding separate religious code for Sarna as
Sarnaism
Sarnaism is a religious belief found in India. The belief is based on worship at Sarna, the sacred groves in the Chota Nagpur Plateau region in the states of Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh and Odisha. According to local belief, a ''Gram deoti'' or vi ...
as they belief it is different from
Hinduism
Hinduism () is an Indian religion or '' dharma'', a religious and universal order or way of life by which followers abide. As a religion, it is the world's third-largest, with over 1.2–1.35 billion followers, or 15–16% of the global p ...
.
Although
Santals
The Santal or Santhal are an Austroasiatic speaking
Munda ethnic group in South Asia. Santals are the largest tribe in the Jharkhand and West Bengal state of India in terms of population and are also found in the states of Odisha, Bihar and A ...
call their sacred groves ''Jaher'' and village priest ''Naike''.
References
{{Religion in India topics
Sacred groves of India
Veneration of the dead
Nagpuri culture