BARIPADA: Thousands of people from the Santhal tribe flocked Baruni Ghat here to immerse mortal remains of their ancestors here on Tuesday as part of the three-day annual ritual called ‘Jilling Dahar’ or long journey.
Around 20,000 Santhals from remote villages of Mayurbhanj and the neighbouring Singhbhum district in Jharkhand and West Bengal gathered at the ghat on the first day of the annual ritual.Santhal community observes the ritual a day after Makar Sankranti and gathers at Baruni Ghat, the confluence of Budhabalanga, Sarali and Jarali rivers, which is considered as ‘Holi Damodar’.
The tribals consider the trip to Damodar the holiest ritual. “For us, the confluence of the three rivers at Baruni Ghat is a sacred place where we perform ‘Jilling Dahar’,” said Gurva Soren, a social activist and secretary of Society for Research and Development of Tribal Cultures.
Soren informed that the ghat gained prominence during the rule of Pratap Chandra Bhanj Deo, the last king of the Bhanja dynasty in the erstwhile princely State of Mayurbhanj. Prior to that, the Santhals used to trek all the way to Thakurbadi, a place near Gopiballavpur in West Bengal to immerse mortal remains of their ancestors in Subarnarekha, he added.
The district adminstration has put in place elaborate security measures for the event. Apart from Baruni Ghat, police personnel have been deployed at Balasore Golei, Madhuban, Station Bazar, a few other junctions in Baripada town and the banks of Budhabalanga, Jarali and Sarali rivers.