Sarnaism is a religious belief found in India. The belief is based on worship at Sarna, the sacred groves in the

Chota Nagpur Plateau The Chota Nagpur Plateau is a plateau in eastern India, which covers much of Jharkhand state as well as adjacent parts of Chhattisgarh, Odisha, West Bengal and Bihar. The Indo-Gangetic plain lies to the north and east of the plateau, and the b ...

region in the states 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 . ...

, Chhattisgarh 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 Sc ...

. According to local belief, a ''Gram deoti'' or village deity resides in the sarna, where sacrifice is offered twice a year. Their belief system is alternatively known as "Sarna Dharma", or "Religion of the Holy Woods". Many tribal organizations seek its recognition as a distinct religious category for indigenous peoples. Several Christian churches also support the recognition of Sarna as a different religion 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 po ...

.Church writes to Hemant demanding Sarna code for tribals
Telegraph India, 19.09.2020. But the

RSS RSS ( RDF Site Summary or Really Simple Syndication) is a web feed that allows users and applications to access updates to websites in a standardized, computer-readable format. Subscribing to RSS feeds can allow a user to keep track of many di ...

is against the recognition of Sarna as a separate religion as it believes that tribal people are

Hindus Hindus (; ) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism.Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pages 35–37 Historically, the term has also been used as a geographical, cultural, and later religious identifier for ...

Etymology

'' Sarna'' means "

grove Grove may refer to: * Grove (nature), a small group of trees Places England *Grove, Buckinghamshire, a village * Grove, Dorset * Grove, Herefordshire * Grove, Kent * Grove, Nottinghamshire, a village * Grove, Oxfordshire, a village and civil ...

" and is etymologically related to the name of the

sal tree ''Shorea robusta'', the sal tree, sāla, shala, sakhua, or sarai, is a species of tree in the family Dipterocarpaceae. The tree is native to India, Bangladesh, Nepal, Tibet and across the Himalayan regions . Evolution Fossil evidence from l ...

Theology

The adherents of Sarnaism believe in, worship, and revere a village deity as protector of village called ''Gaon khunt'', ''Gram deoti'', Dharmes, ''Marang Buru'', ''Singbonga'', or by other names by different tribes. Adherents also believe in, worship, and revere ''Dharti ayo'' or ''Chalapachho Devi'', the

mother goddess A mother goddess is a goddess who represents a personified deification of motherhood, fertility, creation, destruction, or the earth goddess who embodies the bounty of the earth or nature. When equated with the earth or the natural world, ...

identified as the earth or nature.

Worship places and rites

Sarna is place of worship which is sacred grove in Chotanagpur. It is also called ''gram than'' among Kudumi Mahato, ''Jaher than ''or ''Jaher gar'' among Santal, and can be found in villages. Sal trees are in the sacred grove. The ceremonies are performed by the whole village community at a public gathering with the active participation of village priests, ''pahan'' and assistant ''Pujar '' in Chotanagpur. The priest is called ''Naike'' among Santal. The sthal typically has multiple trees like sal, mahua, neem, and banyan. The main festival of Sarnaism is Sarhul, a festival in which devotees worship their ancestors. During the festival, the ''pahan'' brings three water pots to the ''sarna''. If the water pots reduce in level, they believe the monsoon will fail, but if it stays the same the monsoon will come as normal. Men then offer ''sakua'' flowers and leaves.

Demographics

Religious status

As a result of

Western colonialism The historical phenomenon of colonization is one that stretches around the globe and across time. Ancient and medieval colonialism was practiced by the Phoenicians, the Greeks, the Turks, and the Arabs. Colonialism in the modern sense began w ...

and imperialism in Asia, several attempts of

indoctrination Indoctrination is the process of inculcating a person with ideas, attitudes, cognitive strategies or professional methodologies (see doctrine). Humans are a social animal species inescapably shaped by cultural context, and thus some degree ...

and

forced conversion Forced conversion is the adoption of a different religion or the adoption of irreligion under duress. Someone who has been forced to convert to a different religion or irreligion may continue, covertly, to adhere to the beliefs and practices whic ...

were carried out by western Christian missionaries in

colonial India Colonial India was the part of the Indian subcontinent that was occupied by European colonial powers during the Age of Discovery. European power was exerted both by conquest and trade, especially in spices. The search for the wealth and pros ...

, which went on for a century, and have caused sectarian conflict in the tribal areas of the Chota Nagpur region. The arrival of the first German Protestant missionaries in 1845 was followed by Roman Catholic missionaries; conflict between Christian and Non-Christian tribals became evident in 1947–1948, when British colonial rulers left India.Tribals torn apart by religion
The Hindu. 014. The National Commission for Scheduled Tribes (NCST) has suggested that Sarna religion be accorded independent category in the religion code of the

Census of India The decennial Census of India has been conducted 16 times, as of 2021. While it has been undertaken every 10 years, beginning in 1872 under British Viceroy Lord Mayo, the first complete census was taken in 1881. Post 1949, it has been conducted by ...

. Several tribal organisations and Christian missionaries are demanding a distinct census code for Sarnaism. The then Indian Minister of Tribal Affairs, Jual Oram, had, however, claimed in 2015,"There is no denial of the fact that tribals are Hindus."All tribals are Hindus, no need for Sarna code: RSS
Times of India, 1 May 2015. The comment led to protests from 300 tribals, over 100 of whom were arrested by the police to clear the way for Oram, who was going to inaugurate a fair. Adivasi Sarna Mahasabha leader and former MLA Dev Kumar Dhan said that followers of the Sarna religion were not happy with the statement made by Oram and added, ''"If Jainism, having a population of hardly 60 lakh, can have a separate religion code in the Census forms, why can't Sarnas? This tribal religion have more than 10 crore followers spread over the Fifth Scheduled states like Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Maharastra, Himachal Pradesh, Rajasthan and Odisha. Instead of taking steps to ensure a separate religion code, he is saying Sarnas are Hindus"''. In 2020,

Jharkhand Mukti Morcha Jharkhand Mukti Morcha ( lit. ''Jharkhand Liberation Front''; JMM) is a State political party in the Indian state of Jharkhand which was founded by Binod Bihari Mahato. It has one seat in the 17th Lok Sabha. Shibu Soren is the president of ...

's (JMM), which was in power in Jharkhand at that time, passed a unanimous assembly resolution on 'Sarna Code' for the inclusion of Sarna as separate religion in 2021 census, and sent to central government for approval.

Organisations

*Akhil Bharatiya Sarna Dharam (ABSD) *All India Sarna Dharam Mandowa (AISDM) *Kherwal Saonta Semled (KSS)

References

Bibliography

Books

* * * *

Journal articles

External links

* {{Authority control Indian religions Asian ethnic religion Sacred groves of India Veneration of the dead