Kalung Rañtw - best of the Sacred Groves at Ziro

We have talked about the mystery of Rañtw - sacred groves of Ziro in a previous posting. Among the rañtws, Hari Rañtw is the best known for its magnificent trees which are named after the women who are believed to have planted them. Less known, but no less grand, is the Kalung Rañtw.

A special feature about the Kalung Rañtw is the fact that a shed at the site of the traditional nyatu - resting place, had been inaugurated by Kuru Hassang in 1998. The rañtw, most probably, has the biggest area and best maintained of all the village sacred groves.

The boundary is well demarcated with iron or concrete posts to prevent any encroachment attempts. Apart from magnificent blue pine trees, sacred trees include a wide varieties of other trees as well. The look of the sacred forest reminds one of Frost's verse, "The woods are lovely, dark and deep...."

Placid views from the rañtw add charm to the place.

Welcome to Kalung Rañtw.

Meder Nello

Last few years have seen a renaissance of indigenous faith all over Arunachal Pradesh. In the central belt of the state, also called the Tani belt, inhabited by the tribes following the Danyi-Piilo or Donyi Polo, a number of prayer houses called Meder Nello or Nyedar Namlo are being constructed. This is one such in Tajang village at Ziro.

Though not appreciated by all, these Meder Nellos are attracting curious visitors. It has the potential to be developed into institutions for preserving and show-casing the indigenous culture and traditions of the tribal people.

Muruñ Piilo

Subu and Muruñ are two occasions which are perfect examples of the people turning a crisis into an opportunity. One may have these occasions as any other ritual to propitiate the God, but they are always observed with an air of festivity. Other reason for performing these rituals, especially by a person who has done well in the society, may be a kind of thanks giving.

The main features of these festivals are supuñ-niiñ, mithun sacrifice, penii (in case of Muruñ) and hiirii khaniiñ. Supuñ-niiñ has become an occasion to display one's ornaments, dresses and handicrafts mostly by the female members of the family. The young people gets a chance to test their agility and strength during Mithun sacrifice. Penii is the climax when everybody goes in a procession around the world (supuñ paker) of the Apatanis. People can be seen dressing up themselves any way they like. A kind of fashion show.

For whatever reason and in whatever way these festivals are observed, they are great occasions to preserve and promote the Apatani culture and practices.

The Apatani Sacred Groves

The God and man used to live together. Then, the man decided to migrate to a better place to live. The God asked the man to let them accompany to the new place. The man declined, “I want to live alone in peace.”

“You will need somebody to protect you. I will do that,” the God offered.

“In that case, you will live outside my village.”

“Agreed. And you will not disturb my dwelling place outside your village.”

Thus a deal was struck. The God was allowed to build His dwelling place outside the villages of man. This is the place we call rantii – the sacred grove, today. They are located at the periphery of the Apatani villages.

During times of war in the past, the people used to first go to the rantiis and invoke the God, their protector, for the welfare of the village. Offerings were made to the God and horns were blown.

The God till today lives in the tall trees we can see at the periphery of almost all the villages. There are rantii at Tajang, Kalung, Hari, Hong, and Michi Bamin. I still don’t know if other villages have rantiis as well.

In times of peace as well, most of the ritual offerings are made in the rantiis. These places are feared as well as revered. The ecology there is never disturbed by the people. There are instances of adverse events befalling the persons who had occasionally cut trees or damaged the rantii in other ways.

Because the ecology of the rantiis are never disturbed, they are always the primary forests. They retain the trees, plants and shrubs that were native to the place centuries back. This is the significance of these sacred groves from ecological point of view.

We will talk about these sacred groves in different villages as we go ahead in our journey.