Tokimara parab(TOKI means virgin unmarried girl and MARA means sacrifice) is one of the most important religious ceremonies of the Kandha paraja.in the past they used to sacrifice their virgin daughters before the earth Goddess.The Kandh tribe ofsouth east India were practicing MERIAH or human sacrifice to appease their earth mother Goddess.Even the kandha priest were sacrificing their eldest son to earth mother Goddess for the shake of their community to get good harvest,good rain,to save their man and domestic animals from the attack of wild animals and to save their community from cholera and small-pox etc.
The tradition of meriah sacrifice was patronized by the Raja and Zamindar of Thuamulrampur mahulpatna (present Jaipatna)and karlapat in kalahandi estate
it is interesting to observe how the aura of a village comes for celebrating the festival,Tokiparab.This festival falls on the preceding or the following Sunday of the pongal or makar sankranti on the bright fortnight of Pausa (January).The festival is observed for seven days with pomp and ceremony.The festival begins on Wednesday;four days prior to the fatal day of the sacrifice of the toki.the distribution of rituals over the seven days as follows:(1).Preparation and collection of leaf and wood(2)Gurupuja(3)Toki pargha(4)sadar puja(5)Toki mara (6) Dhangridola (7)Tangiulen.
On the first day,all the men and women of the Toki village go to the nearest forest for collecting leaves and fire wood.on this day the the priest worship the Dharamdevata i.e Sun god.The second day of the festival is known as GURUPUJA.on this day he priest and the shaman alongwith other people of the village go to the nearby hill.The name of the hill is Gurudangar,where the Budharaja the universal God is seated.It is believed that all the hills and mountains are the Gudi,The worship place of God and Goddess.
After worshipping Gurubudha they come to the seat of Dharnimata earth mother goddess.In a large sacrificial axe called TANGI in local language the jani mounts the spirit Dharnimata and brings the axe to the village.This ritual is known as Tangi utara literally meaning the bringinging down of axe from the seat of Goddess.it is the symbol f Goddess’s spirit animated on it.
The third day of festival is known as Toki pargha-worship ritual of Toki.On this day toki is bathed with turmeric water by the women of every house.A procession of jani and other people starts moving around the village with music and dance.the toki is moved from door to door to get worshipped y the villagers.The community treats the toki as the actually daughter of the jani.In the evening the community eats,drinks and dances with their local dom-music and make merriment
On the fourthday the jani and dishari of all the villages assemble in the toki village with their respective village goddess.They are treated as the representatives of their respective villages.on this day the community cleans the road and the houses of the village.
Fifth day is known as Tokimara day.The toki is offered to the earth goddess on this day.Villagers from all sides come to Toki village in a procession with their traditional music and warfare dance.In the procession each one has a wodden club,hand axe and big stick on their hand .They come with their symbolic village goddess animated in a long bamboo stick designed with red clothes and peacock feathers,and also in a big nishan(a local drum)from every village such procession come to attend the festival.
he sixth day of the festival is known as DHANGRIDOLA.on this the young unmarried kandha-araja boys and girls have the freedom to choose their life mates with a socioreligious recognition in the festival ground.on this day the parents of the boys and girls have nothing to protest against their love marriage,as the whole community give sanction to them.The youth ,on this day wearing beads around his neck ,is expected to pull the hand of their beloved young girls.this system is popularly known as Malichaga,literally means wearing of beads.it Symolizes the snatching of a girl by the boy.
This is the day giving opportunity to the youth to extend love and friendship with the opposite sex.The unknown boys and girls make permanent friendship ritually by addressing each other as aligaja and sari.baligaja is a type of yellow grass taking which one may be “sari” or a”baligaja” by tucking it on the right ear of the other.on this day any groups of girls and boys with the local music ,dance and song on the group.one group sing the love song competing to defeat the other .at this time a choir of singer with their Dungdunga and DHAP sing the song describing God and Goddess ,hills and mountains,rivers,villages and the deities of their locality.
in the afternoon,The young girl of this community make a lovely arrangement of receiving the guests to appease them.they invite the guests to whom they choose to be their own friend or sari.the group of girls holding the hands of the guest,take him to the place of orship.they make the guests sitted ina cut;carrying the cut on their shoulders on four sides they move around the worship place seven times.At that time all the girls sing the song to entertain the guests.After moving around,They keep the cot in front of the goddess and touch the feet of the guests one by one and make JUHAR(obeisance)This ritual is called DHANGARIDOLA.
In the seventh day tha jani and disari along with the newly married couple of the previous day,leads a huge procession to the Goddess mountain.There they beg the blessing s from the hill goddess.After coming from the mountains,they eat,drink,and make merry by singing,dancing and merrymaking.At night the jani returns the sacrificial axe to the earth goddess.Aafter it the jani declares the festival over.
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