Folklores of South Chhotanagpur and Odia Cult...

Folklores of South Chhotanagpur and Odia Culture

Author Name : Dr Harihar Padhan

DOI: https://doi.org/10.56025/IJARESM.2024.1208241852

ABSTRACT Geographically South Chhotanagpur plateau of Jharkhand province is adjacent to Odisha. In ancient and medieval era the present day border line of state area was not there. During ancient and medieval period present day Odisha was known as Odrashtra and containing many areas of present Bengal, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh and Andhra Pradesh also. The particular word ‘Odia’ indicates towards the language spoken by inhabitants of ancient Odrashtra, Udradesha, Kalinga , Utkal and present day Odisha. The geographical area of present day ‘Odisha’ does not contains all Odia speaking areas of above mentioned ancient state names. A large part of larger Odisha remained outside Odisha due to administrative turmoil during different time span since ancient period till demarcation of present day Odisha in 1st April of 1936. Till date a large part of Odia speaking area lies outside mainland Odisha in Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Andhra Pradesh and West Bengal. State reorganisations and provincial borders conflict after that is a day to day affair in independent India. But culture can neither be built up with in decades nor wind-up, again culture defies all political borders and lies intact with unique features in a particular geographical area by means of language, literature, art, music, and other socio cultural traditions and expressions. In that way though a larger Odia speaking folk of a greater geographical area didn’t get a single boundary yet culturally they still exists as Odia around Odisha. Analysis of collected folktales reveals the fact that culture and folkliterature of bordering areas of interstate geographical regions contains cultural identities of neighbouring states in identical manner. This study proposes to expose that context in view of Odia culture with in folk tales of south Jharkhand that is Kolhan belt which was erst while Singhbhum state of kingship