By- Dhirendranath Thakur
THE
SOCIO-ART LANGUAGE OF THE JUANGS
Gonasika, a place in the highlands
of Keonjhar district is believed to be the place where the first man i.e. a
Juang was born on earth. The main concentration of the Juangs is in the
tablelands of Keonjhar district, valleys of Pallalhara sub-division and the
plains of Dhenkanal district. It is a tribe, which is found nowhere else in the
country except in the State of Odisha.
The Juangs are born-artists
like so many of their clan members and other tribal groups. The professional
categorization is alien to them. The tribe has a language of its own, which is
unwritten and comes under the Mundari group of the Austro-Asiatic language
family.
The Juangs have a distinct
culture reflected in their songs, dances, mud murals, monochrome ritual
paintings and woodcarvings. They believe that their dead ancestors continue to
live as spirits around their houses. They reside in their houses and keep a
constant watch over the activities of their descendants.
The art practices of the
Juangs are versatile, reflected in their woodcarvings, presented on their
doors, wooden posts and rafters, beautifully engraved bamboo and wooden combs
of various shapes and ornaments. The Juangs are also muralists and
body-artists. They’ve expertise in the art of tattooing. Their patterns,
designs, motifs and icons are very much genuine. The Juang is a conscious
tribe. Their sociocultural consciousness is mirrored in their tradition of MaÆÕaghara.
At
the centre of the Juang village are two large huts called MaÆÕagharas.21 The MaÆÕagharas are open and
spacious. These are simple constructions without any complications in
architectural designs. The ground plan is squarish in shape. At times two or
three sides of the house remain closed and covered with walls. The front is
left open and bare as the entrance. The walls are plastered with red clay and
mud. The roof is thatched and placed over a bamboo structure done with a
crisscross design pattern supported by carved wooden beams and pillars. It is
really nice observing the low hanging roofs resting on beautifully carved
wooden pillars. The central pillars inside are large standing figures. The
beams and rafters are decorated with incised geometrical figures of human
beings, animals, birds and lizards. The heavenly bodies such as the sun, moon,
and stars are carved in distinct primitive renderings. These testify to their
aesthetic sensibility. The architectural design of MaÆÕaghara is a
precursor to the rural house architecture of Odishan villages. The
MaÆÕaghara lends a cultural continuation in both creative and recreative
spontaneity in the Juang village.
The Juangs are painters and
sculptors of rare creativity. On the walls therefore, one finds mud reliefs of
groups of dancers painted with red ochre. There are also clay installations of
Juang icons and other primitive images inside MaÆÕaghara that project a
view of the village museum. Musical instruments are hung on the walls. Along
with the musical instruments, one also finds weapons and precious belongings. MaÆÕaghara
preserves in its precincts artefacts of antiquity belonging to older
generations. As a socio-cultural institution, it has a great relevance to the
Juangs. The primitive societies, like those of Juangs, are often bound by set
taboos and disciplines prescribed by their own community. It depends on
institutions like MaÆÕaghara to translate them into actions.
21Fischer, Eberhard,
Sitakant Mahapatra, and Dinanath Pathy. Orissa: Kunst und Kultur in
Nordost-Indien. German. Zurich: Museum Rietberg, 1980. Pp. 66-67-68.
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