Bodo Mythology Analysis

Myth and Mainao

The Bodos possess a distinct tradition of folklore which shows great varieties. The Bodo folklore is rich in oral narratives such as myths, legends, tales, proverbs, rituals, charms, folksongs and dances and other local traditions handed down from generation to generation. There are mythical accounts recounting the story of creation and origin of the world and man. Also to explain the natural phenomena, cultural traditions, the musical instruments and gods and goddesses, Bodos used myth. In folkloristic sense ‘myth is a sacred narrative usually explaining how the world or humankind came to be in its present form’. A myth therefore is a story that serves to define the fundamental worldview of a culture by explaining the aspects

In Bodo khangnai stands for ‘bringing up’ and bima means ‘mother’. The tale goes on to narrate that God Aham Guru incarnated as Sibrai and created the universe with all its ramifications but was burnt to ashes at the malevolent glance of luba lubini, the goddess of evils. To quote further, we are told that Sibrai and his consort Sibrwi alias Mainao wanted to see again the beauty and splendour of the universe and so they copulated. Eventually, kuba kubini, the goddess of life was created out of their union and it was through her active interference that the universe was recreated, i.e. kangnaini-bima-kha. The folklore, in addition, recounts that Bodo youths are forbidden to pay a visit to the temple as long as their mothers are alive. Moreover Bodos believe that the formation kangnaini-bima-kha apparently seems to be the basis of the sanskritised version of Kamakhya, which has attained nationwide celebrity as a great centre of pilgrimage for Sakti worship. R. M. Nath emphatically justifies that it was the Bodos who first installed the phallic emblem linga and yoni side by side at Kamakhya and Umananda respectively for their worship. As R. N. Mosahary contends that the origin of the nomenclature of Kamakhya appears to be sufficiently corroborated by the existing practice of worshipping Sibrai and Sibrwi in the form of

Mosahary explains is, just as white rice scattered about ensures the presence of crows as scavengers, the sight of a granary in a household always creates a notion in the mind of a stranger that a plenty of food grains is in store. Moreover the size and number of bakri determines the degree of richness of the family and the absence of this house implicates that the concerned family is indeed poor.

In the homestead, the Goddess Mainao is represented by the shape of lump of earth. From the central point of the Bathou altar, an embankment is raised leading to the northern edge ending in a curve, at the end of which Mainao is installed. The two rows of kangkla hagra (wild reeds) are ceremoniously planted in space of embankment which manifestly signifies the prosperous crops at the bosom of mother earth. Folklore has it that, lord Aham Guru created the wild reeds next to sijou plant among the vegetation in the universe. The following incantation is chanted for her appeasement during the worship. Aa yoi Songburi, Bima