Sama Chakeva: We all know about Rakshabandhan and Bhaidooj, it is a festival of brothers and sisters. Some special festivals are celebrated in different provinces which are celebrated by sisters for the long life of their brother and to show the brother's love and trust towards his sister. Similarly, there is a famous festival of Mithila region of Bihar which is celebrated in the month of Kartik after Chhath i.e. from Saptami Tithi till the full moon of Kartik. This seven-day festival is special for sisters. Sisters also showcase their sculpture creativity and singing performances in this festival. Natural items are used in this. Natural colors are used. Various types of toys are made from clay which are used to worship the Lord on the day of Devotthan Ekadashi. Sindoor and Pithar (which is made from rice flour) are applied on all the idols and toys of Sama Chakeva. They are then painted with beautiful colors and decorated.
Chugla Vrindavan is made from clay idols and various types of toys. Along with this, Chugla Vrindavan is made by taking Khar (a type of long dry grass), Son (a type of material used for making rope) and a piece of wood or bamboo ladle. . Vrindavan is made beautiful by making a beautiful mouth out of clay and under it a type of grass is used for shelter which is a symbol of the forest of Vrindavan. Chugla is made very ugly with a long crooked nose, a long crooked beak on the head and big mustache and eyes. Which is lit like sparklers are lit on Diwali.
Read Also: Rakshabandhan is a protective shield tied in threads.
Folk songs have special importance in Sama festival. Sisters sing songs wishing for their brother's long life, good health and increase in his wealth. She curses the gossiper who was cursed by his uncle because of his gossiping. Sings funny songs. All the family members celebrate this festival together which strengthens mutual relationships. On the day of Bhaidooj, many people start collecting soil and other things. On that day, sisters touch the soil and believe that their brother will have a long life. Most of the figurines and toys contain figurines of birds and animals found in the wild. Thin bamboo sticks are used to connect different parts of the idols.
This festival, a symbol of faith and belief, is also full of entertainment. It is believed that these days the daughter has come to her parents' home from her in-laws' house and the house becomes filled with excitement. The whole day is spent in making the idols of Sama Chakeva and Suga-Maina, Dholki-Baja, Doli-Kahar, elephant-horse and Lord Krishna and in the evening, those idols are taken to the open courtyard for licking the dew and having the evening meal. . Their food is new paddy and duba.
There is a popular legend behind celebrating this festival which is as follows…
Shyama (known as Sama in Mithila) is considered to be the daughter of Lord Krishna and Samb is her brother who loves his sister very much and has full faith in his sister that she can do no wrong. Sama was very fond of animals, birds and plants, hence she used to spend most of her time in the forests of Vrindavan. She would leave the palace with her maid Dihuli and spend the whole day playing with animals and birds in the forest of Vrindavan. She also served the sages with a true heart. When she became marriageable, she was married to Chakeva (son of a sage named Charudatra). Chakeva also loved his wife Sama very much and he also trusted her a lot.
A feudal lord named Churak was fascinated by Sama's beauty but Sama could not even think of any other man except her husband Chakeva. When Churak felt that Sama was not going to fall into his trap, he gossiped about her to Lord Krishna that she was to a stranger with whom she always goes to the forest of Vrindavan on the pretext of meeting him. It was God's leela that on the words of Churak, he cursed or rather blessed his daughter so that she becomes a bird so that she can be protected from the evil eyes of people like Churak.
As soon as father Krishna cursed her, Sama became a bird and started living with other birds in the forests of Vrindavan. When her husband Chakeva came to know about the curse given to his wife Sama, he prayed to Krishna to turn him into a bird like Sama, he could not live in human form without her and got absorbed in the penance of Lord Vishnu. Chakeva also became a bird and started living in the forest in search of his wife. Due to this grief, the sages of the ashram also transformed into birds and started living in the forests of Vrindavan.
Samba, along with his sister and brother-in-law, along with all the sages, started requesting their father to bring them in human form and got absorbed in severe penance. They did not believe Churak at all. They knew that Churak was lying and that his sister was not as he had told his father. Lord Krishna was also overwhelmed by the love between brother and sister and told him the solution to get rid of the curse. On the seventh day of Shukla Paksha of Kartik month, Sama Chakeva will transform into human form and will come to meet her brother and will return again on the full moon day. In this mythological story we see the love and trust of a brother towards his sister.
On the full moon day of Kartik month, Sama is sent off to his in-laws' house. The birds made in clay idols of Sama are asked by the sisters to separate the brothers from their knees on the day of full moon, which means that Sama gets freedom from the curse of turning into a bird. Then Murhi gives jaggery and new paddy bangles as gifts to her brothers. All the toys of Sama are decorated in Bhagwati Osra (worship house) by making a plate with rice pithar and vermilion, they offer chuda curd, give water to them and sing Bhagwati Geet, Sama Geet and Samdaun Beti Vivah Geet. Sisters and sisters-in-law all play the game of Sama Chakeva together. She wishes her brother a long life and compares every part of his body with nature and places the sama on a betel leaf in her lap and sings “…Jibo Jibo Ke Tor Bhaiya Jibo Ke Mor Bhaiya Jibo Ke” The meaning of this is May your brother live long and may my brother live long. May he live for a million years. Like the strong trunk of a tree, like my brother's legs, like the vast ocean, like my brother's back, like the washerman's ghat, like my brother's anger is his kick, like the white shining seeds of pomegranate, like my brother's teeth. And she has beautiful eyes like mango slices.
Sharda Sinha's Saama Geet Gaam Ke Adhikari and Saama Khela Challi are very famous. Sister sends message to brother to come to her in-laws' house when she is unable to come to her parents' house. She has no greed for wealth, she just wishes well for her brother. On the day of full moon, at the time of farewell of maternal uncle, tears well up in the eyes of every brother and sister. Saying 'Sama' that they should return again next year, they are filled with jaggery, arba, rice and paddy in pots made of clay and are buried in the plowed fields. Sama places Chakeva in bamboo branches and plays games by lighting lamps. Churak, whose name came to be known as Chugla due to his gossiping, abuses him a lot and burns the mustache and mouth of his idol made of clay.
Why did you come to Vrindavan to meet so and so?
Brother, he is running in a hurry..
Which means a fire broke out in the forests of Vrindavan which my brother is extinguishing.
gossip, gossip, meow, gossip, and get hanged
Like Churak is abused by singing songs. Putting these clay toys and other items in the soil instead of putting them in the pond also means that the things made of clay get mixed in the soil and do not pollute the water. Autumn begins in the month of Kartik, at this time migratory birds start coming to the ponds and ponds of Mithilanchal, special care is taken these days to protect them from predators.
Sisters sing Sama songs continuously after Chhath, but even those songs are not sung after Purnima i.e. bidding farewell to Sama. On the next day of Purnima, the house seems deserted, similar to the silence that comes after the daughter leaves home. If there are daughters then there is happiness in the house, this Sama festival tells about its importance.
In today's modern and nuclear family era, the importance of this festival is decreasing. Due to lack of time and modernization, people neither like to play with clay nor do they have that much time anymore. Yet many people still celebrate this festival with great pomp. We should give this Sama festival as a legacy to our future generations. We have seen our mothers, sisters and sisters-in-law playing in making sama, that is why even today they take out time and celebrate this festival, our children will learn only by watching us. This festival, which connects our soil with our culture, may not be as famous as other festivals and even today many people do not know about this festival of brothers and sisters, but it is celebrated with great pomp in Mithilanchal and Jharkhand too.
