* * * Jharkhand News * ** ** **
** * * ** ** ** Guests, night not right in this Jharkhand village In the 70s, three outsiders built a house in Dardaha. Strangely, all of them died soon. Since then, guests are discouraged in the hamlet DHANBAD: A strange century-old custom prevalent in the tribal hamlet of Dardaha prevents the residents from encouraging guests to stay overnight at the village, for they believe something bad may befall them. Non-tribals are free to move around the village, but only till dusk. Once the sun sets, the villagers are not willing to allow the dikus (outsiders) to spend the night, because they think they may incur the wrath of the kuldevta (village god), which can be fatal, claimed a tribal expert of the region, Shyam Sunder Mahto. ''The village head (known as Budha) never imposes any penalty as the villagers know that their kuldevta will punish the law-breakers, often fatally and they believe it has happened in the past,'' Mahto said. The people of adjoining villages also respect the custom. The elderly persons of the village, which is well connected with the outside world through television and telephone and equipped with civic amenities like power, road and educational institutions, narrate a strange story behind the custom how several decades ago some guests from outside had 'incurred the wrath of the kuldevta'. Basant Majhi, the police inspector of Sindri range under which Dardaha village falls, said during his two-year posting he did not require to conduct patrolling at night. "In the event of somebody falling seriously ill, the villagers prefer to take him to the nearest doctor instead of calling the doctor to their village during nights," said another villager. The story behind the origin of the custom goes like this: Once some non-tribal guests had stayed at the village to attend a function at night and the next morning several of them, including women and children, died. The villagers believed the kuldevta and kuldevi had killed them because they stayed for the night. In the early 70s three persons of an adjacent village built a house in the vicinity of Dardaha village despite the village head's warning not to and strangely all of them died within a fortnight of their settlement. BJP MLA Rajkishore Mahto, who represents the Jharkhand assembly from Sindri, under which the village falls, said, ''They never invited him at night for any function - either marriage or village puja." Former MLA of the Marxists Coordination Committee Anand Mahto, who represented Sindri assembly constituency in 1977, has never gone to the village for canvassing after dusk. "It is their custom and tradition. When we have nothing to do in the village during nights there is no wisdom in inviting the wrath of their kuldevetas," said Anand Mahto. dnaindia.com/report.asp?newsid=1164428&pageid=2 ** <http://www.jharkhand.org.in/contact.htm> . * News TV <http://www.indian-tv.blogspot.com/> Blog <http://www.jharkhand.org.in/blog> Photo <http://www.jharkhand.org.in/photo> Music <http://www.jharkhandi.org/music.htm> Video <http://www.jharkhandi.org/video.htm> Live Chat <http://www.jharkhand.org.in/live> Directory <http://www.jharkhand.org.in/directory> Testimonials <http://www.jharkhand.org.in/directory> Forum <http://yahoogroups.com/group/jharkhand> Contact <http://www.jharkhand.org.in/contact.htm> . * -- Jharkhand News [EMAIL PROTECTED] Jharkhand Online Network www.jharkhand.org.in/news
