NARTIANG PIT & TUNNEL
25.566700,92.216700
Description
A sacred offering pit, which was used to sacrifice humans --i f not he-goats dressed like men, is said to be the entrance to a head-sized fabulous tunnel, which is merely »8 km in length from entrance to entrance« and connects the Hindu at Nartiang to an unspecified cave entrance somewhere in the valley of the Myntang. SITUATION: In an unidentified spatial relation »near« the P.W.D. (Public Works Department) Inspection Bungalow (LALOO, M 1995a: 2-4) at Nartiang and inside a certain »Nartiang poojah house« (BAREH, H 1967 / 1997) or »unusual Durga temple« (BHATTACHARJI, R 2002: 170). »There are two temples in Nartiang one is a Durga temple and the other in a Shiva temple. In the Shiva temple there are old canons [or, more likely, cannons (note 1) or guns] used by the Jaintia kings in the past« (MOHRMEN, H H 2012.07.30). CULTURAL HISTORY 2002: »At an unusual Durga temple here [at Nartiang], humans used to be sacrificed till the end of the eighteenth century. It looks just like an ordinary house. It has two sacrificial altars. One was for the goat of the kings, and the other was a pit where humans were beheaded. There was an underground tunnel in the pit. This is believed to have led to the Myntang river into which the unfortunate corpse eventually fell« (BHATTACHARJI, R 2002: 170). CULTURAL HISTORY 1995: »Durga [note 3] Temple at Nartiang: Near the present P.W.D. Inspection Bungalow at Natriang there stands a Durga temple, which was constructed by order of the later Jaintia King who had converted to Hinduism. According to the present Brahmin, who is looking after the said 'Temple', the temple has been there for a long time and he is the 22nd Brahmin in the line [note 4]. Inside the temple there is a hole which penetrates down to the river Myntang (which flows just below the hill where the said temple is situated). The present Brahmin informed that during the time of the Jaintia Kings, human sacrifices were performed during Durga Puja festival exacty at twelve midnight, in the temple. When the head of the "Scapeman" was chopped off, his head fell into the hole, and through this hole it went rolling down at great spead to the bed of the river Myntang. After the annexation of Jaintia Hills in 1835 by the British, human sacrifices in the Durga Puja of Nartiang was prohibited. At present during th Durga Puja one he-goat is dressed like a man and after the rites and rituals are performed, the he-goat was sacrificed exactly at twlve midnight. The brass idol of the goddess Durga is kept permanently insid this temple. The sword which was used to behead the scape-man, during human sacrifices is kept inside the temple up to this day. The temple was renovated during the [nineteen] eighties and now only some of the original wooden pillars are retained to formed part of the main structure of the temple« (LALOO, M 1995a: 2-4). CULTURAL HISTORY 1967: »Human sacrifice was also offered at the Nartiang poojah [note 2] house. The head, when severed, being thrown down into the pit which adjoined the underground cave of considerable length« (BAREH, H 1967 / 1985, 1997: 324). CULTURAL HISTORY 1925»In October 1925 I visited the Jaintia Hills in Assam [now: Meghalaya state] with the object of seeing some of the megalithic work left by the Synteng dynasty of Nartiang in the Jaintia Hills and Jaintiapur [note 5] in the plains of Sylhet [now in Bangladesh,] at their foot. There were two branches of this family, Nartiang being the original capital and Jaintiapur apparently that of a cadet branch, the two branches being later amalgamated. Succession, in accordance with Synteng custom wasn't always through the female line, the reigning prince's heir being normally his sister's son. The dynasty was defused and its territory annexed in 1835 as a result of its too obstinate persistence in the vexatious habit of kidnapping British subjects for human sacrifices at Jaintiapur and Phuljar. The names of known rulers are 22 or 23 in number of which the last six Siems reigned between 1731 and 1835. Their dates are known with sufficient accuracy. If six reigns may be taken as the average for a century, it would take the name of the first remembered Siem (Man Gossain, Gossain being a Hindu title) to about 1450 A.D., but there are traditions of prominent individuals of the dynasty which certainly date back much further, including Lot Ryndi who caught the ancestors of the Nartiang and Jaintia lines in the form of a fish which he took home and mislaid. The fish of course turned into a beautiful girl who swept up the house in his absence, and ultimately gave birth to two daughters, Ka Raputong and Ka Rapunga from whom the two Siem families were descended« (Hutton, J H 1925, online: lemurconsulting.com/bamdemo/db/naga accessed 2005.10.27).
NOTE 1: »Before the advent of the British into the hills the Khasis are said to have been acquainted with the art of manufacturing gunpowder, which was prepared in the neighbourhood of Mawsanram, Kynchi, and Cherra. The gunpowder used to be manufactured of saltpetre, sulphur, and charcoal, the three ingredients being pounded together in a mortar. The Jaintia Rajas possessed cannon, two specimens of which are still to be seen at Jaintiapur. Their dimensions are as follows: Length, 9 feet; circumference in the middle, 3 feet 2 inches; diameter of the bore 3 inches. There are some old cannon also at Lyngkyrdem and at Kyndiar in the Khyrim State, of the same description as above. These cannons were captured from the Jaintia Raja by the Siem of Nongkrem. No specimens of the cannon ball used are unfortunately available. There are also small mortars, specimens of which are to be seen in the house of the Siem of Mylliem« (GURDON, P R T 1906: 24-25). »At Nartiang I saw an old Khasi gun, which the people say was fired from the shoulder. I also saw a mortar of the same pattern as the one described amongst the Khasi weapons« (GURDON, P R T 1906: 25). NOTE 2: »poojah« (BAREH, H 1997: 324), from "puja" (Hindi, etc.), literally »respect; offering of prayers« (LONELY PLANET, India 2005: 1110), in this case "ka pamblang" (Khasi, noun), »the Durga Poojah« (SINGH, N 1906: 150) from "pam" (Khasi, verb), to cut + "blang" (noun), goat, or "ka pomblang-u-dkhar" (noun), »the Durga Poojah« (SINGH, N 1906: 162) based on the Khasi noun "ka Dkhar" (feminine), "ki Dkhar" (plural) and "u Dkhar" (masculine), the word for »the non-Khasi people« (SINGH, N 1906: 65). NOTE 3: Durga, the Hindu goddess, literally 'inaccessible', is »a form of Shiva's wife, Devi, a beautiful, fierce women riding a tiger; a major goddess of the Shakti sect« (LONELY PLANET, India 2005: 1107). Durga is the terrible, frightening aspect of the mother goddess Kali (DEVI MAHATMYA, circa 550, chapter 11; KINSLEY 1986 edited 1987: 99, 107; SOMADEVA circa 1100; VAKPATIRAJA, ca. 700: Gaudavaho, Verses 285-337), the untamed and unmarried version of Devi, (The) Goddess, the supreme goddess manifested (VINDHYA MAHATMYA circa 1810 s.a.; HUMES 1990, 1993, 1995, 1996 edited 1998). NOTE 4: Hutton, J H was told in October 1925 that »the names of known [Jaintia] rulers are 22 or 23 in number« (lemurconsulting.com/bamdemo/db/naga/ accessed 2005.10.27). NOTE 5: Jaintiapur (N25°08'45”: E92°07'20” WGS84) lies some 5 km along the road from Dauki (25°11'05”N: 92°01'08”E) / Tamabil (25°11'03”N: 92°01'10”E) generally SSW to Sylhet (24°53'48”N: 91°52'18”E) in Bangladesh (India Road Atlas, Eicher Goodearth 2006: 46 A4). Also: Jaintiapur 25°07'48”N: 92°10'12”E (unspecified geodetic datum), AMBRASEYS & BILHAM (2003: 29) Jynteahpoor OLDHAM, T (1854 / 1984: 10); OLDHAM, T (1859: 109) Jynteapur MEDLICOTT, H B (1869: 152, 154) Jynteeahpore Cave, G N [Lieutenant] in: OLDHAM, T (1854 / 1984: lxxi after a 1850-1860 Revenue Survey Map published in [not seen] THUILLIER, H E L 1859-1861) Jynteepore INDIA FOREIGN … (1862, 1: 85).
Documents
Bibliography 27/04/2016- Bareh, Hamlet 1967 / 1985, 1997; Bhattacharji, Romesh 2002; Laloo, Shining Star 1995a; Mohrmen, H H 2012.07.30.
Cavités proche
| Distance (km) | Nom | Longueur (m) | Profondeur (m) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0.0 | NARTIANG CAVE (Whisky Jo 1995) | ||
| 9.4 | KIANG NANGBAH, Mynser (Cave of U) | ||
| 11.7 | KHLA, Mynso (Krem) | ||
| 13.4 | MYNTHONG (Krem) | ||
| 14.5 | LANGTHADÏAP (Krem) | ||
| 16.3 | SHANGPUNG (Cave at) | ||
| 16.3 | KHNONG (Cave of U) | ||
| 19.9 | KASI (Synrang) | ||
| 20.0 | MAWJUD, Kyrdum (Krem) |