Kohka Saad or Mati Tihar

This festival is known as Ama Jogani in entire Bastar. In Gondi it is known as Marka Polyhanang, in Halbi it is known as Ama Khapani, in Kanker region it is known as Chaitrai and in South Bastar it is known as Marka Pandum. The word Gondi Marka means mango and Pohna means to pieces. The tribal Muria community of Narayanpur and Maad region calls it Kohka Saad. The word Gondi Kohka means Bhelwan (Bhilavan) and Saad means Devotsav. By naming this bull from this fruit, it is known how important this medicinal fruit is for the Muria tribe. It is heated and applied to the cut or old wound. By heating, it releases a black fluid which is the perfect medicine for the wound and also acts as a painkiller. It is used as an amulet to protect young children from the evil eye. On this day, apart from mango and kohka, four (chironji) mahua, tendu fruits are also jogani. This is the form of Mati Tihar, only the name has changed. The way of celebrating is exactly like Ama Jogani and Mati Tihar. It is also called Mati Tihar by performing muhurat for sowing paddy and taking permission to cut wood.

People of other communities do the muhurat to remove paddy seeds on the day of Akshaya Tritiya, but after the passage of Chaitra Purnima, the tribal Muria society does the muhurat to sow paddy by celebrating Ama Jogani, Kohka Saad Mati Tihar. It is not a festival of pargana but it is celebrated separately in each village. A meeting is held in the village a week before the day of celebrating it. Where the day of celebrating the festival is decided. After the day is fixed, drum dancing is done in the village ghotul from three days before. All the men and women of the village gather in the ghotul, the boys play the drums and the girls and women dance in a row singing pen pata (god song. This dance continues for three days continuously till late night. On the fourth day, the people of the village gather in Jagarani, they give the rice chick and egg brought with them to the soil Gayata, after depositing all the things, Mati Ganyata invokes his protector God Raobaba, Kaina, Kaud, and Mati Mata. He duly worships everyone. Mati sacrifices the chick, Raobaba and Kena cow the egg. Oblations of alcohol. After this, he cuts mangoes into pieces and offers them to his gods. At this time, four (Chironji) Kohka (Bhelwan), Mahua, Tendu fruits are offered to the deities and Jogani is offered and wishes are made for the happiness and prosperity and good health of the village in the form of prayers. After this, Mati Ganyata offers these fruits to Ana Kudma (place of the ancestral gods of the Sama Gotriya people.

All the people gather in their respective homes after offering the fruits ploughed today to the family god and the ancestral deity once again in the wake queen. In the past, they bring rice, lentils, liquor and flour of ground mandia from their homes and give them to the soil ganyata. Mati Ganyata makes powdered mandia roti and once again offers this roti with the fruits ploughed today to Mati Maa and Raobaba, Kaina, Kaudo. He distributes it to everyone as prasad, which everyone consumes. Since this day the Mandia page is drunk. On this day, permission is taken to cut wood for Penda farming. Penda cultivation or jhum cultivation is the shrubs grown on the slope of the hill and laid on top of it. After they dry, they are set on fire. The soil here becomes friable and fertile after burning, in which crops of grain species are taken for three years. This is the traditional farming method of the tribal Muria community, it is called Penda farming and permission for cutting wood is taken in Kohka Saad or Mati Tihar.

The dry wood is already stored in a corner of Jaga Rani, the permission to cut these woods is earlier asked for soil at the time of code sand in the past. In the middle of this frozen dry wood, a pillar is buried and set on fire, in this way permission to cut wood is sought in Kohka Saad. The tribal Muria society exploits nature very disciplinedly. This is the reason why the forest in tribal areas is still left. After this, all of them have tied the seed paddy received at the time of Hesang Jatra in Mongri Pati (Chief Mayar) from their respective homes. They bring it and give it to Mati Gayeta. He tests all the paddy together. Sacrifices the chick. One or two drops of blood drip into the paddy and sow that paddy on the banks of the queen as a muhurat. He distributes the remaining paddy among the farmers, which they take and mix with the paddy seeds sown this year. In this way, the time for sowing paddy in this saree is performed. This is followed by eating and drinking.

Kohka Saad is a celebration of every section of tribal Muria society. On this day, small children and teenage boys carry a stick in their hands, one end of which is pointed. They carry this wood to every house in the village. Every household in the tribal Muria community also has a stove outside the house for cooking. In which they cook. Such a stove can be easily cleaned and smeared. These boys pierce the stove with a sharp piece of wood singing songs. The tribal Muria society considers it a good sign. In return, the people of the house give money to the boys as gifts. Which they have a right to. The song that is sung at this time is called Kohka Pata.

as

Gondi                                                                    Hindi

Ko ko ko kohka pandi,                     ho ho ho bhelwan ripe.

Ko ko ko tumeer pandi,                  ho ho ho tendu ripe hua.

Ko ko ko marka pandi,                    ho ho ho ho aam ripe hua.

Ko Ko Ko Reva Pandi,                       Ho Ho Ho Char (Chironji) Ripe.

In this song, all the fruits cultivated on this day are sung as ripe and along with the names of other fruits are also taken. Before this festival, there is a tradition of playing Parad (hunting) by the enthusiasts of the village. In this song, the name of the meat of those animals is also taken.

as

 Ko ko ko kodaral wanti,                 ho ho ho kodari (chikara) meat.

Ko ko ko ko chitral chavi,               ho ho ho cheetal ka meat.

Ko ko ko mawal hawi,                     ho ho ho wild buffalo meat.

On this day, the girls of Ghotul make "Ama Kucha" and invite all the women of the village. Ama Kucha is made by peeling raw mango into small pieces and mixing salt and chilli in it. All the invited women of the village come to eat Ama Kucha giving voice to each other. It says "Wat wat ri marka tindala, adhi ned dadgo pais" it means let's eat mangoes with half a bottle of alcohol. Everyone gathers in the ghotul. Everyone drinks alcohol while sitting in a circle. The girls serve mango kucha in liquor and farsa (palash) to everyone. Everyone touches the feet of their elders and blesses everyone. In this way, the Muria tribal society of Bastar celebrates Kohka Saad in honor of their mother mother. It is literally the Mati Tihar of South Bastar. The Muria tribals of Narayanpur region do not parade it like in South Bastar. By blocking the way in Parad Cheghani, the youth of the village extort money from passers-by. This festival is called Mati Tihar in some parganas of Narayanpur and Kondagaon. This is how Mati Tihar or Kohka Saad is accomplished.