Baha Parab

Baha is the spring festival celebrated by the Santhal community in the month of Phalgun (March). The Kol, Ho, Oraon and Munda communities also celebrate this festival. Baha means ‘flower’. This festival is celebrated in connection with the turning of the year. The priest or the naikey worships the deity ‘Jaher Ara’ and then goes door-to-door with a kula (pot) full of sal flowers and leaves. The young female members of each and every household wash the feet of the priest and they also offer him food. All men and women dress in their traditional attire and gather in one place to celebrate the festival by dancing and singing together. This festival marks the advent of spring. At the end of this festival the Santhals eat the Mahua fruit and deck themselves with sal flowers.