In the heart of eastern India, where the emerald canopies of Jharkhand, Assam, Odisha, and West Bengal merge into one another, lies a land steeped in antiquity. These forests and rolling plateaus are more than landscapes; they are living archives of human history, whispered through the voices of the Kolarian tribes – the Santhals, the Mundas, and their kin.

For millennia, these Indigenous communities have not merely inhabited this land; they have been its custodians. Their lives, woven into cycles of nature and seasons, carry forward an unbroken chain of myths, rituals, and traditions. And at the heart of this cultural fabric lies something profoundly universal – the quest to understand creation itself.

The Santhals and Mundas, two of the most prominent Kolarian groups, have preserved through oral traditions their own cosmogonic tales – narratives that trace the beginnings of life, the world, and humankind. These myths are more than stories; they are philosophy in metaphor, spirituality in folklore, and history encoded in imagination.

The Munda Genesis: When Earth Arose from the Waters

For the Mundas, existence began not with land, but with an endless expanse of water – a primeval ocean stretching in all directions. Floating above this silent abyss was Sing-Bonga, the omnipotent Great Spirit, holding within him the intent of creation.

It was in this watery void that the first actors of the cosmic drama appeared:

• Horo, the tortoise, steadfast and patient.
• Karakom, the crab, tenacious yet limited.
• Lendad, the earthworm, small but tireless.

Sing-Bonga entrusted them with a sacred mission – to dive into the depths and bring back clay, the substance that would form the earth. The tortoise and the crab tried but failed. It was the humble earthworm, unnoticed by most, that persevered and triumphed, surfacing with a lump of clay that became the seed of terrestrial life.

From that clay, Sing-Bonga crafted the land, adorned it with forests, rivers, and beasts of every kind. Finally, he molded the first human beings – a man and a woman – breathing into them the spirit of life. Thus began the human journey, bound forever to the will of the Great Spirit.

The myth doesn’t end here. A celestial swan, Hur, laid a mysterious egg, from which another pair of humans emerged. In this way, the Munda imagination affirmed the cycles of life, continuity, and renewal – themes that still echo through their festivals and songs.

The Santhal Saga: When Birds Gave Birth to Humanity

The Santhal myth, though parallel in its watery beginning, takes a strikingly different turn. Here the supreme deity is Thakur-Jiu, who first populated the waters with aquatic beings – crabs, crocodiles, and other creatures. His initial attempt at sculpting humans from clay ended in tragedy, as they were trampled before life could be breathed into them.

Unfazed, Thakur-Jiu created instead a pair of divine birds – the Has-Hasil, a goose and a gander. From their celestial flight, they came to rest upon the waters, but soon needed solid ground. Once again, the tortoise and the earthworm played their roles: the tortoise offered stability, and the earthworm tirelessly burrowed clay from the depths, spreading it upon the tortoise’s back until the earth was formed.

When land blossomed with plants and trees, Hasil, the female bird, laid two eggs. From these eggs hatched the first Santhal man and woman, ancestors of all who came after. Recognizing their struggles for food, Thakur-Jiu expanded creation itself – filling the world with the sustenance needed for human survival.

Thus, the Santhal genesis is not only a story of origins but also a reminder of interdependence: between divine will, humble creatures, and humanity’s fragile beginnings.

Shared Echoes, Distinct Voices

Placed side by side, the Munda and Santhal cosmogonies reveal fascinating parallels:

• Both culminate in the birth of a man and woman, the archetypal ancestors.
• Both begin in primordial waters, an image shared with many ancient world myths.
• Both elevate small, overlooked beings – the earthworm and tortoise – as heroes of creation.

Yet their differences are equally telling. The Mundas emphasize Sing-Bonga’s direct creation of humans, while the Santhals imagine a more organic process – divine birds giving rise to the first people. Where the Munda tale carries a strong motif of divine breath, the Santhal story reflects resilience after failure, adaptability, and communal interdependence.

What unites them is their reverence for nature – animals, birds, and spirits are not marginal but central to the human story.

The Living Heritage: Myths in Festivals, Songs, & Rituals

What makes these myths remarkable is not just their antiquity but their continuing presence in daily life.

• Festivals:
  • The Baha Parab of the Santhals celebrates the flowering of spring. The festival begins with rituals to Thakur-Jiu, reminding the community of the divine origin of life and fertility.
  • The Mundas observe the Mage Parab, honoring Sing-Bonga with prayers, animal sacrifices, and communal feasting. The myth of creation is echoed in the chants, which invoke the Great Spirit’s role in shaping the earth.
• Songs & Oral Traditions:
  Santhal and Munda oral literature is rich with creation hymns sung during Sohrai (harvest) and marriage rituals. These songs recall the first man and woman, the role of the earthworm, and the divine birds – ensuring that the myths remain part of everyday consciousness.
• Dance:
  The famous Santhal dance, with its rhythmic movements and circular patterns, symbolizes cycles of life and continuity, often interpreted as a reflection of their cosmogonic worldview.
• Rock Art & Petroglyphs:
  Sites like Isko in Hazaribagh and Satpahar still bear petroglyphs and rock art depicting motifs of the Great Spirit, celestial beings, and animals tied to creation. These carvings are not just ancient remnants; villagers still visit them with offerings, treating them as sacred testimony to their origins.
• Ritual Practices:
  In both Munda and Santhal rituals, the earth itself is treated as sacred. Before sowing seeds, a portion of land is consecrated to Sing-Bonga or Thakur-Jiu, echoing the primordial moment when clay was first raised from the waters.

Why These Myths Matter Today

To read these myths as quaint folktales would be to miss their essence. They are philosophies encoded in poetry, affirming that the world is sacred, interconnected, and cyclical. In an age where ecological balance is threatened, these narratives remind us that even the smallest creature – an earthworm, a tortoise – can hold the key to sustaining life.

They also underline the resilience of Indigenous culture. Passed down through countless generations, often sung in village gatherings or recited during rituals, these stories are archives of ancestral wisdom, resisting erasure even in the face of modernization and displacement.

A Timeless Invitation

In listening to the Santhal and Munda tales of creation, we glimpse not only the worldview of two ancient tribes but also something profoundly human – our shared yearning to know where we come from and how we belong to the universe.

These myths do not provide “answers” in the scientific sense. Instead, they offer something richer: a vision of harmony, humility, and interconnectedness. They remind us that creation is not a one-time event but an ongoing act – in our relationship with nature, with one another, and with the divine.

As the Mundas and Santhals continue to preserve and tell these stories, they extend an invitation to the rest of us: to pause, listen, and perhaps rediscover our own forgotten myths – the ones that connect us to the land, to the cosmos, and to one another.

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The myths of the Kolarian tribes are not frozen relics; they are living traditions woven into festivals, dances, and rituals that continue even today. They remind us that in the endless waters of uncertainty, survival and meaning often rest on the smallest, humblest of beings.