The recent move by the government of the Bodoland Territorial Region (BTR) in Assam to include ‘Bathouism’ as an official option in the religion column of various application forms has elicited praise from an expert on the Bodos and their traditional faith.
“I really appreciate the government’s move. Union Home Minister Amit Shah addressed the 13th Triennial Conference of the All Bathou Mahasabha in Tezpur, Assam on Jan 20, 2024, highlighting the government’s commitment to preserve nature-centric faiths,” Sanghamitra Choudhury, Professor & Head Department of Political Science & Dean, Social Sciences, Bodoland University, told Down To Earth (DTE).
“The minister had also noted that the Assam Government has declared the second Tuesday of the traditional month of Magh as a state holiday for the festival of Bathou Puja. This is very necessary as one should never forget their roots although going back to the past does not imply that we should forget modernity,” Choudhury added.
The BTR government’s decision applies to admission forms for educational institutions and key documents like birth and death certificates under the Health & Family Welfare Department, according to a report by India Today.
Bathouism is the traditional faith of the Bodos, the largest plains tribe of Assam. Their homeland has been on the north bank of the Brahmaputra, with the foothills of Bhutan to the north.
“Bathousim has been the ancestral faith of the Bodos, though Bodo society has seen reformist movements like that of Kalicharan Brahma. Also, a significant number of Bodos today are Christian,” Choudhury told DTE.
Faguna Barmahalia of Gauhati University notes in his 2012 paper, Revivalism of Bathouism Among the Bodos that Bathou “is invariably linked up with and centred round the worship of Bathoubwrai or Sibwrai, the supreme god of the Bodos”.
He describes that ‘Ba’ in Bodo means ‘five’ and ‘thou’ means ‘deep philosophical thought’. The faith system is based on five elements: Bar (Air), San (Sun), Ha (Earth), Or (Fire) and Okhrang (Sky). “It is like the Panchatatva in Hinduism,” said Choudhury.
Barmahalia adds that, “Hence, Bathou means five principles, significances which are mysterious: not easy to understand and feel without meditation. Amongst the follower of Bathou religion, God is known as Bathoubwrai. In Bodo language, the word Bwrai signifies the oldest or most elderly man in power and knowledge or the supreme in all respects. Therefore, he exclusively represents supreme soul, poromatma, who is omnipotent, omnicient, omnipresent. Fire can’t burn him, water can’t moisten, air can’t dry him and spear can’t pierce him. He is the illuminator of all earthly objects; He is the source of all knowledge and lights. He bestows us everything we need in this world.”
The Bathou faith is centred on the Sijou plant (Euphorbia splendens). “The Sijou is planted in the Bathou altar at the centre as the symbol of Bathou religion of the Bodos. In Bathou religion, the Sijou plant (Euphorbia splendens) has an important place and has been widely accepted as the symbol of life or soul by the Bodo people since time immemorial,” according to the paper. The Sijou plant is the living symbol of Bathoubwrai, the supreme God of the Bodos.
According to Choudhury, there was a need to recognise the distinct indigenous identity of the Bodos and giving it recognition on government forms was a good way to do it.
She also spoke about parallels between Bathousim and Sarnaism, another indigenous faith largely practiced on the Chota Nagpur Plateau. “Both are indigenous faiths of India. Both share some similarities like nature worship, belief in ancestral spirits and a priesthood. The differences lie in the fact that they are practiced by different ethnic groups and are set in the context of Central and Northeast India respectively. Also, while Sarnaism is centred on the sacred grove, Bathouism is centred on the Sijou tree,” said Choudhury.