Jharkhand Pavilion exhibits the Legend of Bhagwan Birsa Munda

Birsa Munda  (1875–1900) was a great Indian tribal freedom fighter, religious leader, and folk hero who belonged to the Munda tribe of present Jharkhand. He spearheaded an Indian indigenous tribal religious millenarian movement that arose in the tribal belt of modern-day Bihar and Jharkhand in the late 19th century, during the British Raj, thereby making him an important figure in the history of the Indian independence movement. His achievements are even more remarkable for having been accomplished before the age of 25.

His portrait hangs in the Central Hall of the Indian Parliament, the only tribal leader to have been so honoured.

The war cry of Bihar Regiment is Birsa Munda Ki Jai (Victory to Birsa Munda).

Birsa Munda was born on 15 November 1875, at Ulihatu in colonial Bihar, now in the Khunti district of Jharkhand, on a Thursday, and hence named after that day, according to the then prevalent Munda custom.

Birsa rose from the lowest ranks of the peasants, the ryots, who unlike their namesakes elsewhere, enjoyed far fewer rights in the Mundari khuntkatti system, while all privileges were monopolized by the members of the founding lineage. The ryots were no better than crop-sharers. Birsa’s own experience as a young boy, driven from place to place in search of employment, gave him an insight into the agrarian question and forest matters; he was no passive spectator but an active participant in the movement going on in the neighbourhood.

Birla Munda had a spiritual bent of mind. His concept of one God appealed to his people who found his religion as a great healer. Birs Munda’s fame as a miracle-worker and a preacher spread, and the Mundas, Oraons, and Kharias flocked to Chalkad to see the new prophet and to be cured of their ills. Both the Oraon and Munda population up to Barwari and Chechari in Palamau became convinced Birsaities.

Contemporary and later folk songs commemorate the tremendous impact of Birsa on his people, their joy and expectations at his advent. The name of Dharti Aba was on everybody’s lips. A folk song in Sadani showed that the first impact cut across the lines of caste Hindus and Muslims who  flocked to the new Sun of religion.

Birsa Munda started to advise tribal people to peruse their original traditional tribal religious system. Impressed by his teachings, he became a prophet figure to the tribal people and they sought his blessings.

His call against the British Raj,

Abua raj ste jana, maharani raj tandu jana.
(Let the kingdom of queen be ended and our kingdom be established)

is remembered today in areas of Orissa, Bihar, West Bengal, and Madhya Pradesh.

The British colonial system intensified the transformation of the tribal agrarian system into feudal state. The tribals with their primitive technology could not generate a surplus, non-tribal peasantry. This led to the alienation of the lands held by the tribals. The new class of Thikadars was of a more rapacious kind and eager to make most of their possessions.

To the twin challenges of agrarian breakdown and culture change, Birsa along with the Mundas responded through a series of revolts and uprisings under his leadership. The movement sought to assert rights of the Mundas as the real proprietors of the soil, and the expulsion of middlemen and the British.

His death is shrouded in mystery. He was arrested on 3 March 1900 in Jamkopai forest, Chakradharpur while he was sleeping along his tribal guerrilla army which was fighting against British forces. About 460 tribal people were arrested of which one was given capital punishment, 39 were awarded for transportation for life and 23 for 14 years jail.

Some say, he was treacherously caught on 3 February 1900 and died in mysterious conditions on 9 June 1900 in Ranchi Jail. He didn't show any symptoms of cholera though British government declared that he died because of cholera. Another story say he was poisoned by the British in Jail.

The exact cause and date of his death has not been known. Sceptism is still  whether he was cremated or buried near the distillery bridge in Kokar (Ranchi), However in 1900 there was no bridge as such.

Though he lived for a very short span of 25 years, he aroused the mind-set of the tribals and mobilized them in a small town of Chotanagpur and was a terror to the British rulers. The British at that time had announced a reward of Rs. 500 on his Head.

After his death the movement faded out. However, the movement was significant in at least two ways. First it forced the colonial government to introduce laws so that the land of the tribals could not be easily taken away by the dikus (outsiders). Second it showed once again that the tribal people had the capacity to protest against injustice and express their anger against colonial rule. They did this in their own way, inventing their own rituals and symbols of struggle.

His birth anniversary which falls on 15 November, is still celebrated by tribal people in as far as Mysore and Kodagu districts in Karnataka, and official function takes place at his Samadhi Sthal, at Kokar, Ranchi, the capital of Jharkhand.

Ramon Magsaysay Award winner, writer-activist Mahasweta Devi’s historical fiction, Aranyer Adhikar (Right to the Forest, 1977), a novel for which she won the Sahitya Akademi Award for Bengali in 1979, is based on his life and the Munda Rebellion against the British Raj in the late 19th century; she later wrote an abridged version Birsa Munda, specifically for young readers.

In 2008, Hindi film based on the life of Birsa, Gandhi Se Pehle Gandhi, was directed by Iqbal Durran based on his own novel by the same name. Another Hindi film, "Ulgulan-Ek Kranti (The Revolution)" was made in 2004 by Ashok Saran, in which 500 Birsaits or followers of Birsa acted.

The Statue of Ulgulan is a proposed 150-foot-tall statue of Birsa Munda, to be built, with a completion date of 15 November 2018, in Jharkland from stones collected from households in the region.

The Jharkhand Pavilion at Surajkund Mela this time has an 18 Feet high statue of Birsa Mynda, made by renowned Sculptor, Sh. Ram Sutar, celebrating the great legend of Bhagwan Birsa Munda.

The Jharkhand Pavilion also has a remarkable feature as part  31^st SKCM 2017---- the Natyashala – a creative way to sanitize school children about the Jharkhand State and its manifestations in various forms. Various games, named Jharkhand state-based snake and ladder game with diverse question based on the USPs of State were held today, which enthralled the children and parents alike. Nine questions related to the state of Jharkhand like, state flower of Jharkhand, state animal of Jharkhand, brand ambassador of Jharkhand, highest peak of Jharkhand, etc. were quizzed.

For small kids the major attraction was drawing and painting based on various themes of Jharkhand and was a big hit. Hundreds of kids wearing T-shirts of Jharkhand Tourism attracted crowds in large number. The kids painted state animal, elephant, and as state bird, koel. Four students did excellent drawing and won prizes for the same. Vanshika Sagar (Class 5^th) of Amrita Public School, Vishal (Class 10^th) of Govt Boys Sr. Sec School, Anant (Class 3^rd) of DAV Public School, Pratyush (Class LKG-C of DAV Public School) won the prizes.

The crowd was kept engaged with the question and answer round where they were asked various questions related Jharkhand, like number of districts, literacy rate of the state, etc.

It was followed by the musical chairs where folk songs of Jharkhand were played, to the tunes of which the audience enjoyed.