Divinity Atlas

Sacred Correspondences
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Pantheons

Adivasi

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The bongas of the Sarna faith followed by Adivasi peoples across Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Odisha and neighbouring states of eastern and central India, headed by the sun deity Sing Bonga and including the spirits of the sacred groves, or sarna, where worship is centred rather than in built temples. The Santal, Ho, Munda and Oraon are among the communities that share this broad tradition under different names. Adivasi organisations have campaigned for decades for Sarna to be recognised as a distinct faith on the Indian census, separate from Hinduism.

Facts
Structure
Structure of the Pantheon
A supreme creator above a working order of intermediary powers 1
Divine Headship
A single sovereign god rules the others 1
Succession Between Divine Generations
One divine generation; no succession between generations is recorded 1
The Creator and the Ruling Gods
The creator of the world also rules the pantheon 1
Attestation
Era of Attestation
Held from the beginning in the traditions' own terms; documented in the outside record from the 19th century 1
Veneration Today
Actively venerated in a living tradition 1
Cult
Principal Cult Centre
No single centre. The sarna, the sacred grove of each village, is the place of observance 1
Organisation
Membership of the Pantheon
Every place, clan and lineage adds its own 1
How Mortals Enter the Pantheon
Ancestors and founders become objects of cult 1
Sources
Primary Source
Oral tradition held within Adivasi communities, with published ethnography. Grove observance is held under community authority and is not reproduced here 1
Cross-Tradition Connections

Associated With

India, Countries

Its own cited description places the Sarna complex among Adivasi peoples of eastern and central India.

Source Encyclopedia of ReligionMircea Eliade (ed.); Lindsay Jones (ed., 2nd ed.)
Sources
1. Encyclopedia of Religion
Mircea Eliade (ed.); Lindsay Jones (ed., 2nd ed.), Macmillan Reference, 2005View the Source
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