The Legends of Raima-Saima (Tripuri Folktale)

Once upon a time there was a Tripuri priest in a village. He used to be quite busy in the priestly activities. Every day he was called by different people to perform different functions. He was usually accompanied by his wife. Hence, they had no time to look after their family and household affairs such as agricultural work of huk (type of cultivation done on hills). They had two beautiful daughters, Raima and Saima. The agricultural work of huk was managed mainly by the sisters.

Once there was a sudden storm when the sisters were working at the huk. It rained heavily. These sisters had no place to take shelter. They stood under a tree but it did not help. They were totally drenched and the younger sister, Saima was shivering in cold. Looking at her condition Raima was depressed and heartbroken. Out of agony she pledged……

'Saima, I can not see you shivering this way, there is no Gairing (type of hut made of bamboo), a machan for us to take a shelter. If we had gairing today, we could have taken shelter there, but alas! We have none. So anyone who would build a Gairing for us, I shall accept him as my husband. Let it be ant, grasshopper, bird, monkey, snake, demon or anything.' That day they could no longer work and went back home.

Next day when they went for huk, they found a beautiful new gairing. They were very elated to find it in their huk, at the same time were surprised for it being built overnight. As per her pledge, Raima decides to acknowledge the person as her husband. At lunch time, Raima tells her sister to invite her brother-in-law by singing a song. When called, the husband of Raima came. It was a big python! Saima was scared and hid behind the house, but Raima saw him as human being only. The python ate most of their lunch, they had to share only a little part. This trend continued. Saima used to invite her brother-in-law every day at lunch. Gradually the sisters became very thin and lean as the food for two was taken by three, one of which was the python.

One day their father the "priest" meets his younger daughter. He asks her about her weight loss. To which she narrated everything in detail to her father. The priest could not accept the python as his son-in-law and plans to kill the python.

One day, as per his plan the priest sends Raima to go somewhere else and not to the huk for work. Once Raima was gone, he along with his younger daughter Saima went to their huk gairing. He asks Saima to invite her brother-inlaw for lunch. Saima called her brother-in-law as usual and the python obliged. Saima tells the python that today Raima didn’t come with her. Instead his father-in-law, the priest, had come to meet him. She asks the python to touch her father’s feet. When the python touched his feet, he severed the python into two pieces, and dumped it in a deep a gorge.

At the same time, Raima who was working somewhere else felt a certain uneasiness. Her bangles, chain, earrings fell down all of a sudden. She knew something bad has happened and rushed to her home.

Upon reaching home Raima enquires about her husband to Saima. Saima tells her in detail how their father had killed the python. After getting the information Raima went to their huk and searched for her husband's dead body. She found the dead body of the python, in a Khumpui flower field, a kind of shrub flower found in jungle. Raima cried holding the head of her husband. Though others saw it as a python, but Raima saw as human being only. More importantly as her husband, companion for life.

She cried until she was totally submerged in grief. Then she urged and requested her husband not to leave her alone in this world, as she would also accompany him. As she continued crying, her tears turned into stream. She continued crying and praying her husband to wait and take her away with him. The stream turned into a small river, but she stood there only. The water level rose gradually from knee to hip to chest to neck and ultimately above her head and eventually submerged her into the river water. The river has since been named as Khumtwi and later changed to Gumti/Gomati. The python was believed to be none other than Lord Siva in disguise of python, and Raima was none other than Parvati. They came in disguise to give people respite from sins of the world. They became the river for welfare of the Tripuri people.

Kaushik Debbarma PhD, EEE Department Email: d.kaushik@iitg.ac.in