‘Shakti Sthal’ of tribals consecrated in Jalpaiguri

The second “Shakti Sthal” or “Shakti-Khunta” of the tribal community was raised in Jalpaiguri.

“Shakti Sthal” is a place of worship for the tribal community and “Shakti-Khunta” is the trunk of a Sal tree that is worshipped by the tribal community. Earlier, the first “Shakti-Khunta” was raised in Murma, Jharkhand. This “Shakti-Khunta” raised along the Chell River in Odlabari of Jalpaiguri district becomes the second-of-its-kind in the country.

The tribals are shamanistic and worship nature. On Sunday, the consecration of this “Shakti-khunta” was done by the ‘Adi Dharam Sarna Paha Khora’ of the tribal community. The tribal community has been worshipping the trunk of a Sal tree through their rituals and ceremonies for generations.

It is said that the tribal community’s spiritual leader, Silvester Oraon, had a divine dream about the consecration of this “Shakti-khunta” and gave directions to his followers. They searched for the perfect site in various places, including forests, rivers, and mountains, and finally found the location for this sacred site and consecrated it here.According to Suresh Kerketta, the spiritual leader had received instructions in his dreams about the location for the sacred site. It had to bear certain divine signs as per the Adivasi belief.They searched various places around the state to find the ideal spot. Finally, they found this location on the banks of the Chel River and decided to establish the “Shakti-khunta” there.

After that, they began the work of consecrating this sacred site. Although construction work of the “Shakti Sthal” started a year ago, the “Shakti-khunta” could not be located. Finally, 15 days ago, it was found in the Teesta River near the railway bridge by the workers. Afterwards, it was pulled out from the river and taken to Sonali Dangi village of Bagrakote gram panchayat where a worship ceremony was held for 11 days.

‘’The tribal community considers this “Shakti-khunta” as the rightful owner of Lord’s power. In the near future, this place will be recognised as a pilgrimage and tourism destination by our society,’’

stated Karketta.