Oral Traditions: Tuloni Biya and Some Other Practices

The practice of celebrating the phase of transition from being a girl into adulthood is Tuloni Biya. Tuloni Biya is a marriage ritual in Assam. Tuloni or Tula / Tuliluwa means to be lifted. It connotes an elevation of a girl from childhood to adulthood. It is also called Shanti Biya.Biya in Assamese language means marriage and the word Shanti denotes the relief of parents when their daughter menstruate which implies her capability of getting married and producing children. The girls after puberty are married to a banana tree (symbolizing the girl's mock husband) with all marriage rituals. After the ritualistic bath on the seventh day of her menstruation, the girl would be dressed like a bride and a big feast would be arranged for the family, friends, and neighbours. However, the practice of celebrating menstruation is not only confined to Assam. Various rituals and ceremonies marking the onset of first occurrence of menstruation is practice in different parts of India. G. Roheim highlights that such ceremonies and rituals were also performed in ancient Greece and Rome. In India this practice is visible in some parts of South India, Maharashtra and Orissa. At her first menarche, a girl in Karnataka is fed with dry coconut, milk, ghee, certain fruits and a mixture of jaggery and seeds. In Manipur, when a girl first bleeds, the cloth into which she bleeds is safely kept aside by her mother and gifted back to her when she gets married. This cloth is believed to be powerful that it will protect the girl and her family from poor health and other ills. Young girls of the Noctes and Wanchos of Tirap district tattooed their faces and parts of body such as the chest, naval, thighs and calfs with lines and dots after they attain puberty. Similarly, in Assam we find the prevalence of celebrating the first occurrence of menstruation.