After a two-year hiatus, the bank of river Mahanadi near historic city Cuttack has once again been decked up to host Baliyatra, said to be the biggest open air trade fair of Asia. Not just in Cuttack, the festival is also celebrated with great grandeur in state capital Bhubaneswar and in the port town Paradip.
To attract more footfalls, the Indian Navy, in a first, has moved a vessel to Mahanadi. While the festival hoppers will have the opportunities to enter the ship and to get firsthand knowledge about the valour of Indian jawans during Indo-Pak conflicts of 1971 from the special kiosks put up for the purpose, the acclaimed Navy Band will be played at the inaugural ceremony.
As all these preparations show, for Odisha, Baliyatra is more than a commercial congregation. It is a glorious reminder of how the marine merchants of erstwhile Kalinga not only helped in the economic growth of their kingdom, they also played key roles in spreading the culture, tradition and religion of the land across South East Asian countries. Thus, Baliyatra, which turns a tourist destination for over a week every year, is like both history and heritage in motion for the culture aficionados.
With just two days to go before the gala event, Sunday POST takes a quick glance at the history and the legends associated with the age-old tradition.
Sadhabas, the honest businessmen
Sadhabas are an integral part of Baliyatra, literally meaning voyage to Bali, one of the prominent islands of Indonesia. The word ‘Sadhaba’ is often invoked by motivational speakers in their talks and has got mentions in several folklores. But who were they and what profession they belonged to?
According to some scholars, Sadhabas are the merchants who were involved in overseas trading activities. The word ‘Sadhaba’ was derived from two words, ‘Sadhu,’ which means honest, and ‘Byabasayee’ meaning businessmen. Besides, legend has it that trade in the Indian sub-continent was controlled by two types of merchant communities – Shreshthis and Sarthavahas.
Shreshthis used to cater to the needs of the local populace while Sarthavahas, known as caravan traders, made transoceanic voyages and controled both the imports and exports. Sarthavahas, later pronounced as Sadhabas, were mainly the wholesalers or suppliers of the Shresthis. And it’s well known that Sadhabas played a crucial role in enhancing the prosperity of Kalinga in their times.
The great Kalingan explorers
The growth of ports during the 4th and 5th century BCE opened several windows for the Kalingans. Soon, the sailors from Kalinga established trade links with Brahmadesh (Myanmar) and several island nations like Ceylon (Srilanka), Sumatra, Borneo, Java and Bali (Indonesia). With its rich endowment of a variety of minerals, Kalinga used to export precious stones like gem, ruby and diamond through sea routes to these places. Various designer jewelleries, silk, handloom fabrics, spices, ivory and stone items were also part of their freight.
Stone carvings in Konark suggest that animals as large as elephants and giraffes were also exchanged between ancient Odisha and other nations through the sea routes. The Sadhabas even had trade ties with China and the Roman Empire as some Roman coins and Chinese ceramic shreds were recently unearthed from different parts of Odisha.
Speaking of the size of their vessels, we know that the Kalingans constructed boats called the ‘Boitas’ and each of them could carry up to seven hundred men and animals aboard. Interestingly, the Bay of Bengal was once known as the Kalinga Sea as it was thronged by the ships of ancient Odisha. The dominance of the Kalingans over the sea was such that Kalidasa in his Raghuvamsa referred to the king of Kalinga as ‘The Lord of the Sea’.
Economic might, bane of Kalinga
At present, Odisha has a coastline of about 485 kilometres but it was much bigger in ancient times, almost half of the eastern shoreline of India comprising larger parts of present day West Bengal and Andhra Pradesh. WB’s ancient port city Tamralipti (now in East Medinipur) and AP’s Visakhapatnam were parts of the Kalingan empire. Kalinga, with such a vast coastline and flourishing marine activities, emerged as one of the great maritime and economic powers of its time.
The prosperity of ancient Odisha and its control over the ocean were perhaps among the principal reasons that excited Mauryan emperor Ashok to invade the coastal kingdom in 3rd BCE. And how Kalinga, with its strong and stable economic system, faced Ashok’s aggression, as they say, is now part of popular folklore.
Tamralipti Port and Kalinga War
As mentioned earlier, Tamralipti was a major port of eastern India during the 3rd Century BC and the Mauryan rulers used to depend on it for their overseas commercial activities. However, not many know that it was Tamralipti port under the Kalinga empire that caused the Kalinga War, costing around 2.5 lakh lives.
According to Debanampriya Priyadarshi Raja Ashok, a historical novel by Amarjyoti Mukherjee, traders of other states including Magadh ruled by Ashoka The Great used to pay toll tax to the Tamralipti port authorities before setting off on an oceanic voyage. In exchange, they would get drinking water and rations for their journey. However, the authorities at the port suddenly imposed additional tax on the traders of Magadh which enraged Ashoka.
History suggests that Ashoka had killed most of his brothers before ascending the throne of Magadh. But two of them managed to escape and took shelter in Kalinga. In a bid to avenge the death of other siblings, the duo trained Kalingan army with Mauryan warfare and prepared an army strong enough to face the mighty Mauryans in one of the deadliest battles of Indian history.
Though the two brothers died in the battle and Kalinga lost the war, it transformed the warmonger Ashoka into an ambassador of peace. It is this Tamralipti port from where his son Mahendra and daughter Sanghamitra went to Sri Lanka to spread Buddhism.
Decoding Aa-Ka-Ma-Bai
To reminisce the glorious past of ancient Odisha, Baliyatra is celebrated every year from the day of Kartika Purnima. As per the ritual, Odias, on this day, float toy boats made from banana peels and thermocol reciting ‘Aa-Ka-Ma-Bai, Pana-Gua-Thoi’. Aa-Ka-Ma-Bai connotes the month of Asadha, Kartika, Margasira and Baisakha of Odia calendar.
While the period from Asadha to Kartika (July- September) was the season of outgoing voyage, the period from Magha to Baisakha was considered to be the season of the return voyage. The adventurous Kalingan sailors wisely put the advancing and retreating monsoon to the best use for their outward and return journeys.
Celebration in Bali, Thailand
Baliyatra festival of Odisha has some parallels with the Masakapan Ke Tukad festival of Bali where similar floating of toy boats in memory of maritime ancestors is made. Likewise Loikrathong or LOY Brah Pradip festival of Thailand consisting of ritualistic floating of boats has similarity with the Odishan customs.
Historic corroborations
Greek geographer and astronomer Ptolemy has vividly described the voyage and trading practices of Kalinga sailors in South East Asian oceans in his writings in 2nd Century ACE. Similarly, Chinese Buddhist monk and traveler Hiuen Tsang who travelled India in around 630 AD wrote elaborately about the Kalinga kingdom in his travelogue.
Another Chinese traveler Fa-Hien also mentioned about the intimate relationship between China and Kalinga in his travel account.
End of glorious run
The prosperity of Kalinga reached its zenith in the 8th Century AD when the Shailendra dynasty ruled vast swathes of maritime Southeast Asia. According to Indian scholar Ramesh Chandra Majumdar the dynasty that established itself in the Indonesian archipelago originated from Kalinga. Several other historians also substantiate Majumdar’s claim. So, it establishes that Kalingans had set up colonies in islands like Java, Sumatra, Bali and Malaya (Malaysia) in their times. But the emergence of Europeans and spread of other religions resulted in the fall of Shailendras.
In the meantime, the maritime trade of Kalinga faced mounting challenges due to changing political scenes in India and that contributed to the dissolution of ties between ancient Odisha and Southeast Asian island nations ruled by the Kalinga rulers. The last nail was struck when the Aryas and Brahmans put restrictions on seafaring of Hindus, making this golden chapter of ancient history only a part of legends and folktales for the Odias.
Bijay Mandal, OP