Tales and Reforms to Rani Gaidinliu's "Heraka" Religion

This is a continuation of a 3-part article on Rani Gaidinliu, a freedom fighter for the Zeliangrong people. Read Part 1 here.

[E-Pao]

‘Heraka’ translates to ‘pure’ in Zemei.

The story of this ancient religion begins when Tingkao Ragwang, the first and final god, chose to create this world. For this, he created two primeval male and female deities called Didimpu and Didimpui (also called Sudimpu and Sudimpui).

On Tingwang’s behalf, they made the sun, the moon, stars, water, wind, fire, earth and the seven layers of the sky.

Didimpu was appointed the Lord of Earth. He is also known as the King of Gods in the Lower Realm, as opposed to Tingwang, who is God of the Sky (or Heaven).

Anyway, to create human beings, Tingwang summoned two more deities: Dampapu and Dampapui. The deities first created a fish, a frog, and a monkey. Eventually, they managed to make a man and woman out of the clay from an anthill. Tingwang breathed life-force into them. And that’s how the human race came into being.

Remember Didimpu, the Lord of Earth? He had seven daughters, but he badly wanted a son. Therefore, he went to the Almighty Tingwang with his request.

Tingwang granted him a boon. He assured him that such a thing would indeed happen. However, the boon came with a warning: if anyone stumbled upon Didimpu and his wife having sex, that person would receive the boon instead.

It just so happened that Didimpu’s sister Charasinglangpui stumbled upon her brother in the middle of the act. As warned, the boon was transferred. Charasinglangpui soon laid eight eggs (yes, eggs) at the confluence of the seven streams (I'm unclear as to where these streams are, or if they are likened to present-day rivers).

One egg did not hatch. But seven did. The offsprings are called the Ragwang Naren Chanei; or the Seven Brother Gods.

Their names slightly change from tribe to tribe. Here they are according to Rongmei tradition:

• Lord Bisnu (eldest): Lord of Nature/Men/Animals/Deities. Resides at Bhubon Hills (Cachar, Assam)

• Lord Chonchai: Looks after health of men. Resides at Mt Kasuakbut (Tamenglong, Manipur)

• Lord Napsinmei: The Lord of Food. Resides at Naapsinmei hills (Old Cachar Road, Manipur)

• Lord Charakilongmei: Lord of Peace. Resides at Bena village (Thonglang, West Mt Koubru, Manipur)

• Lord Koklou: The owner of God’s Court. Resides at Pouringlong village (Mt Koubru, Manipur)

• Lord Karangong: Teases ‘unruly youth’ and cures dizziness. Resides at Puching (Tamenglong, Manipur)

• Lord Na-Ragwang (youngest): God of the Lower Realm (after Didimpu). Resides at Mount Koubru (Manipur)

• Dimei: This was an egg that did not hatch. However, Dimei is still remembered and worshipped during ‘Ralenloumei’ festival.

Transfer of Godhood from Lord Didimpu to Lord Na-Ragwang

One day, Lord Didimpu wanted to transfer his title as ‘Lord of Earth’ to one of his seven sons. He hosted a succession contest for the same. It was a gauntlet of tasks that culminated in a wrestling match with Didimpu. Whosoever would conquer him would earn the title of the new lord.

Odds were on Lord Bisnu to claim the title, since he was considered the best of the seven. However, the youngest brother used trickery to defeat his father/uncle Didimpu in a wrestling contest.

To make a long story extremely short, the youngest brother took the hair from Didimpu’s wife (which was as prickly as a porcupine’s), and secretly threw it at Didimpu’s legs. Didimpu fell and he was defeated.

The lord handed his youngest the title of Na-Ragwang (meaning, God of the Lower Realm). Still fallen, Didimpu tore the ground beneath him and went underground. Thus, Didimpu also adopted a new title: Banglagwang; or the King of Earthquakes. 

Lord Bisnu was enraged by Na-Ragwang’s juke. He left to Bhubon Hills. And took all the plants and animals with him.

The ecosystem fell into crisis. Banglagwang had to reappear to broker peace between the two gods Bisnu and Na-Ragwang. Eventually, while the latter retained his title of ‘God of the Lower Realm,’ Lord Bisnu was christened as the lord of nature, men, animals, and deities.

To cement this alliance, Na-Ragwang married the daughter of Lord Bisnu. But this marriage came with the condition that this would be an anomaly. Henceforth, marriage among first cousins would be prohibited. This is a custom that the Zeliangrongs continue to follow strictly today.

How Rani Gaidinliu and Jadonang Reformed the Heraka Religion

The ‘Heraka’ religion was established by Haipou Jadonang, who collected the various oral narrations of the Zeliangrongs and gave it some form and structure. But if Jadonang was the master pioneer, Rani Gaidinliu was the master reformer.

The Heraka religion is much kinder to its people than it used to be. Look at the problems that the locals were beset with before Jadonang and Rani:

• Too many local priests preaching to too many local gods, thus devolving their villagers into dogmas and excessive rituals;

• Too many rituals (especially blood sacrifice ones), which often meant that one could not even leave their village without doing complicated rites;

• An over-reliance on sacred alcohol (termed ‘zao’) which was incorrectly assumed to have medicinal properties, and which led to unemployment, marriage problems, illiteracy, and health issues instead;

• A lack of concrete religious objects like shrines or ‘Bible’ type texts, which made the religion too dependent on oral tradition and misinformation;

• The emergence of Christianity as a competing religion, which was less barbaric on balance but also incompatible with the Heraka religion on multiple fronts.

And now look at the changes Jadonang and the Rani introduced to tackle this:

• The ‘Heraka’ religion was redefined from polytheistic to monotheistic. While gods like Bisnu or Na-Ragwang were acknowledged, Gaidinliu urged the Zeliangrongs to direct all their prayers and rituals toward one god: Tingkao Ragwang. This was an extremely savvy move because it prevented local priests from positing that their local god was the most superior of them all.

• The Rani stopped blood sacrifices over a slow transitional period of 30 years. First, she said that blood sacrifices were acceptable as long as it was only to Tingkao Ragwang. Later, she said that the animals must be killed by strangling, or by stuffing their neck with cloth, “without oozing blood.” Eventually, she said that the Zeliangrongs had “fully done the requirement of sacrificial oblation,” and that no more blood was needed during puja.

• Today, alcohol is officially prohibited in the states of Manipur and Nagaland. Truth be told, this was more down to Christian religions than Heraka reformations.

• The Heraka religion’s teachings were recorded in the Book of Hingde. It can be loosely compared to the religion's Bible or Holy Quran. ‘Hingde’ literally translates to ‘rules governing daily life.’ It emphasizes a respect for elders, a disciplined mind and body, perseverance of truth and knowledge, prayer with empty hands (i.e., without the blood of animals), acceptance that rebirth is real, and a plea to observe jalua (full moon day). It also noted, in detail, the rules of how their sacred shrines should be built (termed Kelumki). Rani Gaidinliu is extensively quoted in the Book of Hingde.

Despite their efforts, there were a lot of Christian converts. Today, the Zeliangrong district still does not exist, and 90% of Nagaland is Christian. But if not for Jadonang and Rani, perhaps there would be no sign or semblance of the Heraka religion.

We do not know if Rani Gaidinliu was an avatar of a higher power, but what is obvious is that enforcing this level of aggressive reform was miraculous in its own right.

Miraculous, and very, very tricky.