folktale – chinki munda

When I was a kid, my mom used to tell this story every evening in episodes.
I don’t remember all the events but I can give a brief summary of this story.
Now I realised, it was a folktale my mom used to narrate it every evening to let me sleep.
During that time I was around 5-6 years old.

My mom never went to school. During her childhood, they used to live in village where there was no road connectivities at that time. They survived by jhum cultivation. She told me that this story was very famous among them which passed on through orally by their parents and grand parents. There is no any written records of this story.
My mom expired on 2007. I have no any other sources to find that story.

So I am writing this in briefly to see if there is someone who have heard this story from their parents and knows better than me.
If you are reading this please don’t hesitate to contact me. Here

This story is dedicated to my loving Mom ❤️

So, the story goes like this:

Once there was a remote village in the jungle of Arunachal Pradesh.
Where only 5-6 families used to live. Far from all kinds of modern civilizations, with no road connections and electricity.
They live like hunters and gatherers. They also learned jhum cultivations because arunachal is a hilly area. They live in tribal kutcha house build up of bamboos and banana leaves.
Imagine, it was a dark rainforest no roads, no electricity.

During day, all the elders went to jungle for farming, they only return back after sunset.
They keep their childrens at home with elder brothers and sisters. Kids and youths duty was to look after their younger toddlers.

There lived a monster named APA PALANG who has thick hairy body like bear with long vampire teeth.
Tall and very scary appearances with long dirty nails… Bloods dripping from the vampire teeth.
The Apa palang loves to eat the heart, eyes and liver of toddlers.
Sometimes he also eat the elder kids and coil up their intestines in the kitchen where they cook foods(chuju).

All the villagers got scared and there were chaos all around the villages.
Many times villagers gathered and prepared with bows and arrows to hunt that monster but to no avail. Villagers were frustrated and was angry too.
The apa palang comes to the village every alternate day when the elders and parents goes for cultivation.
He doesn’t comes when elders stay back at village.

In that village there was a man who’s name was Hadudachar.
He was young and smart.
He stays back at Village with kids to hunt the monster.
But he failed.
One day, when hadudachar and his wife came back from jungle they saw that their kids intestine was coiled up in their kitchen on Chuju(in local dialect). Chuju is where they cook foods and roast meat.

Hadudachar was so furious at that moment.
Her wife cried for many days after losing her kid.
She didn’t even went for farming for 3-4 days crying in sorrow and grief.
She cursed and blamed Hadudachar.

Hadudachar was also in grief and sorrow after losing his beautiful daughter.
Everyday his wife cursed him for doing nothing for their daughter.
All she want was revenge.
She want hadudachar to hunt down apa palang and kill him mercilessly.

After so many failed attempt
One day hadudachar come up with an idea.
He took some uff terr(local name) leaves of a creeper that smells like fart. (Uff means fart. Terr means creepers.)
He also took some rice and lied down on the way from where apa palang comes.
Hadudachar took his life on risk on that day. Apa palang could have kill him on the spot .
He lied down on the ground blocking his asshole with uff terr and sprinkled some rice on the ground pretending to be a deadbody.

After many hours, the Apa palang passed by and noticed that Hadudachar was lying on the ground.
Apa palang, slowly goes near to confirm if he is really death.
Because apa palang was afraid of Hadudachar.
Apa palang saw the rice on the ground and thought those were maggots.
And he pull out the uff terr from Hadudachar’s ass, the pungent smell of his fart mixed with uff terr made him confused and thought Hadudachar is death.
He smiled and walked around hadudachar and said ” Hadudachar Sippe Chapa Hey hey” ( hadudachar is death heyhey.. smiled)

Apa palang carried him all the way to his hole.
Hole was vertical in the ground and had a rope to climb up.
He tried to carry hadudachar inside his hole but everytime he tries to take him in, Hadudachar spread his legs & hand.

After trying many times apa palang went into take his weapon and called his wife and kids to carry the piece of meats.
As soon as he went inside.
Hadudachar, collected some woods and big stones.
And burnt the stones till it gets hot.

Hadudachar heard some voice coming from the hole.
Saying.. Aab ngam nyiru ngam, aab ngam nyipum ngam, aab ngam dumpo ngam. ( In Nyishi dialect, it means apa palang’s kids asking his father ” I want ears, I want nose, I want head).
And the wife said “nyega ngam hang ngam”.(hubby I want heart).
All apa palang family was climbing up with ropes hanging in hole.
As they reached the top.
Hadudachar untied the rope and put the hot burning stones inside the hole.
Apa palang and his family screamed and cried in agony falling deep into the hole.

And that’s how hadudachar killed apa palang’s whole family.
Hadudachar became hero in that village. And live happy life with his wife and childrens. The word of his courageous act and heroism spread across other villages too.

That’s how the story passed by generation to generations through narrations without any written form. This is the only place where you will find this story which was passed by my mom to me. I want to keep it in digital form in this blog, so that everyone can access to it and will pass this story to upcoming generations.

Our tribal folktales are all passed by orally, there is no written records.
They will vanish after some years so I am searching for more tribal folktales and true stories from different tribes of Arunachal pradesh.
So, if anyone knows such stories please do contact me.Watsapp
Thank you for reading.
Please comment your views and don’t forget to like, follow and share.☺️

The supernatural human being of Arunachal Pradesh.

MOST FAMOUS LEGEND CHUKHU TOPU – THE MOST FAMOUS NYISHI LEGEND KNOWN FOR SUPERNATURAL MYSTERY AND MIRACLE WHO LIVED BOTH IN THE PHYSICAL HUMAN WORLD AND SUPERNATURAL VIRTUAL UNDERWORLD:
(It is not fully narrated and may not be near to the truth but just a glance or a brief story only. Otherwise his stories and tales about him is huge and numerous).

THE NAME: CHUKHU TOPU:
Have you ever heard the name of CHUKHU TOPU, the most famous and legendary Therianthropist- one who has the ability to metamorphose into other animals by means of shapeshifting?

IN BRIEF:
He was very famous and popularly known to have lived both in the underworld realms-devil or evil or supernatural world as well as in the human physically world.

It is narrated that he could transform himself as tiger, wild pig/hog and any animal forms. While he was in his shapeshifting like in the form of wild hog, tiger and sneak into villagers paddy field he was killed many times with the aconites (very poisonous materials used in th arrows for spot sure killing).

It is told that his wives and children came to his human house in the form of pythons etc

It sounds funny and incredible. But he lived with those famous mysterious tales and stories.

Chukhu Topu was a very infamous shapeshifter or Therianthropist- some use to call him Gwnbo Topu, Ganriang Topu, Ganyi Topu, Konyi Topu etc. He was known as notorious transformer or Therianthropist but with while in the estate of human spirit.

THE MYSTERIOUS BEGINNING:
The mysterious life of Late Chukhu Topu started with a story of hunting in a jungle. While chasing after a wounded deer for so long in the deep jungle, he came across a natural lake where he coincidentally saw a snake caugth a frog near that natural lake. Mysteryman Chukhu Topu saw that a frog was helpless and crying loudly for help as snake had bitten the frog.

Then Chukhu Topu felt pity on the frog and saved the frog from the mouth of the snake. Frog quickly jump into that natural lake.

After a while an old man came out of the water and thanked late Chukhu Topu saying “thank you for you have saved my daughter from the snake- devil”.

Later, the old man asked him to accompany him to his house which is said to be inside that natural lake. Marvelled at what the oldman was saying, Chukhu Topu asked him how would they go into that natural lake inside the water and asked how comes it is possible that a house could be inside that natural lake.

The oldman took a stick and beat the water and water in the lake opened up and he could see a house, within few second late Chukhu Topu could found himself already inside a huge Nyishi House. The old man point at a very beautiful girl saying, she is the one whom you have saved from the snake- other devil.

Later late Chukhu Topu was asked to marry with that girl and then he lived there inside the lake years after years with that girl as his wife and had childrens too.

But the human family members of Chukhu Topu constinuously hired and engaged expert local priests every year and those local Priests used all their powers to trace out Chukhu Topu. Those local expert priests did all their level best to search Chukhu Topu but invain. Late Chukhu Topu narrated that the throwing of rice with a chanting or mantra by the local Priests which use to come in the form of rain to their house, sometimes an eagle use to fly over their house in search of Topu.

After many years finally, Chukhu Topu was released and sent back to his human family.

But when Chukhu Topu returned to his original home, all the people were amazed at Chukhu Topu and wondered how it could be possible to live so long in the jungle who was lost for many years and come back alive in fit and fine conditions.

After returned to his real home. Chukhu Topu lived with his human family but he still could contact and talk to his underworld family-wife and children from time to time. And from time to time his underworld family members use to come and visit Chukhu Topu’s physical world house but not in the human form but in the form of Pythons.

The irony of the story is that while Chukhu Topu was living with the human world he became very notorious as he use to transform himself as tiger, wild pig etc and destroy the crops like paddy field or the other agriculture yieldings of the villagers. The villagers knew that it was Chukhu Topu who did all the damages to the crops of the villagers. And while he was damaging the crops of the villagers Chukhu Topu was killed many times but still he use to escape and returns to human form time and again and again.

This sounds incredible but it is the stories famously known and narrated in our Nyishi regions.

Finally, he died in 2007 at Chiputa area.

This brief story about Chukhu Topu may not be very correct or contradicts to others first hand accounts. But it is shared or posted just for an eye opening or thought provoking purpose only.
Others may kindly supplement or give more inputs to the story in the comment section.

Tag: folktale

Hadudachar Vs Apa Palang: A tribal folktale.

Chukhu Topu: The man who can transform into animal.