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2.15 Folklore
The Jhitkhu Mitki story
According to popular folklore in Bastar,
Mitki Bai was the only sister of six
brothers residing in Pendrawan village
in Bastar. The six brothers were so fond
of their sister that they were not ready to
marry her off as she would have to leave
them and go to a new house after the
marriage.
One fine day, a man named Jhitku came
to their house. He used to play the
sarangi, a type of string instrument, and
used to live on alms while roaming in
villages. Mitki used to like seeing him
play the sarangi and started playing the
manjira with him. Eventually, both of
them fell in love with each other. Mitki’s
brothers did not support their love.
Jhitku started working at their house and
on the farm to woo Mitki’s brothers. He
was ready to settle in their house after
his marriage with Mitki. But, Mitki’s
brothers were not in favour of that. He
kept working on the farm for Mitki’s
brothers as time passed. One day in the
monsoons, it was raining very heavily.
Mitki’s brothers ordered Jhitku to take
care of the dams in the farms as they
could break due to excess water. Jhitku
spent one whole night repairing dams
on the farm, but the rain didn’t stop and
the dams started breaking one by one.
Jhitku used to repair one dam, and the
second used to break. He used to repair
the second and third used to break. Alas,
he slept in front of the dam, so that the
water stops and doesn’t ruin the crops.
After some time, Mitki’s brothers went
to the farm to see the situation of dams
and to check whether Jhitku is working
or not. After reaching there, they saw
Jhitku sleeping in front of the dam. They
got furious and made a dangerous plan
of killing Jhitku. They put a heap of soil
on Jhitku while he was sleeping, and he
died.
The next day, Mitki got worried as Jhitku
didn’t come back at night. She kept
asking her brothers about Jhitku, but
they kept giving her random answers like
he must have gone somewhere and will
come back, he must be taking care of the
field and will come back etc. Mitki waited
for some time and kept worshipping
Goddess Danteswari to keep him safe.
In the afternoon, Mitki took a digging
tool and a basket and went to search
for him as he didn’t come back till the
afternoon. While she was searching for
Jhitku in the fields, she came across a
slightly larger heap of soil than the others
which had fresh soil. She was suspicious
about it and started digging it up. While
digging, she saw one hand coming out.
With a quickened heartbeat, she kept
digging the soil faster and saw Jhitku’s
dead body under it. She mourned his
death, and with a heavy heart, ended her
life by jumping into a nearby lake. Mitki’s
brother regretted their deed.
Since then, Mitki Bai is worshipped as
a goddess by Adivasis in many regions
of Bastar. Mitki Bai is also regarded as
deity ‘Gappa Gosin’, ‘Pendrawandin’ and
‘Budhi Mata’ in some places of Bastar.
Jhitku is also worshipped along with
Mitki Bai at some places of Bastar.
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