BUNTS
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BUNTS |
TULUNADA SIRI
On the northern side of Tulunadu in Satyanapura, There was a rich and well known Landlord named Berma Alva.Unfortunately Berma Alva was not blessed with a child.He prayed to Lord Brahma that if blessed with an offspring he will donate his entire wealth to the needy. On hearing his prayers Lord Brahma(Bermer) comes to Berma Alva�s doorstep in the form of a beggar. Berma Alva sends the house maid to give the biksha, but Lord Brahma insists on Berma Alva to give biksha himself. When Berma Alva offers him biksha,looking at his sad face,Lord Brahma asked him the reason. On hearing the story, Lord Brahma tells him that as he has ignored Kuladevata shrines such a calamity has fallen on him and advised him to renovate the Kuladevata shrines .
Berma Alva religiously renovates his Kuladevata shrines and other worshipping places . He worships Lord Brahma by offering areca flowers and leaves, prays for his desire. Lord Brahma pleased with the prayers and blessed him with a baby girl. Berma Alva lovingly names the child Siri.
When Siri becomes 5 years old, Berma Alva gets her married to Kanta Alva of Kadeyangadi with a great pomp.He gives his entire land and cash to the groom .Even though Siri being beautiful and good natured, Kanta Alva keeps relationship with a prostitute . He spends entire time and wealth with the prostitute.When Siri became pregnant Kanta Alva does not bother to follow the tradition of seemantha( Bayake) doesnot sent her to her father�s house for delivery till the 8th month.When Siri does not returned to home for delivery, Berma Alva comes to take his daughter and asks Kanta Alva to buy her a Bayake saree and gave him cash but the unscrupulous Kanta Alva instead gives the new saree to prostitute and gets her used saree and gave that to his wife. An humiliated Siri comes to her father�s house and she delivered a baby boy names him Kumara. But her husband does not come to see and accept the child, Siri became very angry and curses her husband that all his wealth be destroyed and henceforth there will be no child in that household . Even today people believe the curse to be true .
When the child born, a astrologer tells Siri that her child is very unlucky for them and suggest the grandfather not to see baby�s face. One day Siri gives bath to the baby and leaves him in the room to get a cloth. The child starts crying, on hearing the cry the grandfather comes to cajole the child and holds it to his chest.When Siri enters the room finds her father dead holding the baby .A desperate and helpless Siri leaves the house and goes aimlessly.On the way in the forest two warriors spotted her and attracted by her.But when they came to know her story, they felt sorry for her and treat her as their own sister.They took her to Kotrapadi Kodser Alva and got her married to him. But Kodser Alva was already married but was childless.
Kodser Alva�s former wife became very upset and curses Siri as soon as she enters the house and see the lamp she may become blind. The inner version in Siri makes her aware of Kodser Alva�s former wife�s curse, so she decides that she would enter the house only if his former wife would personally accept and welcome her this makes Kodser Alva�s wife aware of her great nature and she accepted her as her second wife.
Again after sometime Siri became pregnant for the second time, just few hours before her delivery she goes to the arecanut grove near the house and there she makes a bed out of beetle leaves, and delivers her second baby girl names her Sonne and soon after she vanishes from the world. Sonne grows up at Chandaya Heggade house and marries Guru Marla.The couple prays to Lord Brahma and promises to certain offerings if blessed with child .Lord Brahma blessed her with twins girl. The excited couple after the birth of the baby girls forget the promise they made to the God.One day Lord Brahma approaches the couple and reminds them of their promises, warned them else they would loose their children. This angers Guru Marla and he rudely asks him to leave the place.The twins were addicted to a game of chennemane(a wooden plank with holes and beans) are used to play.The sisters always fighting over the game.One day when Guru Marla and Sonne had to go out they locked the chennemane and went out asking them not to fight.As soon as they left, Lord Brahma approaches in the form of a brahmin opened the chennemane and gave it to the twins.While playing they got into fight and one of the twins hit the other hardly with the wooden plank this caused immediate death to the child. On realizing that she had killed her sister and the fear of facing the parents the other twin went and jumped into the well. When the parents arrived the Brahmin tells them this was the consequences for not keeping promise to Lord Brahma.
Till today Bunts believe Siri to be the main Goddess for Bunts because of Siri the bunts follow the method of customs, rightful inheritance of the property and dowry system ,divorce ,re-marriage and Samantha.