Ka Suit Ka Shor
By SMC
In the traditional religion of the Khasi, we see the existence of various rukom (religious rites). There are these rukom (rites) such as ‘Shat Pylleng’, ‘sacrifice of the cock’ and ‘Ka Suit Ka Shor’, and jingngeit (belief) which are more or less the same throughout the Khasi society.
A paper entitled “Ka suit Ka Shor” was presented by Mrs Bulsilan Lyngdoh Mawphlang (Assistant Professor, Khasi Department. Sankardev College, Shillong) at the National Seminar on Cultural and Linguistic Studies in North East India: Prospect and Challenges, in which she talked about Ka suit Ka Shor with a special focus on “Ka-Niam-Im”.
It is to be noted that Ka Suit Ka Shor, an important ritual in the Khasi kur religion, is classified into two categories: Ka-niam-im (rites of the living) and Ka-niam-iap (rites of the dead).
In the seminar, Mrs B.L.Mawlong gave a brief and lucid description of the rituals in the context of ka-niam-im.
Abstract of the Paper:
The niam-im is concerned with the peaceful living of the living members of the under the protection of the invisible-kur and which guides the members to live in a right direction so as to be able to enter eternal life after death. The niam-iap is concerned with the transition rites of each of the departed member until he or she is safely conducted into the fold of the invisible-kur. The bones of all the departed members were deposited in the mawbah (religious repository store of the dead) which is the visible sign of their entrance to the visible-kur.a