Chando, the Moon

Chando is the Moon as venerated by the Oraon. Together with Biri, the Sun, and Dharti, the Earth, the Moon is counted among the visible divine powers that represent and channel the authority of the supreme god Dharmes. The paired names of Moon and Sun, 'Chando Biri', form a set invocation in the worship conducted at the sacred grove, where the two luminaries are appealed to as witnesses and givers of light and as markers of the times of the ritual year.

Domains

• moon lunar

Powers

• to give light to the world by night as the moon

Epithets

• Chando BiriSarat Chandra Roy, Oraon Religion and Customs, Ranchi, 1928, on the formula Chando Biri in Sarna worship (secondary)

Relations

• companion: Biri, the SunThe Moon and the Sun are coupled as the two luminary powers of Oraon worship, named together in the invocation 'Chando Biri'.Sarat Chandra Roy, Oraon Religion and Customs, Ranchi, 1928 (secondary)
• subordinate to: Dharmes, the supreme creator (the Sun, the Merciful One)Chando, together with Biri the Sun and Dharti the Earth, is reckoned among the representative divine powers of the supreme god Dharmes.Sarat Chandra Roy, Oraon Religion and Customs, Ranchi, 1928 (secondary)

Sources

• Chando is the personified Moon of the Oraon, one of the visible divine powers invoked alongside Biri the Sun in the 'Chando Biri' formula of Sarna worship.: Sarat Chandra Roy, Oraon Religion and Customs, Ranchi, 1928 (secondary); Ferdinand Hahn, Kurukh (Oraon)-English Dictionary, Part I, Calcutta: Bengal Secretariat Press, 1903 (secondary)