Bhisti & thopparai

Bhisti & thopparai

The word Bhisti is said to be derived from the Persian word bihisht  which means paradise. Bhisti is believed to be a water carrier from paradise who brings relief to the thirsty. A Bhisti can be identified as a person carrying upon his hip the entire skin of a goat the body and legs of which are sewn up the neck only being left open. The bag is known as a mussock (mashak) and could hold 30-35 litres of water. A strap is tied to both the hind and front of the water bag which stretches across his right shoulder the bag being on the left side. A stopper is placed in the mouth of the bag, which the carrier holds with his left hand. A cloth is worn about the loins, and his legs are bare to the ground. This profession has lasted into the 21st century although just barely newspapers report often on the last remaining Bhistis of Old Delhi hired mainly for ceremonial purposes attached to a dargah or cemetery, like the watering of graves.

In this collage we could see the similar water bags were made and used in chitirai thiruvila at Madurai,Tamilnadu. These bags were known as thopparai which means leather bags. It is customary for people to make vows to the deity during the festival every year and redeem it the next year. One such vow is to spray water using the thopparai. The art of making these goat skin bags are being mastered by about 200 families living in Kamarajar Colony in Kariapatti every year they were making ten thousand to twelvethousand bags for generations to spray water during the procession of Lord Kallazhagar near Meenakshi Templein Madurai.

Three months before the festival the villagers go to the local markets where goats are sold including Thirumangalam in Madurai and buy goat hides. It is then brought and cleaned, cured and the fur is removed from it. Then it is hammered to make it pliable and the irregular corners. are stitched together to make a bag. A long spout is fixed at one end and the people sling the bags over their shoulders and fill the bags with water and squirt it on the people who come to witness the festival and also the deity.

-- Ramu.Rm.N