Chakma tribe is one of the few tribes which have preserved Buddhism in the
East as well as the whole part of India. Chakmas pronounce themselves
as ‘changma (chang-ma)’ and they are considered to fall under the
Tibeto-Burman family category.
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| A beautiful Chakma lady wearing her traditional dresses |
Geographically, Chakmas have settled permanently in 3 states of the North East – Arunachal Pradesh, Mizoram and Tripura. Significantly, in Mizoram they have acquired an autonomous district council on 29th April 1972 under the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution of India, named as Chakma Autonomous District Council (CADC). Besides, there is also another large dimension of Chakma population in the Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT) located in the neighbouring country Bangladesh.
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| A young Chakma couple in their traditional attire |
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| Young Chakma kids with their traditional ornaments |
Population: At present there are over 70,000 populations of Chakmas in Arunachal Pradesh, over 100,000 in Mizoram and over 80,000 in Tripura (approximate). In Bangladesh, their population is over 5-6 lakhs.
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Chakma women with their traditional dresses
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Religion: Chakmas follow Theravada Buddhism as their religion. The word Theravada was originated from the Sanskrit word sthaviravada which means – ‘the teaching of the older people’. Monks are the most respected persons in the society who live and meditate Buddha sutras in the temple. They are invited on various occasions such as marriage ceremony, funeral and home prayers in respective families. In some village areas Chakmas also practice animism as their religion which is related to olden form of worshipping towards animals and plants.
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| A Chakma young girl in traditional attires in a bamboo hut |
Language: Their speaking dialect is also commonly known as Chakma and they have their own form of writable scripts and alphabets. These alphabets are almost similar with the scripts of the neighbouring South East Asian countries - Thailand, Laos, Combodia and Myanmar (previously called as Burma).
Festivals: Bizu is the most important festival celebrated by the Chakmas, which arrives in every year between 13th April and 16th April. They consider it as the beginning of new year, similar to most Hindu people’s new year. Everyone celebrate Bizu with great pomp and rejoice and visit on each others' houses for feast. During this festival a big fair is organized in Tripura for continuous 4 days. Several Chakma people from all parts of India and the world come to attend the fair.
After Bizu another major religious festival worshipped by the Chakmas is Buddha Poornima. It is observed during April/May of the year to signify the birth of Lord Gautama Buddha, and is also known as Buddha Jayanti.
