01Dharti Aaba’s village
Birsa was born here to Sugana Munda and Karmi Hatu, a poor family that moved from village to village looking for work. He grew up herding goats in these hills, went to a mission school at Chaibasa, and left it. He learned from a Vaishnava teacher, Anand Panre, wore the sacred thread for a time, and then began to teach his own people: one God, no animal sacrifice, no liquor, and the land of the Mundas for the Mundas. They called him Dharti Aaba, father of the earth. His Ulgulan, the great tumult, against the landlords, the missions and the British, ended at Dombari Buru in January 1900, and he died in Ranchi jail on 9 June 1900.
02Ulihatu today
The village is a small cluster of Munda houses in the hills south of Khunti, and his family still lives here. A statue and memorial stand at his birthplace. Jharkhand state was created on his birth anniversary, 15 November 2000, and since 2021 the Government of India has kept the day as Janjatiya Gaurav Divas. On 15 November 2023 Narendra Modi became the first Prime Minister to visit Ulihatu, and paid homage at the birthplace.
The life of this place
- 15 November 1875Birsa Munda was born at Ulihatu.
- 15 November 2000Jharkhand was formed on his birth anniversary.
- 15 November 2023The Prime Minister visited Ulihatu, the first to do so.
