The Deer Mother | A Folk Tale from Tripura

Long, long ago, in a remote village of Tripura, a jhum farmer named Shyamacharan lived alone. Every day, he ventured into the jungle to hunt wild animals.

One day, he hunted a deer and cooked its venison for dinner. After eating, he saved the remainder for the next day and left for his jhum field. Upon returning in the evening, he found that someone had cooked his meal. Curious, he asked his neighbors, but none knew who had prepared the food. This became a daily occurrence, and the meals were always delicious.

Determined to uncover the mystery, Shyamacharan hid in a corner of his house instead of heading to the jhum field. To his astonishment, at noon, part of the preserved deer meat transformed into a woman. She cooked the meal and seemed unaware of his presence.

Shyamacharan caught hold of her and proposed marriage. ‘I want to marry you,’ he declared.

The woman, revealed to be Sakhi Darlong, agreed on one condition: he must never call her “Sakhi Darlong” or refer to her as a deer. Shyamacharan accepted, and they married. The couple soon had two children and lived happily.

One day, Shyamacharan attended a party with his friends. When he did not return home early, his wife sent their children to fetch him. The children found him and requested him to come home, but he sent them back, saying, “I will return soon.”

When he still did not return, the children came again. Frustrated, Shyamacharan blurted out, ‘Your mother is Sakhi Darlong, the deer.’

The children returned home and told their mother what their father had said. Heartbroken, Sakhi Darlong transformed back into a deer and vanished into the woods.

Life continued, and Shyamacharan eventually married another woman. Despite her disappearance, the Deer Mother still brought food for her children every day. When Shyamacharan’s new wife discovered this, she insisted that he kill the deer.

Shyamacharan went into the woods and told the deer about his wife’s demand. Concerned for her children, Sakhi Darlong instructed Shyamacharan to bury her breast in the ground. From it, a Simul tree would grow to provide for the children. Shyamacharan complied, and the Simul tree flourished, feeding the children.

The new wife, however, demanded the tree be cut down. Once again, the Deer Mother requested her ex-husband to cut the tree and scatter the sawdust in a river. From the dust, she would transform into a fish. Shyamacharan obeyed, and the sawdust turned into a large fish that carried the children to the sea.

Thus, the Deer Mother—symbolizing love, sacrifice, and resilience in Tripura tribal narratives—lived peacefully with her children in the sea. This mythical story from Tripura highlights the enduring bond of a mother with her children, a theme deeply rooted in the cultural heritage of Tripura.