For years Jay Shakuntala Welfare Foundation of Chhattisgarh (JSWFCG) has been involved with the various tribal communities of Chhattisgarh, from Bastar in the south to Surguja in the north of the state.

The institute, led by women of the area including tribal women, is attempting to rediscover & preserve the cultural, literary, ritualistic heritage of the numerous tribes of Eastern India.

Another aim of the institute is to correctly represent the tribal cultures & ceremonies without prejudice and slowly eliminate numerous misconceptions that have settled in due to misinformation that spread inadvertently by journalists and writers who happen to portray their understanding of such cultures in ways that have benefited them commercially.

The social leaders at JSWFCG work with a talented group of young tribal ladies, who bring with them hundreds of years of cultural dances through heredity, in preparations for the famous annual Karma festival that remains one of the most popular yearly events for tribal dances, tribal music & tribal celebrations in Bastar.

Karma, or Karam, is the annual tribal celebrations for a good harvest & could last several days of tribal dances, tribal music and authentic indigenous food, in various communities. Bastar is widely known for celebrating Karma more pompously than any other regions of Chhattisgarh.

These tribal girls have trained & rehearsed with the performing arts teachers of the Jay Shakuntala Welfare Foundation in preparations for the Annual Karma festival.

The voice in the video is of another talented tribal youth Sunil Manikpuri. Though Bastar remains the most popular location for these celebrations, they are seen widely across the state, this one photographed in Balrampur.

The post Tribal Dances at Karma Annual Festival of Harvest first appeared on Explore India TV.

The relevance of such a research can be seen from a recent government decision to isolate some of the indigenous communities as Denotified Nomadic Tribe (per the National Commission for Denotified, Nomadic and Semi-Nomadic Tribes, 2016) making it very hard for them to sustain their heritage cultures and lifestyles. This seems even harsher given the fact that the British rulers had always wanted to suppress such indigenous communities (through the 1871 Criminal Tribes Act or CTA) especially because of the resistance these communities put up against the British rule.

This research presents its own unbiased observations of the Gond tribal people based in Bastar in Chattisgarh. Bastar has the largest population of the Gond tribes according to the 2011 Census of India, having close to 4.2 million people of the total of Gond population of about 13.3 million according to the same report. The Gond also forms the largest of the indigenous tribal people in India, accounting for about 25% of the 60 million known Indian tribal people.

The Gond tribal people & their role in the history of India

Prior to Indian independence from the British colonial rulers, the British had systematically tried to eliminate any resistance to their establishment & who they could not kill, they made laws to identify them as criminals. Freedom fighters of India formed the largest segment of such denomination. The JSWF research showed that the Gond tribes were more fighters who intended to protect their families from the atrocities of the British and in that process also save their livelihood, heritage, cultures, religion and their land.

Many of the known Gond tribal rebellions were based their intent on to protect their identity, their forests, heritage and land as well as their culture. True to their behavior, the tribal communities struggle to this day to protect their indigenous nature. It was recently evident during the formation of Chhattisgarh state, the various tribes of Bastar came out in large number protesting against the inclusion of Bastar (i.e. the three districts of Bastar, Dantewada and Kanker which were in Bastar district under 1998) under the statehood of Chhattisgarh. Thousand participated in demonstrations that took place in Konta, Bijapur, and other areas of south and west Bastar.

Socio-economic status of Gond tribe in Bastar

The Gond and their sub tribes i.e. Muriya, Abujhmariya & Madiya, are huter gatherer tribes & are nomadic people doing primitive type shifting cultivation. They spend all life in poverty and ignorance within their natural small ecosystem. Lack of education & awareness also has superstitious behavior cutting deep into their daily lives. Economically and socially they have remained backward but they are satisfied with their situation.

Due to unstable lifestyle they are suffering from low literacy rate. The literacy rate of Gond in Chhattisgarh is about 56.7 percent of which the literacy rate is about 67.5% in males while females are way behind with about 46.2% literacy. The literacy rate is far below in the Gond population in the Bastar district from the literacy rate of Gond people of the State.

Being of the hunter-gatherer mindset, the mainstream occupational status of the Gond tribal people in Bastar is also very poor. About 61.3% of the population are mainstream workers while about 38.7% are marginal workers according to the Statistical Profile of Schedule Tribe in India, 2013 report available on Bharat Rural Livelihoods Foundation. The poor occupational situation, low literacy and nomadic nature of this tribal community continues to plague their progress & deprives them from various modernization efforts led by the government.

Current marginalization of Gond tribe in Chattisgarh

The region around Bastar & in general across Chattisgarh is naturally gifted with minerals, coal & forests, making it attractive to commercial establishments to exploit these natural resources. Unfortunately, the Government has been mostly uncaring towards the needs of re-establishing the tribal communities or with any efforts to bring them into the mainstream.

Aggressive encroachments to exploit these natural resources by large corporations have led to severe encroachments into the habitats of the Gond tribal communities of the Bastar district. Being left with no land, no food, no means to survive and continuous malicious injuries caused by other communities taking advantage of the denotified status of the Gond, they were left with no option but to flee. Being nomadic in nature, the young generation of the tribe continues to be deprived of education keeping them in perpetual darkness, ignorance & ruled by superstitions. Financially they continue to lose their footing and are consistently dominated by poverty with almost no chances of a quick recovery.

Gond migrations from Chattisgarh to Andhra Pradesh

The Gond tribe has traditionally been hunter gatherers, migrating from one place to another frequently. That tradition remains to this day, making it difficult for these tribal people to integrate into the mainstream society coupled with other challenges arising due to the socio-political situations of the region.

Due to their wondering traditions, the Gond people are living a life of isolation from the rest of the society. Most of these tribes prefer to stay near jungles, away from the villages. Thousands of families belonging to these tribes wander from place to place and stay in temporary structures in Bastar. In this condition they are not in a position to integrate themselves in the society and avail of the benefits of government facilities and modern civil life.

According to recent surveys, over 30,000 Muriyas families have been migrated to Andhra Pradesh from the Bastar division alone comprising of Bastar, Kanker, Narayanpur, Bijapur and Dantewada districts.

As the region adopts more modernization like establishments of industries, more prolific transportation systems, expansions of railways, efforts to increasing mining and other globalizations have increased deforestations & continues to drive more and more tribal people, who live a forest dependent life, further away and into other parts of the country that are either not as prone to rapid growth or are farther away from any settled communities.

The post Brief History & Current Situation of Gond Tribal People of Bastar first appeared on Explore India TV.

Although the Halbas are typically a patriarchal society, women are held in high regard. This reflects in the marriage many rituals of the Halba tribal people as well, with customs like brides and women decorating themselves with one-rupee coins to flaunt their affluence, or the groom paying a “bridal price” similar to a dowry to the bride’s family as a show of respect.

The societal structure of this Halba tribal community too follows the customs and beliefs of most of the tribes of India. The Halba tribal community too hold marriages in a position of prominence. Certain special rituals & customs are performed that are closely related to the marriage. For instance, a Halba female cannot opt to divorce her spouse. It is also important to note that the Halba widowers can only tie the wedding knots for the second time to widows only. Halbas permit widow marriage and divorce as referred in the Raipur District Gazetter, 1973.

In the Halba tribal society marriages amongst cousins are not only permissible but is also favored. While Halba monogamy is the general tradition, polygamy is also permitted to a certain extent. Previously child marriage was the rule but now the girls get married at a mature age of around 18 years and boys in their early to mind twenties. The proposal of marriage traditionally comes from the grooms family.

When a match is finalized, a ceremony, called tel-chandan, that involves smearing the would-be bride & groom with turmeric paste, is observed several times, ranging from for three to seven. After that the the ritual of “parghani” is followed in which the bridegroom’s party starts for the bride’s village with gifts & ceremonial offerings of rice pulses, goat, clothes etc.. The bride party receives them as an acknowledgement of the groom’s gesture of marriage.

In the main event of finalizing the ties & the vows between the bride & the groom, the bride is smeared with turmeric paste and the ritual of showering the couple with turmeric paste and soaked rice is done. The main ritual, known as lagan (or “auspicious time”), an elderly man ties the palms of the bride and her groom with a thread. This ritual is known as “gatiodna” & signifies the blessings of higher powers in solidifying the bond of marriage.

Finally, after all the preliminary rituals are over, the marriage ceremony takes place. The bride and groom stand facing each other with a sheet of cloth held between them. The Halba marriages are preferred to be held on auspicious days & times. As such there are additional rituals performed in the Halba weddings based on the day of the week the marriage is performed.

If the wedding is held on a Sunday, Tuesday or Saturday the bridegroom stands facing the east and if the marriage happens on a Monday, Thursday or Friday, he faces the north. The “Joshi” or the high priest of the caste, takes two lamps and mingles their flames, and the cloth between the couple is slowly brought down down while the bridegroom drags the bride over to him.

After this the cloths of the couple are tied together, or the end of the bridegroom’s scarf is tucked in the bride’s waistcloth, and they go round the marriage-post seven times, the bride following the bridegroom throughout. A plough-yoke is then brought and placed close by the marriage-post and the couple take their seats on it, the bride sitting on the left of the bridegroom.

The bundles of rice consecrated by the Joshi are given to them and they throw it over each other. The bridegroom takes some red lead and smears the bride’s face with it, making a line from the end of her nose up across her forehead and along the parting of her hair. He says her name aloud and covers her head with her cloth, almost like a veil. This signifies that she is a married woman, as in Chhattisgarh unmarried girls go about with the head bare.

The marriage ritual of the Halba tribe concludes in a way that is common to other marriages done in the Hindu families. It ends with the ritual of “bavar” in which the newly wed couple makes seven rounds around the rituals place & finally the ceremony of “paidhova” is customary in which the bride’s parents wash the feet of both the bride & her groom. After that they start for the bride leaves her home for her groom’s house where almost similar rituals are followed as a gesture of welcoming the new bride into the groom’s family.

This marriage rituals are simple when both the bride & the groom are from the same castes & hierarchies of social & financial stands. There are additional Halba rituals & customs when the marriage between a man & a woman who come from different casts, social standings or does not necessarily have all the necessities prescribed in their customs for a straightforward marriage.

Photo credits: OrissaPost.

In the next article on Halba marriage customs & rituals I will describe some of these customs & marriage practices in details.

The post Marriage Rituals of the Halba Tribe of India first appeared on Explore India TV.

The name Halba is derived from ‘Hal’ which means plough. This clearly implies the Halbas were primarily farmers in the olden days. Of all the tribes that occupy Chhattisgarh, the Halbas are possibly the most affluent and progressive. They also enjoy the privileged status of a high local caste and are very well respected in the tribal society. The unique traits of the Halba tribe show in their dress, languages and traditional rituals.

Interesting rituals of the Halba tribal communities

Puberty Rituals of Halba Tribe

While some tribal puberty rituals like that of the Yanesha tribe are vanishing slowly, that of the Halba tribal people are still very much practiced in their settlements in Chattisgarh. Their puberty ritual can be seen to have many merits and we have seen that many of these practices are still followed in many households to this day.

During the monthly menstruation periods, Halbi women are spoken of as “Mund maili” literally meaning “head dirty”. They are considered to be impure for four or five days, during which they sleep on the ground and not on cots.

They are secluded in a separate room and forbidden to cook or to touch the clothes or even be in contact with other members of the family. The ritual mandated that they must not walk on a ploughed field, nor will the men of their family drive the plough or sow seed during the time of their impurity.

On the fifth day the menstruating women wash their heads with earth and boil their clothes in water mixed with wood ashes. Cloth stained with the menstrual blood is usually buried underground. A firm belief that if their cloth is burnt it is supposed that the woman to who it belonged will become barren. While on the other hand if another barren woman should swallow the ashes of the cloth then the fertility of its owner would be transferred to her.

The Halba Tribal Rituals of Birth

Pregnant women experience longings for strange kinds of food. It is believed that these really come from the child in the womb and must be satisfied for the normal development of the child. Consequently in the fifth month of a woman’s first pregnancy, or shortly before delivery, her mother takes to her various kinds of food and feeds her.

It is a common birth ritual of the Halbas for pregnant women in general. Pregnant women eat earth of a clayey texture or the ordinary black cotton soil or dried clay scraped off the walls of houses or even the ashes of burnt cow dung cakes. This is done by low-caste women in most parts of the Halba communities but if it is done in excess it could lead to severe intestinal infections which often prove fatal.

Other rituals of birth requires that a pregnant woman must not cross a river, eat anything with a knife and she must observe various precautions against the machinations of witches.

Halba Child Delivery Rituals

The woman sits on the ground and is attended by a midwife, who may be a Chamar, Mahar or Ganda by caste. The navel cord is burnt in the lying-in room, but the after-birth, known as Phul, is usually buried in a rubbish pit outside the house. The portion of the cord attached to the child’s body is also burnt when it falls off, but in the northern Districts it is preserved and used as a cure for the child if it suffers from sore eyes.

If a woman who has borne only girl children can obtain the dried navel-string of a male child and swallow it, they believe that she will have a son. While if its swallowed by the mother of the boy, she will henceforth bear only daughters. This is the reason why the cord is carefully secreted and not simply thrown away.

Halba Child Naming Rituals

The Halba tribal communities of Bastar names the new born child on the sixth. The female relatives and friends of the family are invited to take food at the house. The father touches the feet of the child with blades of dub grass (Cynodon dactyloti) steeped first in milk or melted butter, then in sandalwood-paste & finally in water and each time passes the blade over his head as a mark of respect. The blades of grass are afterwards thrown over the roof of the house so that they may not be trampled under foot.

The women guests then bring leaf-cups containing rice and a few copper coins, which they offer to the mother with the younger ones bowing before her with a prayer that the child may grow as old as the speaker. All the women kiss the child and the elder ones the mother also as a mark of respect & solidarity. The offerings of rice and coins are taken by the midwife.

Of the many other interesting customs & rituals of the Halba tribes of Chattisgarh, the next couple of articles will be focused on the marriage rituals & the rituals of death & last rites.

The post The Puberty & Birth Rituals of the Halba Tribe of Chattisgarh first appeared on Explore India TV.

This folklore from Bastar may not have been heard so widely but within the children of the tribal communities of Chhattisgarh, the story of the two song birds this is still a popular story with a big moral for children of the family & a great reminder to the youth.

This is a close translation while you can listen to the original version beautifully narrated on our YouTube Channel here https://youtu.be/PKpJwCUcrYM

The folklore goes like this. A mother bird had 2 chicks, a Koel and a Pargi, both are beautiful young song birds. The sisters were growing up happy & cheerful. The Koel’s voice was becoming sweeter by the day and she was learning to sing in her beautiful voice to the other birds and animals around her. Whoever listened to her songs were filled with joy.

It is almost like the Koel could bring happiness to anyone around her just by her beautiful songs. The Koel, being simple as she was, however was not aware of her talents & remained humble.

The Pargi on the other hand was growing up into a beautiful bird as well. Her feathers were colorful and lit up the air around her. Her charm and beauty was growing by the day and everyone around her would look at her beauty in wonder. The Pargi was fully aware of her beauty and started to enjoy her privileges. It seemed like she started to feel proud of her beauty & her looks.

As time went by the Koel turned up to a a kind bird who was always there to help anyone who needed assistance. And with the sweetness of her voice she charmed anyone around her with her songs.

The Pargi grew up to be proud and adamant. She felt entitled to a life to adoration, love & luxury. She stayed away from any hard work and was quite selfish, being so aware of her own beauty, her silky features & her bright colorful attractive feathers.

With time the mother bird became old and soon fell sick. Her health deteriorated fast and very soon she could not sing at all. The Koel stood by and started to serve her mother. The Koel brought her mother food, water and whatever she needed to survive. Her daily life changed drastically. She could not longer afford the time to fly around and sing in the sun.

The Koel put in all she had to help her mother to feel a little better. Things got so bad that she called for her sister, Pargi and asked her to come and help her take care of their mother. The Pargi was too busy leading her cosmetic life. She ignored her sister Koel’s repeated plea for help when she most needed.

Much later, the Pargi came over to see her mother. The Koel greeted her at the door. Pargi went over to her sick mother’s nest and was immediately repelled by the stench. The mother bird was all skin and bones and she did not smell good either. Pargi suffocated and immediately left her mother alone with Koel.

Much later, when the mother bird was on her last breath, she called both Koel & Pargi one last time to bless them. She blessed Koel with grace and said Koel would always be there to help anyone in need. People would wait to hear her sing and she would bring good health and life to people around her.

The mother bird also blessed Pargi and said people would always appreciate her beautiful feathers and her attractive looks. However, when people would hear her sing they will be gulfed in fear of bad health, sickness and death. She would be the harbinger of a hard life ahead to those who would listen to her songs.

With that, the mother bird passed away, but her blessings continued to live with Koel & Pargi to this day. While everyone loves to hear the Koel sing, they love the colors of a Pargi but would drive her away in fear of ill-luck.

This beautiful folklore carries a moral that is even more relevant in these days, teaching children the values of love, compassion and the need to care for each other in the community.

The post Bastar Folklore – The Song Birds Koel & Pargi first appeared on Explore India TV.

One of the most popular & revered love stories among the tribal communities of Bastar in Chattisgarh, is the eternal romance of Jhitku & Mitki, almost akin to the stories of Orpheus & Eurydice, Odysseus & Penelope, Cleopatra & Antony, Fair Rosamund & Henry, Diego Rivera & Frida Kahlo or Layla & Majnu & many more, whose love for each other was romantic almost to the point of divine.

The story narrated in Hindi is on YouTube on https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ipAwhyeaBeA

The story of Jhitku & Mitki continue to inspire a lot of people in the tribal regions of Chattisgarh, Odisha, Madhya Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh & Maharashtra. This romantic story who gave their lives for the love of each other is so popular that a small cottage industry in Chattisgarh runs completely by making & selling Jhitku & Mitki memorabilia today.

Beautifully narrated by Astha in Hindi, this is part of a series of hidden gems of Eastern Indian Cultural & Literary heritage brought by Explore India TV team.

The eternal love story of Jhitku & Mitki

The story goes like this. Jhitku & Mitki met as young adults at a village fair and soon fell madly in love with each other. Their families consented to their marriage with the condition that Jhitku, the groom, relocates & stays with the bride Mitki in her paternal home. Jhitku, although not happy with this proposal, agreed to move to his bride’s village but would however, stay in a house that he would build for themselves.

With time, the young couple’s love for each other grew. The couple lived a simple life, herding cattle and occasionally making some extra income with other village chores. Their days were happy and their nights were peaceful.

Fate however had something else in mind for this happy couple. Soon a drought struck the village and all the crops dried up, leading to a dire situation for the villagers. The villagers consulted a healer who advised the villagers to sacrifice a human to please the gods to bring rain. The villagers, along with the brothers of the bride, decided to offer the groom as the sacrificial offering to the rain gods.

Soon the brothers of Mitki laid an evil plot to capture the groom Jhitku while he was out herding cattle. A scuffle ensued and eventually Jhitku was killed in the hands of the brothers & the villagers. His blood was offered to at the sacrificial alter.

That night it rained. The village was rocked by thunders & torrential downpour. Waiting for her lover & husband to come back home, Mitki had a terrible premonition that Jhitki was in danger & needed her help. In that torrential rain she ran and followed her vision to the pond, which was now full to its brim. Mitki was in a trance. She could think of nothing but her dear Jhitku beckoning her from the depths of pond. She walked right into the pond and drowned.

The next morning when her brothers and the villagers came to the pond to see the miracle of their sacrifice, they found the dead body of Mitki in the pond. She looked peaceful, she looked like she was in a divine union with the love of her life once again for eternity now.

The post Bastar Folklore – The Romantic Story of Jhitku & Mitki first appeared on Explore India TV.