Dandari-Ghusadi Festival

The Dandari-Ghusadi or Gussadi festival of Telangana is celebrated by the tribal communities of the Raj Gond and Kolam tribes. The Dandari-Ghusadi season is all about a robust dance festival that is celebrated for about 10 days during Deepavli.  The festival ends on Diwali day with the Ghusadi tado taking off their attire ritualistically.

The celebrations usually begin with the tribals visiting the Padmalpuri Khako shrine at Gudirevu village of Dandepalli mandal in Mancherial district, on the banks of the Godavari river. On the occasion, the Adivasis present offerings to the river. They also end the festival at the Padmalpuri Khako as the shrine is of great importance for the people belonging to ethnic groups

It starts on the day we see a crescent moon and end on the dark moon day. We start the festival by performing the Sakshe Akadi and end it on the Devadi day. Once the Sakshe Akadi is performed, the tribals would attain the festive spirits and the entire week would witness the fervour of the fest.

The tribals’ love for music also becomes so evident during the festival time that one, if they visit to one of these villages, can find several instruments — like thudum, pepera, kalikom, dappu, ghumela, dhol, vetti and karra — that are not easily findable in our markets.

During the festive season, the Dandari and Gussadi dance troupes tour the tribal villages, stay there overnight, and perform traditional rituals. 

Adivasis celebrate Gussadi-Dandari dance festival with drums and rituals. They worship Yethmasarpe or god of soul. 

During the 10 days preceding Diwali, every Adivasi village across the four northern most districts of Telangana gets transformed into a festive arena where the Raj Gond and Kolam aboriginal tribes celebrate the exuberant Dandari-Ghusadi dance festival.  

The Dandari-Ghusadi dance festival, is an opportunity for the eligible bachelors to find their life partners and some 100 marriages are finalised in this manner in the Agency villages of Adilabad, Kumram Bheem Asifabad, Mancherial and Nirmal districts, which were part of the undivided Adilabad.

The ethnic dance is an exhilarating visual display of tribal culture through which these ethnic tribes also look to foster marital alliances; it also provides a platform to promote awareness on key contemporary issues faced by the Adivasis.

The first day, we reached the village of Mallapur, where the Bhogi pooja was scheduled to start in the morning. As soon as we reached, the masks, dance sticks, peacock crowns and musical instruments, collectively known as Dandari-pen (pen meaning God in Gondi), were brought in front of the village head’s home and ceremoniously worshiped. After the rituals were complete all the men of the village came together to offer prayers and seek blessings.

Soon after, the women too gathered around the Dandari-pen and performed rituals of lighting lamps, incense sticks and breaking coconuts.

The Ghusadi-thado or Ghusarks, are a personification of the God of Creation and, as per Raj Gond mythology, are said to protect the marriage procession of Yetma, the daughter of the God of Creation. When she marries a Raj Gond, the procession travels through dense forests and hence the Ghusarks accompany her. The Dandar-Ghusadi is a re-enactment of this marriage procession in every Raj Gond/Kolam village in Northern Telangana.

Pittabongaram is another village a little over 5 km away from Mallapur. We were told that the Dandari-Ghusadi troupe from a village called Kannapur were visiting, and were guided to the scene of action. In front of the Dandari-pen, about 8 Ghusadi-thados were having their meal from the same plate. As soon as they were done, the hosts offered prayers to the Dandari-pen, and a Ghusarks donned their peacock crowns. A bugle made of the horns of an Indian bison was sounded, indicating start of the proceedings.

Ghusadi Dance

As the resounding beats of traditional percussion instruments coupled with tunes flowing out of the pepre (a smaller shehnai like wind instrument) waft around, the Ghusarks enter the arena in a line taking simple steps. With live music playing at a fairly even tempo, the dance sequences were characterised by simple repetitive steps with equally simple formations. And an energy had pervaded around leaving the entire audience eagerly waiting the next routine.

Needless to say, the performance was extremely engrossing, with the gentle swaying of the peacock crowns following the footsteps of the dancers, as well as the shadows they made on the ground beneath, all adding up to the audio-visual spectacle.

Later that evening, we revisited Mallapur, where the Ghusadi–thados were getting ready with help from para-poriks. Para-poriks are young adolescent boys who are also part of Dandari-Ghusadi troupe, but dressed in women’s clothing, as they are said to represent Yetma. Madavi Babu Rao, a Ghusark , was busy getting into his elaborate costume. His legs, hands and torso are smeared with ash and designs are also made. At times, Ghusarks also wear false moustaches and beards, but Babu Rao wasn’t going to sport them. Large strings of beads are placed around his neck and bells are tied around his waist as well as feet.

In addition to hundreds of peacock feathers, his extraordinary headgear also had a pair of ram horns, a small mirror and was decorated with colourful shiny flecks all around.

Throwing light on his role during the Dandari-Ghusadi festival, his mother explains, “This ritual is like a deeksha. He leaves home today and will probably return only after five days (at least). He will travel to the designated villages and during this period he must sit or sleep only on the deer-skin and will not even take a bath.”

“The Ghusarks are an embodiment of God and because God is pure and omnipotent, what is the need for a bath” Pusam Anand Rao, an elder reasons out why Ghusarks are not expected to sleep or wash themselves.

The entire village assembled around Durva Shambhu Patel’s home as they reverently wished the Ghusarks and the Dandari troupe the best for their onward journey. As the mood of celebration spread around, a few dances were performed first by the Ghusarks, and later by the women of the village.

The next morning, we headed to Pittabongaram once again, this time the arena shifted as another Ghusadi troupe from the village of Marutiguda was visiting.

The dance moves of the Ghusarks are but an imitation of the movement of the wild animals and cattle, more specifically the deer, peacock, rabbit, nilgai and bison. Having dwelt in the forests and sharing the habitat with wild life as well as domestic animals, these have also become an integral part of their rituals.

After the Ghusadi dance, the stage was cleared, and Mesram Raju and a group walked in to perform a skit. It revolved around a conversation between an elderly Adivasi couple and some officials from the revenue department, peppered with doses of humour that had the audience in splits.

The play was about the impact of the Purification of Land Records, an ongoing programme undertaken by the Telangana government for making necessary correction in records pertaining to agricultural lands. The performers tried to drive home the point that the correction of the land records will reveal the Adivasis as the true owners of the lands which had been encroached upon by non-tribals.

“We hope to get justice through the land record purification. The exercise should reveal the extent to which the lands of our gullible ethnic people is under encroachment,” Raju sounded optimistic. 

Dandari Dance

It was now the turn of Dandaris to take centre stage, as they stand in a large circle with sticks in their hand. The lilting music is dotted intermittently with the dancers tapping each other’s sticks.

The Ghusarks make an inner circle while the Dandaris dance in the outer periphery. When a routine is soon to change, the leader hums “Cha-choi Cha-choi” and the rest of dancers respond by humming “chaah-ve”, in acknowledgement.

It is noteworthy that both the Dandari-Ghusadi troupes (host and visiting) dance together effortlessly as if they had rehearsed sufficiently. No dancer in either troupe misses a step or a beat nor does he move out of a formation.

The Dandari dance offers the eligible bachelors of the visiting troupe an opportunity to impress and draw the attention of the parents of unmarried girls with their dancing skills. A girl watching the courtship dance, which runs for a night and a day, can inform their parents if a boy catches her fancy. After the conclusion of the festival, the families of the girls and boys follow up on the nuptials mutually.

For about ten days before Diwali, the Dandari-Ghusadi troupes in every tribal village make it a point visit as well as host troupes from other villages. The villages they visit are where their sisters or daughters have been given in marriage. All these visits are decided before hand and the troupes from other villages are welcome with great fanfare. The Dandari-Ghusadi festival is a fine example of how the tribal men keep in touch with the women from their family even after she leaves after marriage. These rituals of the forest dwellers help them stay interconnected and also underscores the importance they attached to fostering marital ties and maintaining kinship.

https://floatstheboat.wordpress.com/2017/10/23/dandari-ghusadi-the-dance-of-the-tribals-from-telangana/

Raj Gonds – Reflections in a Peacock Crown

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Kingri

The Kingri, also known as Khikri, is a unique string instrument as its three strings and the bowstring are made of horse hair. 

The Kingri is mentioned in the Sanskrit epic Mahabharata, in many Ancient Indian Brahmin's tales. and in Punjab's folk music. The kingri is also used in traditional death ceremonies, marriages and religious festivals in Telangana and Maharashtra.

The most important possession of a Pardhan is his kingri, and a square wooden sound box covered by a skin membrane. On this fiddle Pardhans play during the Persa Pen rites and accompany themselves while singing hymns or reciting epics. The two instruments they play are the kingri, a three stringed violin and a small harp called a bana.

Like Raj gonds, Pardhans principle deity is also Persapen. They worship the same gods as the Gonds and attend most of their religious ceremonies. At Festivals it is usually the most prominent Prardhan who plays the Kingri (a musical instrument like crude form of veena or lute generally with three cords/strings), while younger men blow trumpets and beat drums. 

Among the aboriginal tribes of Adilabad district, Pardhans occupy important place. But t he census of 1921 gives very contradictory data and figure 416 as total pardhans population in the di strict. Generally, t his community is known for their priestly activities. They are the helots of the gonds and serve as geneologists and bards to the Raj Gonds, singing the exploits and great deeds of their rajas by producing m usic from a kind of violin called ‘Kingri’. They a re even known as craftsmen of the Gonds. The songs and stories that they preserve by oral transmission are the most important depositories o f Gond history, culture and tradition. But it is also said t hat they acted more as musicians rather than priest. 

Anthropologist Haimendorf in his study found that no marriage ceremony of a Raj Gond is celebrated, nor the death rites performed, unless Pardhan is present to receive the marriage presents or to claim the remainents of the dead and all rites in honor of each Persa Pen. Where a s R .V. R ussel perception on pa rdhans as priest of gonds in Adilabad contradicts and he says pardhans acted a s only musicians and never as priests as most of the rituals were obligatory in nature.

Pardhan (bard) Mesram Tukdoji sings Nagoba Bhidi or the legend of the Nagoba using the traditional string instrument called kingri, every night for four days before the Mahapuja.

When Mesram Tukdoji and his team begin their chorus “Aska ad ghat rai’t ropo....” to the accompaniment of music from his Kingri, listeners are transported to a different world. No, the latter is not required to be versed in Gondi to experience the magic of the Adivasi folk tradition which was in full flow during the recently-concluded Nagoba jatara at Keslapur in Indervelli mandal.

The younger generation of Pardhan Adivasis, who function as bards of the Gonds preserving their myths and stories through singing, are moving away from tradition

Since ages, the Pardhan Adivasis have functioned as bards of the Gonds preserving their myths and stories through oral tradition. In many instances, they even serve as priests and are an integral part of most of the important religious-cum-cultural affairs like the ongoing Nagoba jatara, the annual pilgrimage of the Mesram clan of Gonds.

https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/telangana/simply-out-of-this-world/article6828565.ece

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Kinnera

Kinnera is a two-stringed instrument made using indigenous materials like bamboo, dried outer shell of round bottle gourd, honeycomb, bull horn, beads, mirrors and peacock feathers.

Scholar and poet Jayadhir Thirumala Rao says that the origins of the kinnera can be traced back to “around the 4th century AD, in and around the Deccan plateau”. “The Chenchu tribe [also known as Chenchus or Chenchulu], who were part of the Nallamalla forest, used to play the instrument while singing and narrating ballads or stories of heroes,” said Rao. “The Dakkali tribe of Mahbubnagar district in Telangana [in the area near the Nallamalla forest] was performing it at least from the 12th century. The Dakkalis are a sub-caste of the Madiga caste, once considered outcastes.”

The kinnera has several variations – it comes with seven, nine, 12 or 13 frets. The larger-sized ones have three resonators, while the smaller ones have only two. Much like the Saraswati veena, the instrument is made with organic materials. Its neck is crafted of bamboo, and the resonators from sun-dried and hollowed-out bottle gourds. Pangolin scales are used for the frets, and honey wax for binding. The strings were once fashioned out of women’s hair, horse-tail hair and even animal nerves, but have long been replaced with thin metallic strings.

The ballads accompanying the music are usually drawn from historical incidents, the lives of local heroes, and sometimes songs from the Jamba Puranam. The Jamba Puranam is one of around 40 Puranas in Telugu that differ from the Sanskrit Puranas, in that their content is specific to a local community. The ballads are often interspersed with simple and short, often dramatic, monologues. The tone of voice, facial expressions and body language change with the song’s mood.

Padma Shri Darshanam Mogilaiah (born in 1951) also known as Kinnera Mogulaiah, is an artist from Ausalikunta, Lingal mandal, Nagarkurnool district, Telangana State, India is one among a few surviving performers of a tribal musical instrument known by the name Kinnera. Mogulaiah learned the art of playing kinnera from his father Yellaiah.

He has had not much formal education and has had no steady job with an assured income. He has seen much hardships and his life had been very difficult eking out a living doing odd jobs like a daily wager in construction sites. He had worked as a laborer for 14 years in Adilabad, Karimnagar and Warangal. He had also worked at a construction site in Mumbai.

Mogilaiah's forefathers were pioneers in making and playing kinneras having different numbers of stairs. His father had made a nine-stair kinnera. Mogilaiah was the first person to create a 12-stair kinnera and he is the only artist who makes and plays the 12-step kinnera. In the year 2022, Govt of India honoured him with the Padma Shri award for his contributions as a kinnera musician.

He received the state’s highest honours, the Ugadi Puraskaram, in 2015. There is even a chapter on him in a social studies school textbook. Another member of the Dakkali tribe, Pochayya, who hails from the Mahabubnagar district, was honoured by the University of Hyderabad in 2015.

But such honours and awards have failed to make a difference in the lives of these artists. Their performances are few and far between – at the occasional academic meet or art festivals – and remuneration has been dwindling. Most of them are forced to live off the doles from the Madigas.

Dakkali Balamma, the only woman perfomer of the kinnera, is 95 years old. The only proof of the umbilical connection between the Chenchu tribal. When Balamma was younger, the residents of her village said, she would ride around on a horse, much to the awe of her Dakkali tribe. Her voice, at the time, was more powerful, and her impressive performances with the kinnera in the district’s villages were rewarded with money, food and clothes by the Madigas, the patron class. Fortunes changed with time. By the time Balamma died in December 2018, she was penniless. The villagers had to pool in money for her last rites.

Balamma was among the dozen or so people in India still playing the instrument. The kinnera is a stringed instrument native to the nomadic tribes in the Deccan plateau, such as the Dakkali and the Chenchu. A kinnera performance involves vocals and music, and the ballads are sung primarily in rustic Telugu. But today, it is an all but forgotten practice.

Panduga Sayanna-The Robinhood of Telangana

Even after 125 years, when Dakkali Folk artists narrate the heroic tale of Pandugolla Sayanna still reverberates and echoes in the villages in Wanaparthy and one can visualize Sayanna before them when the Dakkali folk artist narrates the story using a Kinnara instrument.

Panduga Sayanna was a hero of the poor who fought against the feudal society and atrocious rule of the Deshmukhs, Patels and Zamindars, who fleeced the poor and tortured the Dalits and downtrodden classes during the period of Nizam rule between 1980 and 1900.

A few Scholars called Pandugolla Sayanna a Social Bandit. Others called him as Robinhood of Telangana. Few others went to the extent of calling him a Revolutionary Hero.

Common people opined that Pandugolla Sayanna was neither a thief nor a bandit. He was the “Hero” of the poor people. He was a brave and heroic man who saved and reinstated poor people’s health, wealth, and lives. They considered him as their own “blood relative”.

Pandugolla Sayanna was born in a Meruginipalle village in Palamoor (Mahaboobnagar). He was born into a “Tenuga” family. (Tenuga meaning person engaging in maintaining gardens, gardening work, and related works) on Muharram day. His parents could not afford to send him to school due to acute poverty. He was thus engaged in the family occupation.

As per the Dakhali folk artists' narration, it is believed that Sayanna was 6” feet and had a strong build physique. He had a long and sharp nose and a dark bushy mustache that he used to curl and extend to both ears. In due course, Sayanna built up relationships with Telugu Narasamma, a beautiful woman who became his companion too. She fell for his “Pedikadu nadumu” meaning, his waist measured one fist- to say, he had a slender waist and broad built-up shoulders measuring three fists. To say, Pandugolla Sayanna was well-built and handsome.

Just the mention of his name sent cold shivers to Nizam rulers and district officials. In order to capture Pandugolla Sayanna red handed “qufiya police” became shadow followers. Jamindar Venkata Reddy built up enmity with Pandugolla Sayanna and also intended to take revenge for his actions.

However, one fine day Pandugolla Sayanna was captured by Qufiya police with great difficulty with the support of landlords, and other wealthy people who intended Sayana’s captivity and remanded him in an Iron cage. Even after capturing and deploying him in an iron cage, police feared touching or going near Pandugolla Sayanna.

Rani Shankarama (1840-1912) of Vanaparthi Samasthana with soft corner was ready to pay a sum of Rs 10, 000/- (amount equivalent to the looted amount by Sayanna) to the police.

https://scroll.in/magazine/905049/fading-sounds-an-indian-musical-instrument-with-a-rich-history-is-on-the-cusp-of-extinction

https://sphoorthi-theatre.blogspot.com/2012/09/telangana-robin-hood-pandugolla-sayanna.html

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Keslapur Nagoba Jatara

Keslapur Nagoba Jatara  is a tribal festival held in Keslapur village, Inderavelly Mandal Adilabad district, Telangana, India.

It is the second biggest tribal carnival and celebrated by Mesaram clan of Gond tribes for 10 days.

Tribal people from Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh, Orissa and Madhya Pradesh belonging to the Mesram clan offer prayers at the festival.

The Nagoba Jatara starts in pushya masam in every year according to English to the English months December to January.

Every year, in the winter months of December/January, the Mesram clan of Raj Gonds and Pardhan Adivasis in the North of Telangana State make preparations for their most important religious and cultural festival, the Keslapur-Nagoba Jatara. The event is unique as it serves as a link between the present and the past, where customs and traditions that centuries old survive even today, underscoring the importance of solidarity within their community.

15 days before gond people bring Godavari river water to jatara to worship the god.

The adivasi Gond and Pardhans of Mesram clan come to Keslapur for the annual pilgrimage, Nagoba jatara, which will begin after a ritualistic puja at the Nagoba temple in Adilabad.

Thousands of aboriginal people come here from Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and different parts of the district to participate in the week-long event that showcases the high points of the adivasi culture still alive in these parts of the country.

The pilgrims who arrive in bullock carts even from far off places are camping under the holy banyan tree and will together move into the temple premises on Sunday to perform various religious activities over the next five days. Women will participate mainly in the rituals associated with invoking of the serpent god which is the Mesrams’ clan god.

They will fetch water in sacred pots from an old well near the village and mix it with the sacred water from Godavari and purify the sanctum sanctorum of Nagoba temple. The puja will be performed at about 11 p.m. followed by one of the most interesting rituals called ‘Bheting’.

This is a ritualistic introduction of the new brides in the clan during the previous year by way of marriage. The white clad brides are brought to the temple in a solemn procession to be introduced to Nagoba which will render them eligible to pray to the clan god.

The Gonds also perform ‘Toom’, in remembrance of the departed people in the clan. This year, abut 70 ‘Tooms’ will be performed, means 70 persons of Mesram clan died during the last 12 months since the last jatara.

On the third day of the jatara, the tribal darbar will be held where in all the arms of the administration are made available to look into the grievances of the Adivasis. The trend was started in 1946 by famous Austrian Anthropologist Christopher von Furer-Haimendorf in an effort to strengthen the Gond panchayat system of which the Mokashi or Raja was at the head.

The Betal puja and Mandagajiling are the two events scheduled for the last day of the jatara. These are meant to recall the Gonds’ antecedents as warriors and to bid adieu to them.

Very little has changed in the ritualistic aspects of this festival for centuries as pilgrims still walk barefoot through the hilly forest countryside to fetch holy water from a river bank and arrive at Keslapur in bullock carts carrying food and essentials for the duration of the 5 day event.

Just before the start of the sacred lunar month of poos (Pushya masam) which coincides with the calendar months of December or January, a handful of Mesram elders deliberate on the schedule for the month long fest, at the quaint and nondescript village of Keslapur in Indervelli mandal of Adilabad district. The discussions take place at the Pen thana (the resting place of the God) revolve mainly around the dates of important rituals and rites to be performed.

Nagoba, the serpent god Sheshnag, also known as Sri Shek is the clan-god of the Buiguita branch of the Mesram Raj Gonds and Pardhans. He is considered to be the mul-purush or progenitor of the clan. Mesram Manohar, a Pardhan elder who has been visiting Nagoba festival every year since 1976 when he was only nine explains, “The Nagoba festival ensures that all the Mesram clan members are at Keslapur at least once every year which strengthens the ties within the community”. Around 2,500 Mesram families attend the jatara every year, with some of them coming from across the borders with the neighbouring state of Maharashtra.

Legend has it that Nagoba had come down to Keslapur, to punish king Padiyor for his misdemeanours, but was appeased after the Mesram Raj Gonds offered him naivedyam of seven varieties. The annual festival of Nagoba Jatara revolves around this fable with rituals involving prayers to and pacification of the serpent God.

Once the schedule is fixed, a two member team comprising of Mesram Hanmanth Rao, the clan katoda (chief priest) and the chief of Pardhans (bards), Mesram Tukdoji, set out on a 10 day journey covering villages within a radius of 25 to 30 km of Keslapur. The journey in a two seater bullock cart called chakda first takes them to Sirikonda where they place an order for 120 earthen pots and lamps that are to be used during various rituals of the festival. The Guggilla potter family has been making the earthenware for the Mesrams since centuries. The duo later visit the 22 families in the clan, which have a major role to play in organising the jatara, and inform them about the schedule. Despite the availability of modern-day conveniences like motorised vehicles and cellphones, they diligently follow the traditional rituals by travelling on a bullock cart and personally invite families for the festival

Once the elders return, another meeting takes place to discuss the stopovers during the 15 day barefoot journey of the pilgrims who will set out to fetch gangajal (holy water) from river Godavari. Also, the names of those who wish to undertake this journey to Hastinamadugu near Kalamadugu village in Jannaram mandal, now in Mancherial distirct, are registered.

The 90 km route, takes pilgrims clad in white, walking in a line through jungles across hillocks and valleys, to the sacred spot at the river bed since this ritualistic event originated. The sacred brass vessel to hold gangajalcalled jhari, said to be 1,400 years old, was carried by the Hanmanth Rao (in 2018) while the pilgrims were led by Tukdoji in their walkathon.

About walking in a single file, Mesram Tirupathi, the kotwal for the festival explains thus, “We walk in a single line, trailing through forests and difficult paths mimicking the movement of a snake. We also ensure no man or animal crosses our path as it could prove inauspicious for our Patels (village heads). In the legend, the Pardhan (bard) is mainly responsible for pacifying Nagoba and hence he always leads us.”

On Jan 8th 2018, the devotees reached Hastinamadugu at daybreak, and after quickly brushing with a daatun(neem twig) huddled together to take a dip in the cold waters of Godavari while chanting in chorus “Jai Nagoba! Jai Nagoba!” A community lunch was prepared from the offerings of food grains like jowar, lentils and rice flour that each of the devotees had brought. The pilgrims began their return journey the same day and head to Gowri Gonduguda, the native village of Hanmanth Rao.

While most pilgrims dispersed, Hanmanth Rao was joined by his family and a few devotees as they proceeded to Indrai temple at Indervelli. After performing pooja here, they made their way to Bhourmachua or the sacred banyan tree outside Keslapur to camp there until the day of mahapuja (on Jan 16th 2018). All this while, due care is taken to sling the jhari from branches of trees when the pilgrims are resting as keeping it on the ground is an anathema.

The following night the Patels (village elders) arrive under the banyan tree to a ceremonial welcome by Pardhan musicians. The Patels light the sacred torches of the torch-bearers and these remain lit during the entire course of the Nagoba jatara. The flickering light from the torches illuminate their path through the darkness and is a part of all the rituals. Only after the Patels have set up their camps, ordinary Mesram families from various corners of the tribal heartland start joining them under the banyan tree.

The camp under Bhourmachua consists of temporary dwellings hinging around the carts around which all items necessary for the four day stay are arranged. The women set aside groups of sacred baskets containingnaivedyam in a separate area. The days are filled with children’s fun and frolic, women busy preparing meals or carrying water, while the men discuss important matters relevant to the community.

The nights, however are reserved for recitals of Nagoba Bhidi, the legend of the serpent god, by Pardhan bards as their audiences gather around camp fires, and flickering flames offering them much needed warmth, all together creating a mystical aura.

On the morning of Jan 16th 2018, the Mesram men dressed in spotless white and women covering their heads with a white cotton scarf made their way into the Nagoba temple in a ceremonial procession. The head priest carried the sacred jhari into the temple and slung it from a branch of a small tree close to the where the earthen pots were arranged.

While all rituals and ceremonies pertaining to the preparation of the Nagoba jatara involved men so far, the women gain prominence and participate actively from the day of the mahapuja. Traditionally, most alliances of Raj Gond bachelors are fixed during post-harvest Dandari-Ghusadi festival, and the nuptials take place between March and May. For the Mesram Raj Gonds and Pardhans, the gamut of weddings is complete only after the bheting ritual, which is held on the first day of the jatara and entails introduction of brides to the serpent god and thereby into the clan. This ritual is most significant part of the Keslapur-Nagoba jatara.

On the day of mahapuja, the pots that were made specifically for the festival, are consecrated soon after the arrival of the priests and others to the temple in the morning. The Patels line up beside the pots while Mesram Tirupathi, the kotwal, calls the names of women to whom the pots would be handed over.

The women who come in pairs are daughters of Mesram families but have been married into other clans. They are handed over a pot which is meant for fetching water from a well near Bhourmachua (banyan tree).

After the distribution of the pots, the head Pardhan Mesram Tukdoji takes a seat and begins to tune his 200 year old bow-string instrument called kingri for another recital of Nagoba Bhidi in the temple premises. The Pardhans or bards are said to have preserved the myths and stories of Gonds in the oral tradition over centuries. Tukdoji has been singing the Nagoba katha for over 50 years, and has taken a family member under his wing to train him and eventually pass on the baton.

Once again, strains of pipri and dhol begin to waft in the air, as women carrying the earthen pots on head begin to line up. Everybody steps aside to make way for them and they begin walking at a uniform pace, the pots balanced on their head, leaving behind a trail of the afternoon shadows that follow rhythmically.

At the stepwell, each woman waits for her turn to fill her pot with water. After filling the pots with water at the well, the women return to the temple in a similar fashion. The water in these holy pots is used by women in the ritual of creating small mounds of clay also called boula (anthills). On a nostalgic note, Mesram Manohar reminisces, “Prior to early 1980s, all the rituals were performed at the boula. After the temple was constructed and a brass deity of Nagoba was installed, the prayers are offered only at the sanctum.”

At twilight all occupants under the banyan tree pack up and move with their belongings and bullock carts to set up camps around the temple. A circular open air structure called govad is made specifically for women and the “bheti koriad” – the daughters-in-law who wait to be introduced.

Inside the govad, at around 2:00 am women huddle in small groups huddle around bonfires, to keep warm while the light from the torcher-bearers casts a soft glow on the bheti koriad. The girls get busy donning on their white sarees to participate in the bheting ceremony. Two young girls who will soon lead the procession to the temple, are seated – one a daughter-in-law of priest while the other is new bride in a Patel’s family, wait as the koriad gets ready.

Mesram Jayanthi, a mother-in-law camped at the govad explains the bheting ritual, “We make our brides wear white clothes, take them to the Sathi temple, and pray for their prosperity and progeny. With their heads covered, the koriad are taken in a procession to the temple led by musicians. They take the blessings of Sathi Devi before being formally introduced to our clan God Nagoba.”

“If a family member has passed away recently or the bride is unwell, she cannot participate in the ritual and will have to wait for another year to be ceremoniously introduced into the clan and become eligible to offer prayers at the Nagoba temple. This is why the bheti koriad ensure that they make it to the ritual at any cost.”

Barring the banyan tree and the temple compound, the surrounding environs wear the look of a carnival; filled with tea shacks, make-shift restaurants, amusement arena with giant wheels and many vendors selling household articles and appliances. Most hawkers hope to attract business from newly-weds setting up a new home. Mesram Manohar was quick to point out, “All these facilities and conveniences are a much later addition, but the rituals remain the same and have retained their traditional zeal.”

At night, the Nagoba Jatara provides a stage to many rural folk theatre troupes who perform Gondi Ramayan and Mahabharat, so named as the shows are performed in Gondi dialect. These performances are a major draw and have the audiences riveted till the early hours next morning.

During the Nizam’s rule, eminent anthropologist Christoph von Furer-Haimendorf had conducted ethnographic studies on the tribes of Adilabad. In the year 1944 he had introduced the phenomenon of Darbar on the third day of the Jatara wherein the aboriginals could voice their grievances and concerns to the representatives of the government. Till date, it is an event the Adivasis look forward to and take an active participation. This year, despite a cloud of uncertainty looming over the Darbar on January 19 in wake of the recent Adivasi-Lambada conflict, the event was peaceful.

Source

https://floatstheboat.wordpress.com/2019/01/23/keslapur-nagoba-jatara-1-2-the-prelude/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nagoba_Jatara

http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/telangana/nagoba-jatara-adivasis-stream-into-keslapur/article8205052.ece

by S.Harpal Singh

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