1177671

Tribal Gods and Festivals in Central India
Author(s): Durga Bhagvat

Source: Asian Folklore Studies , 1968, Vol. 27, No. 2 (1968), pp. 27-106
Published by: Nanzan University
Stable URL: https://www.jstor.org/stable/1177671
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Tribal Gods and Festivals in
Central India
By
DURGA BHAGVAT
I. THE TRIBAL GODS
Gradually with the political awakeni

since the attainment of political freed
unity is felt urgently in India by on
manifested in diverse ways, as a vast liter
newspapers and reports of public speec
lost in this confusing tangle of opinion
and theories. Much of this confusion is
hold on to outworn traditions and beliefs
or misrepresentation of facts. So little
Looking to the vast area of this countr
religions and languages, with the mist of
on all sides, it is no easy task to attem
cultural unity directly. We must first div
into definite groups according to race,
study each group separately, scientific
rancour.
The following pages are intended as a cont

study. I have collected the material for it during
field-work in Central India. My intention was
the extent of penetration of the aboriginal cultu
by Hindu religious beliefs and customs.
The clash between scriptural and popular traditio

Our forebears in ancient time made a crude division of Indian
society into the four varnas; they tabulated many a fact as

firmed by tradition and gave detailed directives regulating a

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28 DURGA BHAGVAT
individual's relations with his family, with his socie

These directives Mwere laid d(own in the Shastras vwhich were often
revised, commented upon and expanded. As far as Hindu society

is concerned, the injunctions of the Shastras, especially in the parts
which are called Smritis (tradition), in continuity with the Vedic
tradition, are even to this day considered irrevocable.
However, the Shastras being mainly directed at perfection, we
do not get a realistic picture of the society as it existed then, nor
do the scriptures account for the various specific customs which are
being practiced by the people for ages. In fact, there is an
amazingly wide gap between the scriptural and popular traditions.
Each little group of people has its own traditions. Each locality
too has its own traditions. The curious mixture of local and com-
munal traditions is a problem that presents immense possibili

for cultural study. We are not yet in a position to account f
various disparities between groups of people who are inhabita
of the same locality, speak the same language, have come from th
same stock and seem to share the same culture. Just as each in-
dividual differs from the rest, its kith and kin, so also each social
group of people can be differentiated from allied groups, however
subtle the differences might be. Thus, the Gond differ from the
Korku, and the Korku from the Nihal, etc.
We are also not yet well equipped to explain the origins either
of a community or of its customs. The historical data and the
information we get about the similarity and/or disparity between
cultures of different groups of people, living in a specific area, on
the one hand and of one community scattered in different places
on the other hand, are yet deficient.
And so, there are immense difficulties in arriving at a synthetic
evaluation of the cultures. The importance of practical research
work, i.e., collection of facts about the material culture as well as
various other subtle aspects of culture, is immeasurable. The more
facts we collect, the more we realize how little we know about our
neighbours connected with us by a common destiny.
The place of the aboriginal problem in Indian social life:

Next to that of the Hindu castes, the problem of the aborigines
is coming to the fore. The recent interest of people in the problem
is neither merely academic nor purely political. It is a cultural
problem also. As for instance, in Central India the cultural contact

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TRIBAL GODS AND FESTIVALS IN CENTRAL INDIA 29
of the aborigines with the Hindus has created great i

the aborigines compatible with the Hindus? The pig-
worship of Bara-deo, which no Hindu is allowed to a
the non-Brahmanic heritage of the aborigines quite
other hand their superstitions, language, dress, festival
closely linked up with their Hindu neighbours of t
classes that one can hardly make out a Gond from a Kosta or
a P nka. In political and economic matters, the destiny of the
aborigines is completely linked up with their non-aboriginal brethren,
especially the low-class Hindus. Their social status, however, is
much superior to that of an untouchable in all respects. The
Gond even make fun of the poor Panka for having been created
from the bottoms of Bhagvan and look disdainfully on the hard-
working Chamar (tanner) for dealing with the carcasses of cattle,
eating the flesh of dead animals. So the problem we have to tackle
now deals mainly with the cultural affinities between various ab-
original tribes I have come across and their Hindu neighbours. The
cultural contribution from either side is the chief item of this study.
I. THE TRIBAL GODS
Introduction
The aborigines of Central India are polytheistic, but their

polytheism is of an elastic nature. Many of the gods are inter-
tribal, though each tribe boasts of having its own pantheon, which
is independent of other tribes. All tribes recognise Bhagvan or
the Creator. All beings come from him and go back to him after
death. In the creation legends we find many accounts of his deeds
and especially of the way he planned the universe. Yet in the
daily routine he is conveniently forgotten by the aborigines. God
Mahadeo has been recognised by all tribes; he finds an important
place in their mythology, though in actual worship, except in the
western tracts of Hoshangabad, Seoni and Chhindwara he is almost
a negligible figure. Only those Hinduised aborigines who go to
the temple to offer worship, make offerings to the god. Budhadeo
or Baradeo of the Gond is a real intertribal god. Though his
1. 1. Cf. The controversy between the late A.V. Thakkar and Verrier Elwin
being carried on at cross-purposes in the papers and separate pamphlets has
attracted considerable attention among the social reformers and academic circles.

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30 DURGA BHAGVAT
origin is Gondid, he receives recognition from almost a

in the province as well as by some tribes outside the pr
Narayan-deo is another inter-tribal deity. Some identif
the sun-deity2 but some believe that he is neither the
the god Narayan of Hindu mythology, but an abori
the household,3 whose functions are certainly disti
former Hindu deities. Yet Narayan as he is worshi
Korku, Mavesi, Bharia, etc., is always called by the
the sun-god. Narayan as the recipient of the pig-sac
mover of illness and the protector of the hearth, howe
be quite aboriginal in character. The homage pai
by the aborigines is universal.
The origin of the Gods:-What is most interesting
about the aboriginal gods in the province is their or
a general belief that before man inhabited the world
in the sky, all hills and plains and the rivers and th
inhabited by the gods. It is also believed that th
created by Bhagvan and that the deities never left the
to them. Some of the gods are still performing
functions. Thus Bhainsasur is the god of the fields
the spirit which dwells in the fields as well as in hil
water places. There are very many Dongar Deotas or
There is Ratmai, the goddess of the night, etc. Y
certain that nowadays the deities do not manifest t
often as in old days. Some say that with the adven
the earth the gods became invisible and hid thems
assigned places. It is only when they are offended o
they manifest themselves in some form or other. I
magician's duty to see that no god is offended or if he
that he is appeased. Why the gods disappeared o
visible, when man came, no legend has so far reveal
A myth however tells us, that in old times, whe
her first offsprings, the aboriginal children troubled
body a lot. Mahadeo got tired of their mischief and
in a pit, only four Gond children and a little girl
children who were buried became deities and to them the other
2. W. Crooke, Religion and Folk-lore in Northern India, London, 1926, I,

pp. 5, 74.
3. V. Elwin, The Baiga, London, 1939, p. 404; S. Fuchs: The Gond and
Bhumia of Eastern Mandla. Bombay, 1960, pp. 391-3.

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Gond children offered their worship. This myth is in

with the aboriginal tradition of ancestral worship. The l
Baradco or Budhadeo of the Gond, and the custom of the Kamar
of worshipping nothing but Duma or the male-ancestor, confirm
the theory.
The variety of the gods: There are two kinds of tribal gods
who are actually worshipped, viz. (1) the clan-gods and (2) the
village gods.
The Clan-gods:-The Gond and allied tribes have a very
peculiar system of the clan-gods. They are also called "little gods"
or household gods. The Gond are divided into septs according to
"the number of the gods". These gods, the same as the number
of the gods to which the clan belongs, are kept in an earthen pot
called "gadwa", and kept inside the house of the head of the
family.4 Each clan is supposed to have a special spot in some part
of the forest where the family Saj tree stands. The spot is called
"gadha" or "pen-kara", the circle of the gods. High up in the
branches, is kept a bundle of grass in which in bambu cases are
kept the set of the godlings (in the form of stones, iron bits, chain,
copper pieces etc.), the same in number as the domestic godlings.
In reality, however, the bundle is called the Bara-deo, or the great
god of the clan.5 Every three years in the normal course, or when
there is a marriage or death in the family the clan people worship
first the gods in the home and then those in the forest.
Though each clan is thus supposed to have its special place
of worship, in reality it is so far removed from the actual godlings
of the family that they seldom have the satisfaction of going to
the "ancient" place and offering worship.
Mostly they pick out a Saj tree from the forest nearby and
perform the rites underneath it. Many people have even forgotten
the name of the place also. I was told by a Raj-Gond in Raipur
that the clans belonging to "four gods" had their 'gadh' at Dhamdha,
those worshipping "five gods" at Pavagadh, those with "six gods"
at Chanda and those with "seven gods" at Ujjain6 etc.
4. V.W. Grigson, The Maria Gonds of Bastar, London, 1938, p. 194.

5. Ibid.
6. (a) The "four gods" clan is called Netam and is divided into four septs,
each has its own gadh, viz. (1) Sadmaki at Lanji, (2) Kowa at Varsegadh, (3) Sidam
at Mandla, (4) Chidam at Surjalpur.
(b) The "five gods" clan called Tekam is divided into five septs, viz. Ghodam

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32 DURGA BHAGVAT
The control on marriage:-The "number of gods" am

Gond, is very important and yet a difficult thing to ex
are the gods that make the pantheon is still a moot pr
Hislop in his papers has attempted to give lists of the
clan gods. But there is no uniformity between the gods
to different localities. Neither is the status of the gods
animal they require for their worship the same everywher
Grigson however states that it is hopeless to expect the
holder or the 'pen-gadwa' custodian to name each of th
penk' (the small gods) or their Bhera Pen (big god) count
It happens many a time that a Gond only tells you the
of the gods of his sept but he does not know their nam
lists are sufficient to show, how broad and elastic the who
of the gods is. Where the names of the various gods ar
they are given offerings separately as each god relishes a d
kind of food. Otherwise the whole set of the gods is lo
as one god and worshipped. The division of the septs a
at Pavagadh (2) Kinhakal at Harigadh, (3) Tekam at Tikurgadh (4)

Rayratangadh (5) Raysiri at Soharigadh.
(c) The "six gods" clan called Vika is divided into (1) Kalam
(2) Bedam at Boirgadh, (3) Atram at Chanda, (4) Vika at Vairagadh,
at Mohada, (6) Podapa at Borigadha.
(d) The "seven gods" clan called Dhurva is divided into seven septs: viz.
(1) Maravi at Gadha, (2) Pusanakka at Jhurigadh, (3) Kanaka at Hirapur, (4)
Maldongaria at Chowkgadh, (5) Vadiva at Varamavati, (6) Dhurva at Ujjain, (7)
Kunjam at Surajgadh.
7. As for instance, the "six gods" in Nagpur are (1) Pharsa Pen or the
axe god, (2) Khode or Khodiyal, "so named from being made of the trunk of a
tree called mundi" or Karam, (3) Sanalk is the spirit of the dead man, (4) Munjal
is the spirit of the young unmarried man, (5) Durga is a male god, made of
the same wood as Khodiyal and (6) Chuda Pen or a bracelet of iron.
In Bhandara "the four gods" of the Tekam sept are (1) Budha or Gagara-
deo, (2) Dulha deo (3) Mahadeo (4) Parbati.
In the same district the "seven gods" of the Seiyam sept are (1) Budh deo
or Gagara, the bell god (2) Dulha deo (3) Sakaliya-deo or the chain god (4)
Nirra (5) Parbati (6) Mahadeo (7) Kalkoa.
In Seoni the "seven gods" are (1) Budha-deo (2) Matiya (3) Sale (4) Palo
(4) Sakal deo (5) Gadwa or Kham (who represents the dead) (6) Khatar pen
(7) Kodiyal.
The "five gods" from Chindwara are (1) Pharsi Pen or Dulhadeo, (2) Nurma,
(3) Ghangra or Gagara, (4) Raytal (one of the Gond ancestors), (5) Badiyal
(Raytal's brother).
S. Hislop, Papers, Appendix I-IV. Nagpur.
See also: S. Fuchs, op. cit., pp. 149-150.
8. V.W. Grigson, op. cit., p. 194.

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to the number of the gods, is vigorous in the Chand

Nagpur, and Betul tracts. In Chindwara, Seoni and H
I found that the people had confused ideas about th
the gods to which they belonged. In the eastern trac
Balaghat and Chhattisgarh, people only know their s
almost forgotten the number of gods.
This shows that the old system of the separate nu
gods and separate place of worship for each clan has
broken.
The most useful and practical function this "number of the

gods" performs is that it controls the Gond exogamy. People
belonging to the same sept as well as having the same number of
the gods cannot marry. If at no other time in life, it is at the
time of marriage that the knowledge of the number of the gods
becomes essential.
The names of the clan-gods:-Though Hislop has given us a

few lists of the clan-gods of different localities, the lists are n
conclusive; because most of the gods like Pharsa Pen, Nurma,
Sankara-deo etc., cannot be definitely said to be the real clan-gods
as the communal tribal gods9
Anyhow, one thing is certain that these gods are tribal gods
whom the Gond and allied tribes worship at the present day; and
in spite of a few local changes the Gond of the province do
believe in them.
The Gond gods:-The Gond gods, whether the clan go

otherwise, are few and striking. Though I am not yet in a
tion to give an exhaustive list of them, the most important ar
following:-
(1) Baradeo, Budhadeo or Budhal-pen, the great god.

(2) Dulha-deo, the bride-groom god.
(3) Pharsa Pen or the battle-axe god.
(4) Gagara-deo or the bell-god.
(5) Sankara-deo or the Chain-god.
(6) Kodiyal or the horse-god.
(7) Matiya or the whirlwind-god.
(8) Hulera or the cattle-god.
Except Pharsa Pen, Gagara-deo and Sankara-deo the rest
9. Grigson is of the opinion that these are "merely incidental

later addition to their religion" (op. cit., p. 194).

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34 DURGA BHAGVAT
now become inter-tribal gods.

The Korku Pantheon:-The Korku call a deity "Go
as the Gond call it "Pen" in their language; Naraya
gomai and Dongar-gomai or the hill-god are their chief
The Horse-god, Khodiyal, is also worshipped by t
The Baiga Pantheon:-The gods worshipped by th
not special gods of the tribe, but the gods worshipp
tribes staying in the same locality, viz. Mandla, Balaghat and
Chhattisgarh. The Baiga has no respect for the Gond god Bara-deo.
Even Narayan-deo he ridicules though he offers homage to him.
In fact the Baiga even cracks jokes at the expense of his gods.
He recognises Dharti-Mata or Mother Earth, Thakur-deo,
Bhimsen, Ratmai, Dulha-deo, Narayan-deo, Lohasur etc.
These are no special deities of a tribe, but deities who all the
tribes in the locality give recognition to.
The Agaria Pantheon:-The Agaria have a more definite set
of gods on account of their profession, though they believe in all
the gods mentioned above, their special deities are Lohasur, the
iron-god, Koylasur, the coal-god, and Patharasur Mai, the stone-god.
In the places where iron ore is found Lohasur is supposed to
dwell.
In the pit where iron is melted Patharasur and Koylasur live.

In the bellow, Bhudhi-mata, Kamania and Bahudhukan live.
In the skin of the cow used for the bellow lives Sallaitrai, etc.l0
Proper offerings of fowls, pigs and goats are to be made to the
gods each time iron is smelted.
The Bharia gods:-The Bharia worship Narayan, Khodiyal,
Khattapal and Dlanwai and Durga.
Mother Earth:-Besides the tribal gods mentioned above, there
is Dharati Mata, who is the only goddess who is really loved by
the aborigines. The earth-cult is very prominent in Central India
and many tribes celebrate the Earth's marriage with the Sun in
springtide. The Baiga would not take to the tilling of the soil,
because they would not injure Mother Earth. This belief is found
not in the Baiga alone but also in other aboriginal tribes who
have practised "bewar" or shifting cultivation in the tribal areas.
The cult of Mother Earth is seen in the harvest festivals as well
as in the worship of the disease godlings.

The village gods:-Besides these deities there are also spec
10. See V. Elwin, op. cit., p. 263.

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village deities, whose worship is communal and perfo

head of the village. These deities are more often than
with the village-deities of the lower caste Hindus, the d
belong to the 'impure' class as Crooke puts it and are giv
of blood. In mixed villages of aborigines and the Hindus, the
deities are the same. Only where the aboriginal influence is pre-
dominent, the victim is the pig. The Hindus favour the goat.
In many of these village shrines, it is the aboriginal priest, viz. the
Baiga, the Pardhan or the Ojha who alone can perform the
worship.
The village gods who are purely aboriginal are few. The
most important of them are (1) Mutua-deo or the god of the village
boundary of the Korku tribes, represented by a heap of stones,
picked up from the nearest stream with an offering of a pig and
a fowl.1l Apart from the annual offerings the god is worshipped
when there is a break of epidemic in the village.
(2) There is the god Mirhoia of the field boundary in Sagour
and Damoh.12
(3) In many villages all over the province there are sto
representing a female deity Bijasen, who is supposed to prot
children. In the Hinduised villages she is identified with Devi.
The Hinduised and the most popular village-gods, howeve
are:-
(1) Devi or Mata, representing Mot

of synonyms, a malevolent deity, th
(2) Dulha-deo or the bridegroom-g
(3) Hardul, the cholera-god.
and fields.
(4) Bhanisasur, the buffalo-demon, who lives in water places
Most of these deities are malevolent and the bringers of diseases.
BARA-DEO
His inter-tribal nature:-Bara-deo or Budha-deo is the most
11. W. Crooke, The Religion and Folk-lore of Northern India, London,

1926, I. p. 103; also The Hoshangabad District Gazetteer, p. 73.
12. The Sagour District Gazetteer, p. 43.
The Damoh District Gazetteer, p. 36.
13. The Hoshangabad District Gazetteer, p. 72.

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36 DURGA BHAGVAT
important of all Gond gods. The Gond pantheon is

varied and elastic. Bara-deo is the only god who is universally
respected and propitiated by the Gond of all parts in Central India,
and even by those who have settled in other far-off provinces like
Singbhum and even Bengal.
The prestige of Bara-deo as an inter-tribal god is immense.
Besides the Gond, the Baiga, the Agaria, the Pardhan, the Ojha,
the Majhwar, the Savar, the Sahis, the Maria, the Ghasia, the
Halba, the Gowari, the Bharia, the Dewar, the Dhanuhar, and the
Khond give him either the first or a very prominent place in their
recognition. Even tribes outside the province such as the Kharwar
of Mirzapur, the Khond in Orissa and the Kharia from the same
place call him their supreme deity. The one god who competes
with him in regional diffusion is the sun-god, called either Narayan-
deo or Thakur-deo, who is recognised by all the tribes of Central
India, and even outside, in the states of Orissa, Chhota Nagpur,
Mirzapur etc. The Korku worship the sun and call him Narayan,
so do the Bharia, and the Mawesi and the Nahal in Hoshangabad,
and accord him special respect, and priority of attention. And
even in the tribes mentioned above as venerating Bara-deo, Narayan
and Thakur-deo play a prominent part. Another god whose cult
is widely spread is Dulha-deo.
The synonyms of Bara-deo or Budha-deo.

(1) Near Chanda Budha-deo is called Pharsa-pen14 or Pharasi-
pen while in Deogadh and to some extent in Nagpur also the
same belief prevails.15 Pharsi-pen, as we shall see later on, is the
war-god and is represented by an axe. He is recognised in other
places as a separate deity.
(2) In Bhandara, he is identified with Gagara-deo or the
bell-god and in Seoni also he is represented by Salegagara, the
ring and the bell.16
(3) The Maria Gond of Bastar and the other Gond also call
him Bhera-pen.17
14. S. Hislop, Aboriginal Tribes of the Central Provinces, Nagpur, 1866.
Appendix V.
15. S. Hislop, op. cit., Appendix I, iv.
16. S. Hislop, op. cit. Appendix ix, and Appendix iii.
17. Grigson, The Maria Gonds of Bastar, p. 194. According to Mr. Grigson's
opinion the words Bara and Budha are the Hindi corruptions of the original
Gondi word Bhera. He however does not attempt to give the meaning of the
word, and takes it as the original proper name of the god.

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(4) The Gond and Pardhan of Mandla and Bilaspur

Prem-narayan.
(5) In Chhindwara, Balaghat, Nagpur, Sagour espe
in all other parts where the Hindu influence is gro
called Maha-deo.18
(6) In Mirzapur he is known as Ningo19 or Ningo Baghi

among the Majhwar, also known as the Gond-Majhwar. The
Gond and allied tribes call him Badiyal-Pen in Orissa, and his
worship has spread as far as Singbhum.21
In Sarguja also he is called Bariya-sah, who is said to have
been Raksel Chhatri and the Raja of Sarguja.22
(7) In Chhota Nagpur, the Khariya, the Oraon, the Khond
and the Maler, call him Biri, Bero, Ber, Bero Gosain and Beru-
pennu. He is identified with Dharmesh or Dharam Pennu, the
sun-god.23
(8) The Khond in Orissa also call their chief god, Bura
Pennu, the god of light, viz, the sun.24 The Kachari in Singbhum
also include two gods called Bura Mahadeo and Bura Gosain in
their pantheon.25
Legends about him:-The legends about Bara-deo, though they
are scrappy and conflicting, like the various names by which he
is called, give us some clue to the origin of the god, and the
significance of his worship. The legend of Prem-narayan is very
important. Two Gond brothers, the first known ancestors of the
tribe, Bariyar and Raital, were in need of a god whom they could
worship. They went to Mahadeo and asked where they could
find their god. Mahadeo told them that Prem-narayan was their
god, and that he lived on a Saj tree (Terrninalia tomentosa) on
the Himalayas and he was waiting for their services. The brothers
went to the Himalayas, and found the Saj tree, and though the
god remained invisible they heard his voice. Prem-narayan de-
manded a pig-sacrifice from the brothers, if they wanted his pro-
tection. The brothers offered him pigs and fowls also, and the
18. S. Hislop, op. cit.

19. The Gazetteer of the United Provinces, Mirazpur, p. 102.
20. W. Crooke, The Tribes and Castes of N.W.P. & Oudh III, p. 435.
21. E. Dalton, The Descriptive Ethnology of Bengal, pp. 278, 281.
22. W. Crooke, op. cit., p. 437.
23. S. C. Roy, The Khariyas, II, p. 321.
24. E. Dalton, op. cit., p. 297.
25. S. Endle, The Kacharis, London 1911, p. 38.

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38 DURGA BHAGVAT
god, pleased with their services, blessed them, and is

their tribe.26
The allusion to Maha-deo, and the brothers finding a deity

which was specially waiting for the services of the Gond brothers
sounds artificial and seems to be a later appendage. Even the
name Prem-narayan does not sound a tribal name. However, the
most important point in the story is the reference to the name
of the Gond men, especially Bariyar, which is linked to that of
Budha-deo as we have already seen. Another point worth atten-
tion is the allusion to the pig-sacrifice which is both consistent and
inconsistent with the tribal tradition. The pig-sacrifice is an
indispensable feature of the worship of Narayan, while in the
case of Budha-deo, as the practice reveals it, it is of secondary
importance; the cow is his victim.
A legend prevalent among the Gond of Bilaspur says that
Bariyar was the most powerful of the first Gond created by
Bhagvan. When he died in old age, he was buried under the Saj
tree and since then his spirit was called Budhal Pen, and the Saj
tree was looked upon as his abode. It became a practice among
the Gond to pay him homage from time to time as also to the
departed under that tree.
Another legend from Raipur says that Bara-deo was an old
Gond chieftain who bade the Gond worship him as he was dying
and became their first god.27
The legend of Bariyar given above, bestows god-hood on
Bariyar himself after his death, instead of making him a devotee
of Prem-narayan or Budha-deo. A legend from Sarguja of Bariyar
Sah also supports it.
Ningo is also looked upon as an ancestor of the Majhwar.28
Baghia is the name of a man who was killed by a tiger and then
deified. In some places in Mirzapur Budha-deo is called Ningo
Bag hia which suggests the possibility of Ningo having been killed
by a tiger. Some believe Baghia to be Ningo's guard. Any way,
hero-worship clings to these legends of Bara-deo.
A broken legend of Pharsa-pen or Bara-deo incorporated in a
charm, suggests that he killed his three brothers Subhadra, Kubha-
dra and Lingobhan Pariyar. The sixteen women in the family,
26. Vide V. Elwin, p. 259.

27. Raipur District Gazetteer, p. 107.
28. The Gazetteer of the United Provinces, Mirzapur, p. 102.

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viz. the mother of Pharsa Pen, the three wives of the three victims
and twelve daughters of Subhadra, killed themselves.29 What the
reason of the dispute was we do not know. The instrument with
which he hacked his brothers to death seems to have been an axe
(Pharsa or Pharsi) from which he got the name of Pharsa

The name of Manko Raytal is also connected with him.
The terrible feud seems to have left a deep impression
people, who began to look with awe on the victor and calle
Pharsa Pen the axe-god.
This also suggests the human origin of Bara-deo.
Other legends current about him in Mandla and the Baiga
territory suggest that Bara-deo lived with Annadai (goddess of food)
in the belly of a Chamar. She was the first to break out of it
and Bara-deo followed her.
'The Baiga who have taken to the plough have a very diff
opinion of this ancient god. Bara-deo's temple was the be
present shrine the Saj stump carefully preserved. But w
passing of bewar, Bara Deo lost his temple and power.'
The Baiga have succeeded to some degree in establish
relation between Bara Deo and their ancestor and god Nanga
Baiga. 'At first Bara Deo lived in an anthill. Then he went to
Nanga Baiga in a dream and began to live with him. Nanga
Baiga took him to the forest, and put him in the stump of a Saj
tree.'30
After being many centuries the chief of the deities of open air,
he has in many villages sunk to the position of a mere household
god, 'sharing Narayan Deo's kicks on the threshold, or living with
Dullla Deo behind the hearth'.31
There is also a legend which tells us that a Rawat woman

ancient times made love to a Gond mIan. Of their illicit connection
a boy was born. The father killed the boy and buried him. S
then, in order to appease the spirit of the dead, the Gond
him their special deity and called him Bara-deo.32
Bara-deo in the creation legends:-In the creation legend
the Gond as well as in the ancient song of Lingo, Bara-deo do
29. S. Hislop, op. cit. Appendix I, iv.

30. Ibid.
31. V. Elwin, op. cit., pp. 56-57.
32. Russell and Hiralal, Tribes and Castes of the Central Provinces, IV,
p. 355.

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40 DURGA BHAGVAT
not seem to take any active part in the creation of

others like Maha-deo, Lohgundi, Bhimsen, Pavan Da
Agyasur, Nanga Baiga etc. are supposed to have done. Only in
a Baiga legend, the part he plays is described thus:-
'When Bhagvan saw that Bhimsen could not fix the earth
firmly in its place, he sent the crow to call the two Baiga to come
and do it instead.
'The crow flew and flew and flew, at last she saw the smoke
from Nanga Baiga's fire rising above the trees. When Nanga Baig
saw the crow, he said, 'Here's something good to eat'. He was
trying to catch her when Bara Deo called out from the Saj tree,
'Don't trouble her, she has come from Bhagvan'. When he heard
that, Nanga Baiga took the crow in his lap and fondled her'.33
The legcnd only suggests the presence of Bara-deo when man-
kind was about to be created. His place is much inferior to that
of the other gods mentioned above as far as the mythological
records of the Gond are concerned.34
Some Gond in Bilaspur and Mandla believe that Shriyal

Jangu35 is the wife of Bara-deo. Shriyal Jangu is also called Rat
Mai in Chhattisgarh and Mandla. Rat Mai is the goddess of the
night and makes children happy.36 She, like Budha-deo, is of a
mild nature and looks upon mankind as her children. Like
Bara-deo, she also showed favour to Raytal (or Rakhtyal) and
Bariyar. Once great illness spread among the Gond. They did
not know which deity it was that had brought illness on them.
The goddess Shriyal Jangu went to tlhe above mentioned two
Gond brotilers in a dream and told them that if they offered her
pigs in the dark-half of the month of Magh all their trouble would
stop. 'Worship me in the dark, in the dark-half of Magh, and
call me Rat Mai', ('Mother Night'), she said to them. Ever since
she protects the Gond very fondly.
About the paraphernalia of Bara-deo the only thing we know
is that Matiya-deo, the whirlwind-god, is his attendant.37 In Seoni,
33. V. Elwin, op. cit., p. 314.

34. See p. 57.
35. V. Elwin, op. cit., p. 60.
36. In the song of Lingo, a list of Gond gods is given. Jingo Raytal is
one of them. Can it be the same as Shriyal Jangu? Because there Manko
Raytal also is mentioned (Hislop, op. cit., Part I. Also Forsyth, Highlands of
Central India, p. 190).
37. S. Hislop, op. cit., Appendix III.

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and as we have already seen, in Mirzapur, Baghia

guard.
His relation with other Gond gods:-Bara-deo is not only the
greatest of the Gond gods, but also stays quite aloof from the rest.
He stays high up on the Saj tree in the thickest portion of the
forest and never leaves it. He does not interfere with human
affairs in any way. The house-hold gods of the Gond, ca
small gods or Chuddur Pen, control exogamy, according
number of gods worshipped by the clan. These gods also
aloof and do not care to look into the dealings of men, unless
they are not propitiated in the proper way and at proper time.
Bara-deo also does the same. Yet what is the nature of that
relation between him and the clan gods we are unable t
The legends suggest four important points, viz. (1)
from the Chamars, which points to the human origin o
(2) his connection with the agricultural deities, (3) th
as his abode, (4) that he is a Gond god and not a Baiga
His cult:-The origin of the worship of Budha-deo a
in a legend which I got from a Gond in Raipur, says th
Gond king Mardandi slept under the shade of a 'dt
(Ficus glomerata). Devi, Budha-deo, Bar-deo, Singhdeo
came out of the tree. They took forms of the 'lawa
sat on the tree, chirping merrily. Mardandi woke up
noise, he saw the birds, and caught them. He then bro
as far as Dhamdha in Raipur. Being tired, he put th
the ground, their legs tied up with a cord. In a mo
birds changed into five stones. Mardandi was astonish
extraordinary happening. He knew they were som
immediately set up two flags, one black, the other yellow
honour and worshipped the stones with sumptuous off
cow, goat, pigs and fowls. The gods, pleased with the
came to him in his dream and told him their respectiv
and when and how they should be worshipped.
In Raipur Budha-deo is thus represented by a ston
38. In Mandla, Bilaspur and Balaghat, where the Baiga influence is pre-
dominent, Bara-deo is supposed to have sunk to the position of a household
god, and lives on the threshhold sharing kicks with Narayan Deo. This was
the result of a curse given to him by Nanga Baiga for eating the impure food
prepared by Dom Raja, when other gods like Bhimsen, Pavan Daseri refused to
touch it. (Elwin, op. cit., pp. 320-321).

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42 DURGA BHAGVAT
really speaking he is not represented by any f

ethereal god who lives in the Saj tree. Bara-deo is
a platform of earth about six inches high.
Devi and Mata are represented by the flags, wh
borrowing from popular Hinduism current in the
is no emblem for Sing-deo. When worship is offered
is announced. Another legend from the same place says that
Budha-deo came to Mardandi in a dream in the form of a tiger39
with yellow and black patches on his body. 'I am lying in the
forest neglected. No one has cared to offer respects to me for the
last twelve years!' The king knew it was for him to make an
offering to the great and ancient god. He put on clothes with
black and yellow dots, and gave an invitation to all the local gods
and then to all his kith and kin to attend the worship in honour
of Bara-deo.
Budha-deo's worship, which takes place once in three years

begins with songs. The songs are sung in Budha-deo's worship
only at the preliminary stage, by men and women, when the
invitation is extended to the local gods to participate in the
worship. Of the few songs of the Gond which are still preserved
in the original Gondi dialect and not yet allowed to be translated
in any other language like Hindi, are the songs of Budha-deo, the
funerary songs, the Gotulgit or the traditional songs of the Gond
sung in the dormitories.
A song from Raipur:-
ri-lo-yo-ri-lo-ri-ri-lo-ri-ri-lo-ri-lo-yo
Of what is the staff made?
The staff is made of bamboo
This is the staff of god

The staff of Mother.
The cloth-flag,
Of the Desai Mother,
The Mother of the village.
The bunch of peacock feathers
For the Devi of the garh.40
The Devi of the royal family.
The Devi Deomagaral.
39. That is why 'sing', really speaking a 'lion' and in coloquial language
interpreted as a 'tiger' is called a god and worshipped along with Bara-deo.
40. 'Garh' means a place which has an exogamous significance. Several
septs belonging to one garh cannot intermarry.

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Dhamkarati Devi
The god Bar-deo

The god Budha-deo
The god Lingo
And Sing-deo
Honour to them.
After invitation is given to all the gods, men take the ye

and black flags, beat the drum and men and women dance
sing beginning with the song given above, and then any o
songs may follow. The songs need not be in Gondi.
In the morning both men and women in the family bath
the river, and return home. The women clean the house with
cow-dung. All the old earthen pots are thrown away and new
pots are brought in. The eldest member of the family then makes
the various emblems of the gods as mentioned above and throws
rice before each of the gods. The Devi is worshipped first along
with the Mata. The women in the house walk out of the house
when these deities are being worshipped. The head of the fam
offers these deities a goat each. When the victim eats the gr
of the rice spread before the deity, the deity is supposed to
accepted the offering, and then the throat of the animal is
with one stroke. The head of the animal is offered to the god
desses and the rest of the flesh is cooked by men. The eldest
member partakes of the food first, then the other members of
family. Women are allowed to partake in the sacrificial food a
the men have finished. Then comes the worship of Budha-d
for which the women need not leave the house. Either a white
goat or a pig is offered to the god. Even the head of the vic
is appropriated by the members of the family. When the feas
Budha-deo is celebrated no one in the village can refuse the inv
tion. No distinction of caste and creed is observed. The sacrificial
food is distributed to all. Even Brahmins cannot refuse pork tha
day. The remaining food, and then bones etc. are not thrown out
A ditch is dug in the inner room of the house in which all tha
remains is buried. Men and women now can sing abusive sex-song
and enjoy themselves in any licentious way to their heart's content.41
But that does not form a compulsory part of the ritual.
In the Oundhi tract of Drug, the ritual is more elaborate and
41. Here Budha-deo's worship takes place in the house only and hence
as in Mandla, the god seems to have sunk to the position of a household god.

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44 DURGA BHAGVAT
preserves the distinction between the worship of th

and that of Budha-deo much better.
Worship is offered to Budha-deo once in three years. Usually the
month of Pus (Jan.-Feb.) is chosen for the offerings. The head of the
house then goes to the village Gond or Baiga priest (called Baiga)
and gives him an invitation to attend the function. The Baiga
then goes with a fowl and rice to the most prominent of the
village goddesses. He puts the rice before her and sprinkles water
on the head of the fowl. If the fowl shivers, the goddess is
supposed to have given permission to celebrate the feast and to
accept the invitation. The Baiga then kills the fowl or some-
times a pig, and offers the head to the goddess. The goddess Mata
then enters into the house-holder and he begins to whimper and
dances a frantic dance. Dancing ecstatically, with his eyes half-
closed, he comes home with the Baiga. The women in the house,
his wife and sister especially, bring a jar of water from inside and
put it upside down on the threshhold. The householder then steps
in and cleaning a piece of the ground with cow-dung and marking
it with a rectangular design (chouk) with red earth or rice flour,
in it puts a peg usually of the Mahua wood in the name of the
village goddess. Then he calls out the names of other deities also
and puts more pegs, one for each in another chouk (the rectangular
figure). Men and women dance and sing Hulki, preceded with
the song of Budha-deo. In these songs special importance is given
to the non-Brahmanic goddesses known as Sat Bahini or "the
Seven Sisters". The youngest one (Helad Bai, the youngest sister)
is remembered most affectionately. Below is given the song of
Budha-deo.
Motherl Oh mother!
Whose Budhal is it?
It is Budhal of Narethi sept.
Mother! Oh mother!
It is his Budhal.
Play, mother,
Play and dance.
Do not pick up a quarrel,
Do not be displeased.
Put all your heart in the play.
There are the seven sisters.
Play all together, with one heart,

Oh seven sisters!
There are seven younger brothers,

Who is older than they?

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The gods on the hills

Are older than they
And all the sisters.--
The Hulki songs are sung all through the night. Next morn
all men go to the river and bathe in it. Returning home they
all gods (pegs) with a rope an(l say, "We have honoured you
the best way possible. Now only the worship of Budha-deo
mains, so do not interfere!" They then steal a virgin cow fro
the village. This is the victim of Budha-deo. They tie the fr
legs of the cow to a tree with a rope and also the hind legs
another tree. Then the Baiga cuts its head with an axe. The
of the gods are offered goats, pigs, fowls etc., i.e. the animals w
they are supposed to relish. The head of the cow is placed c
fully in a bundle of cloth and tied to the roof. The rest of t
body is cooked by the householder as also the flesh of the ot
victims. The sacrificial food is offered to all that have assembled
irrespective of caste, creed an(d sex. The remaining portions of
the flesh, bones, etc., are buried in a hole dug inside the house.
The male members then proceed to the forest outside the
village where the family's Saj tree of Budha-deo stands. The male
relatives living in other villages, and at least ten male neighbour
accompany them. And all the village gods are of course with them
all the time.
The head is cooked in a new earthen pot under the tree and
also rice in another pot. A little portion of the flesh and rice i
served to Budha-deo on seven Saj leaves. The flesh then is eaten
by the householder and the Baiga first and the rest of the peop
are given it later. They stay under the tree the whole night and
dance and sing and return home next day with a little portion o
the sacrificial flesh and rice. It is distributed to all the members
of the family, except unmarried boys, virgin girls, and child

It is believed that if the latter eat it or even touch it they
die within a year.
Now the village gods are to be sent home. Again their
respective victims are offered to them. The chief Devi is given a
male goat of black colour and others are given either a cock or
a pig.
It is evident from Gond tradition that a cow was offered to
Bara-deo when his feast took place every three years. The w
took place not in the house but in the forest where the fam

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46 DURGA BHAGVAT
tree rested.42 The offering of a white goat43 to hi

a later change which must have been due (1) to the
fluence of Hinduism, where the cow is revered
growing poverty and timidity of the tribes which mad
to get hold of a calf. The offering of the pig is m
occasions when the god is propitiated.
Other occasions when Bara-deo is worshipped:-
In addition to the normal triennial propitiation of B
is worshipped on some special occasions also. (1) T
portant is the worship offered to him, which in every
ponds to the rites described above. When a youn
man dies, a special worship with a calf-sacrifice is offe
deo.44 In Mandla, Bilaspur and Drug however, Bara
pitiated also when the eldest male member of the fami
men take part in the worship and eat the sacrifici
the Oundhi tract Bara-deo is worshipped with some
a marriage45 is to be celebrated. A female calf is the on
to be made. The only addition to the rites is that sp
is paid to the sister and her daughter and they are
presents. (3) When a vow is made to Budha-deo, th
sacrifice is to be made, so a Gond Baiga from the O
told me. (4) When the ceremony of eating new corn
in the month of Bhado, Bara-deo is offered a pig.
is treated entirely as a household god and the Saj t
forest is not taken into consideration. (5) He is also
when the oil of the new Mahua fruit is extracted and eaten,47
along with other household gods, and is offered a pig.
The tree of Bara-deo:-Though Saj is considered the real
abode of the god generally by all Gonds in the Central Provinces,
in Sagour, Koha (Terminalia arjuna) is looked upon as the sacred
tree of Budha-deo.48 The Gond and Majhwar in Mirzapur and
42. S. Hislop, op. cit., Appendix IV. Grigson, op. cit.; Crooke, The Tribes
and Castes of N.W.P. and Oudh, III, p. 440, Crooke, Folk-lore of Northern
India, II, p. 103, Dalton, op. cit., p. 135.
43. S. Hislop, op. cit., Appendix III. Also Appendix III, where instead
of Budha-deo, a cow is offered to Gagara and Palo. Sale-gagara however i
emblem of Bara-deo in Seoni.
44. S. Hislop, Ibid.
45. Ibid.
46. Ibid.
47. Ibid.
48. Sagour District Gazetteer, p. 55.

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Orissa look upon Saj (Shorea robusta) as his abode.49

in Bengal worship him under the Asan tree50 (Term
tormentosa).
In Jaipur, 'a huge rock forming the most prominent feature
in the configuration of the valley is assigned as an abode of
Baradeo'. The Nagbansi Gond sacrifice a buffalo before it every
three years.51
Conclusion:-The various legends of Baradeo and his cult point
out that (1) the human origin of Baradeo seems plausible as the
legends of his origin plainly reveal, as well as the curse given to
him by Nanga Baiga, a mere mortal. Bara-deo in that case seems
to be not superior to Nanga Baiga, though more ancient. (2) His
real victim is the cow, female calf, though a pig is offered on lesser
occasions and goat and buffalo are later additions due to outward
influence. (3) He is connected with the cult of the dead.
The degradation of this god is indicated by the fact that on
the occasion of his great worship it is preceded by that of a Devi.
This we may attribute to Hindu influence.
D ULHA-DEO
The god of the hearth:-Dulha-deo or the

one of the most cherished deities of the hea
tives of the northern portion of Central In
to be a marriage-godling.
His emblem:-He is represented by a ston
on a horse,52 as well as a battle-axe.53
Ethnic distribution of the cult:-The worship of Dulhadeo is
widely spread among the lower castes and the tribes all along the
Satpura and Vindhya ranges, including the Narmada and Tapti
valleys and also in the plains of Chhattisgarh, and the former
Feudatory states. It is almost an impossible task to enumerate the
number of the tribes who worship him. Among the Boyar of
Chandbhakar Dulha-deo is the household god and 'the sole object
49. W. Crooke, Tribes and Castes of N.W.P. & Oudh, III, p. 440.
50. Dalton, op. cit., pp. 184, 281, 283.
52. This emblem is found in places where he is taken to be a village-
deity to whom the bridal pair pay their first visit after the wedding. The
Sagour District Gazetteer, p. 42. The Damoh District Gazetteer, p. 36.
53. S. Hislop, op. cit., Appendix II.

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48 DURGA BHAGVAT
of worship'.56 He is also the tribal god of the Gh

and Savar in Mirzapur, where he is 'preeminen
godling'.
Legends about him:-All the legends of Dulha-deo centre
round the fate of a, Gond bridegroom who was devoured by a tiger
on the way to his bride's place to be married. Another legend says
that the Gond bridegroom was killed by lightning with his bride and
he now lives in the stars and has become a god of the household
and marriage.55 The wide spread of this, cult and of this god
can be aptly described as in a Chhattisgarhi proverb-'where there
is a hearth, there is Dulha'. The most important tribes who
worship him are the Gond, the Baiga, the Pardhan, the Binjhwar,
the Dhanuhar, the Majhwar, the Musahar, the Savar,56 the Sahis
etc. The four latter tribes look upon him as the most important
god after Baradeo and equal to Narayandeo. Among the castes
the Ahir, the Kosta, the Panka, the Agharia etc. worship him. In
fact. he is an intercommunal god of tribal origin.
Referring to Dulha-deo, Sleeman says 'In descending into the
valley of the Narmada over the Vindhya Range from Bhopal, one
may see on the side of the road, upon the spur of the hill, a
singular pillar of sandstone rising in two spires, one turning and
rising above the other to the right of some twenty or thirty feet.
On the spur of a hill, half a mile distant, is another sandstone
pillar not quite so high. The tradition is that the smaller pillar
was the affianced bride of the larger one, who was a youth of a
family of great eminence in those parts. Coming with his uncle
to pay his first visit to his bride in the marriage procession, he
grew more and more impatient, and she too shared the feeling.
At last, unable to restrain himself, he jumped from his uncle's
shoulders and looked with all his might towards the. place where
his bride was, said to be seated. Unhappily she. felt no less im-
patient than he did, and they saw each other at the same moment.
In that moment the bride, bridegroom and uncle were all three
converted into pillars, there they stand to this day, a monument
to warn mankind against an inclination to indulge in curiosity'.58

55. Crooke, The Tribes and Castes of N.W.P. and Oudh, pp. 425-6.
56. Russell and Hiralal, op. cit., Vol. IV, p. 512.
57. Ibid., II, p. 8 ff.
58. W.H. Sleeman, Rambles and Recollections of an Indian Official, Oxford
U, Pr., 1915, p. 101 ff,

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TRIBAL GODS AND FESTIVALS IN CENTRAL INDIA
The motif of the tale, viz. the force of the custom that the
bride and bridegroom must not see each other before the wedding
starts, is against the spirit of Gondi culture and is a part of the
Hindu culture where purdah prevails. It is typical of the Bhopal
tract. The legends however unanimously maintain that he was a
Gond. The Gond in Chindwara, include him in their pantheon
of household gods, and identify him with Pharsa Pen, the battle-axe
god, and look upon him as the first god.59
His cult:-Dulha-deo is worshipped in Pus, one month before
the Holi (in Phag). The worship continues fifteen days or a
month. Hislop describes the worship of the god in Chhindwara
in the following manner:-
"Tihe head of the family leaves his house with an offering of
flowers, fruit or animals, i.e. sheep or fowls, to lay at the foot of
the Saj tree which is supposed to be inhabited by the god. On
arriving near the tree, the fruit is cut in half or the animal slaugh-
tered and a part offered with liquor. The whole then is cooked
during which priest addresses the audience and then he and other
Pardhans eat what they want of the part that was offered with
liquor, and if any remains it is buried in the earth. The people
in like manner eat and drink what was offered. The officiating
priest never gets drunk on these occasions".60
In Sagour and Damoh, the bride and bridegroom offer him a
pair of shoes before entering the village of the bridegroom, after
a marriage has taken place.61 The aborigines of Mirzapur offer
flowers to him on the last day of Phagun and at marriages a goat.62
Conclusion:-That marriage is regarded as a critical period
of one's sex-life, and that strange fears surround it is very well
reflected in the episodes of Dulha-deo. Gansam's marriage brought
catastrophy on him. The desire was aroused in the bridal pair,
but consummation of marriage did not take place. In the case
of three of the hero-gods of the province, Dulha-deo, Gansam and
Hardul, tragedy looms over love and marriage. All the three
heroes show a distinct ardour for love.
Hardul would appear to have been deified as a marriage-

because of his great affection for his sister and his miraculous do
59. S. Hislop, op. cit., Appendix II. Also Crooke, Folk-lore in Northern
India, I. p. 120.
60. S. Hislop, op. cit., Appendix II.
61. Ibid.
62. Crookc, Folk-lore in Northern India, I. pp. 119 ff.

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50 DURGA BHAGVAT
in connection with her marriage. Dulha-deo on t

appears as a warning against hasty sex-love.
The connection of Dulha-deo with the axe-god
warfare in connection with marriage. We do not k
GA N S A M
The God and his cult:-Gansam is a popular village god (no

of a malevolent type like the village goddesses) who protects t
village from the tiger. He is represented either by a stone o
the village boundary or a platform and a pole.63 He is pro
pitiated once a year regularly when the autumnal harvest fest
takes place. He is offered only a fowl by the village Baiga. Spe
worship is also offered to the god when the village fowls, pi
cattle etc. are stolen by the tiger or any men are killed by t
beast.64
Geographic spread:-His cult is wide-spread in the Norther

portion of Central India, especially the Narmada and Tapti valle
Seoni and Chhindwara plateau, Chhattisgarh and the form
Feudatory States right up to Mirzapur. Crooke says that Gans
is one of the chief divinities of the Seoni Hinduised Dravidian races
who touch the North-Western regions to the south across the Kaim
and Vindhya ranges, the physical as well as the ethnical front
between the valleys of the Ganges and Jamuna, and the mount
country of Central India.65
His legend:-He is also called Raja Lakhan. And some even
identify him with Ghanashyam, Ram and Krishna.66 However
looking to the form of worship and the popularity of the god
among the primitives, the legend current in Mirzapur, seems more
plausible than his identification with Ghanashyam. The legend
says that Gansam or Raja Lakan was a Gond chief, who was
devoured by a tiger immediately after his marriage. The spirit of
the dead man visited his bride at night and consummated their
marriage, and their conjugal relations continued ever afterwards.
63. V. Elwin, The Baiga, p. 59.

64. The Musahar in Mirzapur call him Dau Gansam (uncle Gansam) or
Bansgopal (the deity residing in the bamboo and protecting it) and celebrate
his marriage in Baisaka with Banaspati Mata (the goddess of the woods). W.
Crooke, Folk-lore in Northern India, II, pp. 34-35.
65. W. Crooke, Folk-lore in Northern India, I, pp. 17-18.
66. W. Crooke, op. cit.

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The Gond of Amoda67 in Central India are said to be the descen-

dents of the progeny of the pair.68
Tragedy looms over the marriage of Gansam like that of
Dulhadeo and his protection is sought against the tiger. Dhulha-deo
is however much more popular and has become a household deity.
The tragedy also permanently links his name with the tiger
and makes him indirectly a protector of cattle.
HARDUL
God of Cholera and Wedding:-

Hardul is also one of the deified heroes w
widely in Central India by tribes and lower caste Hindus, as
a village god. He is looked upon preeminently as a godling
connected with cholera.69 The Korku seem to have incorporated
him in their household gods70 recently. In the North West of
Central India he is propitiated at weddings.
Geographic distribution:-Hardul, like Dulha-deo, has not,
except in the solitary instance quoted above, yet become a tribal
god. He is worshipped in the Vindhyan districts of Sagour and
Damoh, the Narmada and Tapti Valleys, the Chhindwara plateau,
Chhattisgarh and slightly in Bastar.
His legend: Hardul is said to be 'the second son of Bir Sinha
Deva, the miscreant Raja of Orcha in Bundelkhand'. He used
to have illicit relations with his elder brother's wife. When the
brother came to know about it, he arranged a grand feast in honour
of his brother and his friends and forced his wife to serve poisoned
food to all the party. This took place in about 1600 A.D.
It is also said that his younger sister loved him dearly. She
was already engaged and was to be married soon after his death.
The elder brother refused to take any part in her wedding. He
was the eldest male member of the family. He taunted her with
sharp words that she should not ask any help from him any longer
67. Can it be Amadob or Amadoh in Bilaspur district, lying on the road

from Pendra to Amarkantak? It is an extremely dangerous spot thickly shaded
with mango and other wild trees and has a spring of water where tigers come
every night.
68. Dalton, Descriptive Ethnology of Bengal, p. 232.
69. Burns, Sons of the Soil, p. 84.
70. He is worshipped extensively in the United Provinces and is a cholera
deity. North of Jamuna he controls plague. Crooke, Folk-lore, I, pp. 135 ff.

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52 DURGA BHAGVAT
but call her loving brother Hardul. When he died, sh

wept over his grave. Hardul's spirit was moved. T
man's ghost came out of the grave, dressed as a warr
brated his sister's wedding in the grandest manner. S
time he is looked upon as a marriage godling and pr
the occasion.71
His name was connected with cholera in quite an accidental

way. Cholera broke out shortly after some cows had been slaugh-
tered in the grave where the ashes of Hardul lie.72
II. THE TRIBAL FESTIVALS
Introduction
The tribes are as fond of festivals as we are. Yet they know

how to enjoy them much better than we. The food, however
coarse it may be, is better and the quantity also larger than usual.
Liquor also is indispensable on these occasions. There is dancing
and singing going on all through the nigllt and the behaviour of
men and women is usually unrestrained. Licentious gestures, and
obscene songs form a part of the festivals. In many rites and
rituals, as in marriage and in funerary rites, in the liarvest festival,
in the Phag and in pig sacrifices, etc., such ceremonial abuses are
indispensable.
Essential features:-The most essential features of the primitive
ceremonials are the offerings of blood and liquor to the deities who
are honoured. The Gond offer cows to their gods and all aborigines
offer pigs. Goats and fowls are also offered.
Though I am not yet able to give a detailed information about
all the festivals of the aborigines of Madhya Pradesh, I have given
in the following pages detailed sketclles of the most typical and
representative festivals.
THE HULKI
The autufmnal dance:-The Hulki dances are the autumnal

dances of the Gond, in the Oundhi tract of Drug and Bast
71. Crooke, op. cit., p. 136.

72. D. Ibbetson, Glossary of Pun jab Tribes and Castes, I, p. 195.

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correspond with the Divali dances of tile Ahir and tie

other parts as well as the Karma dances. The Hulki dan
mixed dances accompanying tile Hutlki, a great festival of t
Men and women stand in a circle and a man holds by w
women on eitlier side of him. The beaters of the drum stand in
the middle and the dancing party steps a little towards the c
and then draws back a little. The hands of tie women are free
and they waive them to and fro, tlhe movements of the fee
dragging and slow.
The Hulki dance and songs also correspond with the feas
Thakur-deo wherein the Eartli Motlher is married to him. But this
seems to be a later addition as the songs dedicated to Thakur are
in the Chattisgarhi dialect. The original Hulki songs are in Gondi
and are dedicated to Lingo, the goddess Mata, the goddess of tattoo,
or small-pox, the village goddess etc., and particularly to the seven
sisters. The Hutlki begins in the month of Bhado and lasts till
the Diwali day, which is also tile proper Hulki day.
Tlhe songs:-The Hulki begins with the following songs:-
Ti-no-na-mar-na-na-re
On the hill-top,
Whose temple is tliat, oh grand-father
Of what tree are made the pillars?
Of 'Odcha' tree arc made the pillars.
Of what will the planks of the roof be?
The planks on the roof will be teak.
What shall be above the planks?
There will be posts
Of straight and unknotted wood on it.
What will you place on it?
The Odcha branches with leaves.
What rope shall be used?
Of green grass the rope shall be made.
The peacock-feather grass
Shall be spread on it.
Of the tail of the teblra bird
Shall be the protruding portion of the roof.
Of the bird's tail
Shall be made the groove.

Such will be the temple
With doors on four sides,
And with beautiful panels,
Adorned with scales of the fish.
Inside the temple
Blankets are spread.

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54 DURGA BHAGVAT
On that sits Pandari Koko.1
And Lingo also has descended.

Johar, Johar, oh Lingol
The minda-lyre gives out tunes,
'Kadur-kum', it says.
On his waist he wears brass bells,
Anklets on his feet.
With his mouth he plays on a flute.

From his ears also burst out
The melodious notes.
They come from all sides.2
The following song describes Singar Mata, the goddess o

small-pox and tattoo. The marks of small-pox on face and b
are compared to tattoo marks. The goddess of small-pox is ident
with an Ojha woman who puts the tattoo marks on the Gon
women. This is the song:
Ti-na-ho-ti-na-na
The earth is formed of four islands.3
Above is the yonder world.

This island4 is called Singaldipa.5
(1)
There is another island underneath.
Who is this Ojha woman?

She belongs to the island above.
What is she doing?
She has a basket called 'hila'
Her needle is made of 'thelka' thorn
Of marking nut is made her oil and black-soot.

The Ojha woman from the yonder world!
(2)
The black and yellow cordsl
How does she descend?
She holds the cords and comes down.
1. Lingo's brother.
2. Lingo and his brother Pandari Koko are the patrons of dance and mus
3. According to the Hindu conception the earth consists of seven islands
(Saptadvipa).
4. The Earth.
5. The name Singaldip or Lanka is very important in the folklor

province. In the pig-sacrifice to Narayan-deo, the pig is called the deer of
Singaldip. In funeral songs also Singaldip is mentioned. In a Phag song from
Sagor the soul is called the swan of Singaldip.

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She comes with a basket in her hand.
She descends on Singaldip.

Where does she go and sit?
Where does she sit?
She sits on a broad rock.
She enters the village.

'Tattoo, oh tattoo yourselves' she calls out.
The Ojha woman is very strong.
She tattooes for the whole life.
Such is the mighty Ojha woman.
(3)
Oh mother's mother,
The lyre is playing!
Oh mother's mother,
Of what is made the bar of the lyre?
Of what is made the peg?
The peg and the bar are made of teak wood,
On the bar is put leather.
Of Kosa silk the cords are made.
I was fast asleen
Oh mother's mother,
I was fast asleep.
At mid-night.
Whose lyre it is
That gave out bird-like notes?
I was cooking rice
The pot I threw down
When I heard the sweet lyre.
It was the first cock-crow,
The baby began to cry
With feeble voice.
I heard the sweet lyre.

When I was about to take the baby.
I was grinding Kodo
And the grinding-wheel stopped
When I heard the sweet lyre.
(4)
Whose gods are these?

They are the gods of the Poya sept.
And the relatives of the gods are playing,
And all the deities.
The 'sisters' also,
Play, mothers, play.
The playground is broad
Like the teak leaves.
Ears are long like the bamboo leaves.

Big are the hills

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DURGA BHAGVAT
And dense the woods.

We went there to pluck leaves.
We then heard a sound
Which came from the horn of a bison.
We pushed our silver ear rings aside,
The silver ear rings like pumpkin flowers.
And then the sound
Entered our ears.
We have not come
For the sake of the rice,
We have come for enjoyment.
Play, mothers, and dance.
A solid cane is chosen for flag-staff.
A cloth stitched by the tailor
Is fixed on it.
Of teak wood a palanquin is made.

With legs of Koria wood
The pole is made
Of a bamboo with fewest knots.
(5)
Give me your anklets,

I am going to dance the marriage-dance.
I shall return it.
Give me the rings on your toe,

I am going to see the mandhai.6
I shall return it,
Give me your lugra7
I am going to dance the dewari.8
After dancing is done
I shall return it.
I shall return it.
Give me your bodice,

I am going to dance Suwa
When I have finished it,
I shall return your bodice.
Give me your necklace.
I am going to dance Karma.
I shall come back after the dance
And return your necklace.
6. Mandhai is the special bazaar day, after the rains and somewhere in
November, when all the household and village gods are brought in procession
to the bazaar. Several village-gods come and the priests possessed of the gods
dance fiercely. Hookswinging and tearing out flesh with nails and teeth is very
common in Mandhai.
7. Sari.
8. Divali.

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(6)
Ti-na-na-na-mara-na-na-re
Who is the Thakur man, oh brother,
Who is the Thakur man?
The one who wears armlets
Is the Thakur Man!
Who is the Thakur woman, oh boy?

The one who wears armlets
Is the Thakur woman!
Who is the Thakur's son, oh boy?

The one who wears a wrist-band
Is the Thakur's son.
Who is the Thakur's daughter-in-law, oh boy?

The one who wears a pair of bangles
Is the Thakur's daughter-in-law.
Who is the Thakur's grand-son, oh boy?
The one who wears bangles
Is the Thakur's son-in-law.
Who is the Thakur's grandson, oh boy?

The one who wears a necklace
Is the Thakur's grandson.

Who is the Thakur's grand-daughter, oh boy?
The one who wears a large ring on the neck
Is the Thakur's grand-daughter.
(7)
ro-ro-lo-ho-re-lo-
Where does the grass spring up?

Where does the cane spring up?
In hills the grass grows
And in Dhamdha the cane.
How does the grass look?

How does the bas (cane) look?
Green looks the grass
And long is the bas.
With what is the grass cut?
And with what is the bas cut?
With a knife they cut the grass

And with an axe the bas.
How is the grass bound?

The grass is kept in a cart
The bas in a yard.
What is the use of grass?
What is the use of bas?
The grass is used for thatching the roof

And bas is used for the ceiling.

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58 DURGA BHAGVAT
The festival:-The Hulki is a communal festival. The songs

given above are sung by men and women at night in their respec-
tive villages, accompanied with the Hulki and Re-la dances and
songs from the beginning of the Hulki period. The proper Hulki
falls on the same day as the Divali of the Hindus.
(1) Hurra:-On the thirteenth day of the dark half of month
Kunwar, the young men from one village go to another village to
dance and sing. They are received well by the young men and
women. Here again the villages must work in chains or links. At
night after dinner is served properly to the guests, all young men
and women dance together. The young men from the former
village try to dance with the girls of the latter village. And the
girls are enthusiastic to dance with them. But the men from the
latter village attack the strangers and a mock-combat dance takes
place. Then the girls retire and young men from both the villages
dance a friendly dance. Next morning the guests receive presents
of rice and other food-stuffs from each house in the village. They
cook it on the river-side and have their dinner. All the corn that
remains is taken by the young men to their village, and offered

the head man of the village, that evening. If the young me
have not been received with proper welcome by the people
the head man of the village they had visited, the head man
this village and his wife, send a sari and bangles to the hos
a challenge. That means the village will take revenge for bad
treatment the next year, when the young men of the former village
will have to come and dance Hulki in this village.
In normal course also, the visit of the young men from the
first village is returned by the other without any formal invitation.
But in the case of insult a special invitation amounting to a
challenge is extended to the former hosts. It cannot be refused.
In the normal course, once the visit is repaid, the first village can
pay the Hulki visit to another village and so on. The Hulki thus
consolidates friendly relations between the villages, and also starts
feuds. It appears that the youths of the visiting village are looked
upon as potential mates of the girls of the village visited. It may
be that once upon a time there used to take place raids from one
village into the other for purposes of carrying away marriageable
girls.

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THE PUSKOLAM FESTIVAL
The Puskolam is definitely a Gond fes

on the full-moon day of Pus. It is a c
Puspunni is celebrated by the Gon
Batar and Oundhi tracts.
The festival:-In the evening preceding the full moon of Pu

the young men of a village, go to another neighbouring villa
The young men on this occasion wear all the ornaments of th
women in their village. They are received well by the young m
and unmarried girls of the village. In every house the guests a
accommodated and no one takes any objection to the freedom
young men take with the girls of that village.
Next morning they are given rice and other food-stuffs by th
villagers and they cook their dinner on the river-side. In the
evening, with the rise of the moon, the rites of 'deur chadwa' (clim
ing the temple) begins. It is only the guests that take part in
They form a circle and with the sacred drum beating, begi
a danda (stick) dance, in which they jump and move on brisk
The following song is sung during the dance:-
(1)
re-re-lo-yo-re-re-la
From what village
Do these young men come?
Oh young boys and girls!
From Mohola have the young men come.
What is the plan of the youths?
They have come to play the Danda.
Of what tree are the sticks made?
Oh young boys and girlsl
Of bhiria tree the sticks are made.
From what village the sound will come
-aga baga dang, kudar kang,
From Chilan village will that sound come.
From what village do the small bells come?
Oh young boys and girls.
From Mohola the bells do come.
Three or four men then hold one another's arm and dance
in a line. Each young man allows as many smaller boys to stand

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60 DURGA BHAGVAT
on his shoulders, one above the other, as he can. This is called

the 'deur' or temple. The men dance in a line, the dance is called
the Munjota or monkey-dance. They sing the following song:-
(2)
The monkey sits on a high rock,

'Vayang, vayang'9 it says.
With whom are you angry, oh monkey?
'Vayang, vayang'.
Get down, oh monkey,
'Vayang, vayang'.
What will you eat, oh monkey?
'Vayang, vayang'.
Eat a pot of wheat, oh monkey
'Yes! Yes! Vayang'.
Mundikavadi:-While the youths are thus dancing and singing

the villagers throw coins at them. This is called 'mundikavadi'.
Young unmarried girls from the village rush towards the dance
to pick up the coins. But the dancers prevent them. They bea
them and try to drive them away. The girls do not retreat easil
They break the line with force and give a good fight to the you
men. There is a great din and roar of laughter during all the
time. When all the coins are picked up, the dance is finished.
Next morning the young men again receive presents of cor
from the villagers and an unmarried girl who is not engaged
betrothed is also given to them by the villagers. If a girl is n
available a bull is given.
The young men take the girl to their village, and get her
married to a boy who has a sister or cousin eligible for marria
Next year the dancers have to return the gift when their visit
repaid by their hosts. In return for a bull, however, a cow an
a calf are returned. The bull and the cow are killed and their
flesh is eaten on the return home.
The return homne:-After the young men of a village have

for the adjoining village, all the young unmarried girls in the v
gather food-stuffs from every house and go out of the village
the jungle on the boundary. They cut the branches of trees
the ground and make a pandal. It is imperative that every
married girl of the village must take part in this and other
of the festival that follow. Before the young men return hom
9. This is an imitation of the sounds which a monkey produces,

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girls fill water in new earthen jars, and prepare a sumptuous

dinner. The roars of laughter, echoes of jubilant songs, of the
battalion of the youths marching in the direction of the home
village is audible from a distance. The girls rush to the boundary
of the village where they receive their male friends with joyous
exclamations and various other gestures and movements expressive
of love. The young men then are served with water to wash their
feet by their respective girl friends. Then the young men take
their meals together. Girls serve them and eat dinner after the
men have finished. Liquor is consumed in liberal quantities. Again
the whole party of the elated young men and girls then form a
dancing party and drink, dance and sing to their heart's content.
Below is a sample of the songs sung on the occasion.
(3)
Oh! Phadki bird!
Why are you sullen?

Ohl Phadki bird!
You eat the fruit of the Gothia tree
Sit on the branch of the Tendu tree
Oh! Phadki bird!
Eat the Tendu fruit.
You sit on the Gothia tree
Oh! Phadki bird!
Why are you sullen?

Eat the fruit of the Gothia tree!
Sit on the branch of the Char tree
Oh! Phadki bird!
Go to the plains (of Chhattisgarh)

Oh! Phadki bird!
What do you eat?

Oh! Phadki bird!
I eat the corn of wheat.
I eat the Urad grains.
They thus sing and dance till past midnight. The b

girls then sleep in the same pandal. Many a love-gam
that night and many a match arranged. If the parents
disallow her to stay in the frivolous company of the y
the matter is reported to the boy-friends of the other girl
men unanimously agree on the point that as a protest to t
no one of the company should make an offer of marriage
unless she apologises. But usually this does not happ
girls are eager to mix with the boys and their parent

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62 DURGA BHAGVAT
tested similar enjoyment. Next day in the morning,

a branch of Semar or cotton tree which is now covered with fresh
green foliage and ready to burst into bright red blossoms. Th
tree is the symbol of youth. A girl cuts a branch, and four or
five other girls, stand below and catch the branch in their arm
The branch of the plant of youth must not fall on the groun
The boys gather all the sticks (danda) of Semar which they ha
used in the dance, and tie them in a bundle and fasten it to the
branch of a Semar tree. They remove all the female ornaments
they have been wearing so long, and bathe in the river. Each of
the boys then keeps a stone under the tree, which gives an idea
of the number of dancers that have taken part in the festival. The
bigger the heap of the stones, the greater is the glory of the village.
The girls carry the branch, (without letting it touch the ground,
till its proper destination is reached) and plant it in the centre of
the village. All the elderly people of the village then smear oil
and turmeric on the young people in their respective homes.
A very typical and interesting feature of this most amorous
festival is that love songs of any kind, and even 'Rela' songs are
forbidden from beginning to the end. The explanation given by
the Gond is that Puskolanm is a feast dedicated to a god (to
which god we do not know). Can it be that when actual love-
making is allowed to any extent there is little need to give vent to
emotions?
Concltsion:-This festival is important in more than one way.

(1) It is a real Gond festival and self-sufficient as it is not
subsidiary to agricultural operations or to any even in life or even
to the propitiation of the village gods as are other rituals like
Hulki.
(2) It reflects indirectly on the exogamous system of the Gond

into the Dudhbhai and Mambhai divisions. The festival clearly
suggests a chain of villages where girls and boys could mix with
one another with a view to matrimony. The exchange of un-
married girls in the two villages testifies to it. Only the system is
not well developed as it is among the Bhuiya or Oraon, where
they have the Bandhu village system of exogamy and where the
dormitory system is much more advanced.
The dormitory system still prevails in the south-eastern portion
of Madhya Pradesh and in Bastar.
In the south of Raipur, the dormitory system has decayed and
yet some ideology of the Puskolam festival has survived. The young

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boys form a solid group of their own, the eldest boy

Mariyan (a cousin) or Mukadam (chief etc.) So also th
a group of their own, and the eldest girl who leads
called Marandal (cousin) or Belosa. These terms are n
boys and girls also as synonymous for lovers. Anot
feature of this system is that each boy and each gir
name of the society which only the young men and w
The boys are called Raja, Pardhan, Mukadam etc. Gi
names of flowers. Whatever affairs take place in the gr
secret and parents have no voice in declaring a mat
young men and women decide.
(3) There is a faint trace of group marriage in it
(4) It is impossible to explain the custom of the
ing female ornaments when they go to the dance.
(5) The Festival in all its aspects isx symbolical o
love.
THE KARMA
The festival:-The Karma is the harvest

place in the rainy season, in the month
fortnight.
The triple aspect of the festival is (1) the ritual, (2) the dance
and (3) the songs.
The ritual consists of the worship of the Karam tree (Neuclea
parvifolia) accompanied with mixed dances of different formations
and also a variety of songs. The festival is very complex and unless
we analyse each of the three items, together with its ethnic and
geographic spread, we shall not be able to understand how the ritual
is modified and how the dances are expanded and also how the
songs are utilised in the festival. The contents of the ritual, dance
and songs are given below in all possible details.
The Ethnic and Geographic Distribution
The Ethnic distribution:-The ethnic distribution of the Karma

dances and songs as they are (a) accompanied by ritual, and (b)
detached from the ritual, in Madhya Pradesh and the adjoining
regions of Chhota Nagpur and Bihar, the former Feudatory States,
and the Mirzapur district in the Kaimur range, is of a primary

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64 DURGA BHAGVAT
importance as it discloses to us some of the moot point

(1) the origin of the Karma festival, (2) the tribes whic
representatives of the old Karma-worshippers both
regions and the adjoining ones; (3) the technique of t
dances and the songs, (4) the popularity of the Karm
songs; (5) and the religious significance attached
actually observed).
In Central India the Karma is widely spread amo
lower-caste Hindus, and aborigines in the eastern po
Mandla, Balaghat, Bilaspur, north of Raipur, and the n
of Drug, the former Feudatory States in Chhattisgarh
the former Jashapur, Raigarh and Sarangarh States
into the Kaimur range, and the Chhota Nagpur plate
Karma or Karam festival and dances still thrive vi
absence of the Karma in the south-eastern portion
trict merging into the Muria country, and the south-e
of Drug, the Oundhi and Panabaras tract, where we
the rare specimens of the concentrated Gondi cult
significant. The Karma is not known in Bastar and
northern portion of the Godavari district which is
fluenced by the Gond culture of Bastar. This geogra
tion shows that the Karma is not a part of the indi
culture, and that it is merely superimposed on
allied tribes either through the contact with tribes liv
lands and being influenced by the culture of the nei
gions, or through the migration of the tribes which b
group of the prominent neighbouring tribes. This lead
into the inquiry of the problem of the particular trib
India among whom the details of the Karma festivals a
in an elaborate form and their connection with the tribes outside
the province. To the east the Karma or Karam does not exceed
the limits of Singhbhum,?1 to the west not beyond Nagpur, to the
north not beyond Mirzapur and to the south in the northern parts
of Drug and Raipur districts.
Ethnic distribution in Central India:
Hindu lower castes:-Among all lower caste Hindus of Chhattis-

garh, Mandla, Balaghat and right upto Nagpur, the agriculturists
dance and sing the Karma. The medium of the Karma songs
10. E. Dalton, Descriptive Ethnology of Bengal, pp. 131, 135, 198.

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being some form of the eastern Hindi dialects, the Karm

have not reached places where the people speak Gondi,
or Telugu. In Chhattisgarh the Karma is very popular am
Rawat, Koshta and Panka.
Tribes:-Among the tribes, the Gond dance the Karma vigor-
ously. Even more systematic are the Baiga. Their Karma songs
are famous. They know a great variety of Karma dances.1l
Very famous are the Ghasia, whose Karma songs are well-
known. Even more famous are the Karma songs and dances of
the Majhwar of Bilaspur. And they also preserve the ritual of
the worship of 'Karam-raja' or 'Karam deota' in the form of the
'Karam' tree. A few of their neighbours both from the Hindu
and Hindu and tribal population imitate them.
Equally well-known are the Sahis Karma songs, and the ritual
is identical with that of the Majhwar.
Looking to the ethnic distribution of these tribes, the Ghasia,
the Majhwar, and the Sahis are spread profusely in the bordering
former Feudatory States, Chhota-Nagpur and Mirzapur districts. It
is also to be noted in this connection that in parts outside Madhya
Pradesh, and especially in Chhota Nagpur, it is the agricultural
Hindu population who dance the Karma more vigorously than the
Bhuiya, Munda and Oraon, the latter having their Jadur and
dormitory dances first and Karam dances next, which makes Sarat
Ch. Roy believe that the Karma festival and the dances have been
boorrowed by the Munda tribes from the Hindus.12 But looking
to the condition of Madhya Pradesh and Mirzapur, where also
Hindu lower castes indulge in the Karma, the inspiration comes
mostly from the aborigines, from the Baiga, Majhwar, Sahis and
Gond in Central India, and from the Majhwar and Sahis in
Mirzapur. The Karma legends also, after proper analysis, show us
that both the ritual and the dances and songs point more favourably
to an aboriginal origin.
The legends about the origin of the Karam or Karma festival:-
The legends about the Karma festival shed light on its origin and
spread. The following legend comes from the Majhwar of Mirzapur.
'There were seven brothers of the Majhwar tribe who lived
together. The six elder ones used to go out to work, while the
younger one stopped at home to cook food. He used to get his
11. Elwin, The Baiga, pp. 432 ff.

12. S. C. Roy, The Mundas, p. 478.

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66 DURGA BHAGVAT
six sisters-in-law to cook it and when it was ready

to his brothers in the fields. This youngest brother
habit of planting a branch of Karam tree in the co
of dancing before it with his sisters-in-law. Now th
cooking and one day the elder brothers, coming home
found them so engaged, tore up the tree in anger
into the river. At this the younger brother was enr
the house. Then everything went wrong with him, t
Karam-deota floating on the river. He tried to draw ne
a voice from the branch sternly forbade him to app
he was a sinner. He then propitiated the god by pr
directed to go home. On his return he found every
had been evil on his former journey was changed. Even
house, which had fallen into ruins and his brothers who had been
reduced to great poverty were restored to their former state. He
accordingly called his brothers together and told them that their
misfortune had fallen on them because they had dishonoured
Karam-deota. Since that time the deity has been worshipped by
the tribe.13
The story contains two important points which are common

to the non-Brahmanic and aboriginal cultures, viz., (1) the intimacy
between the younger brother and the elder brothers' wives, and
(2) mixed dancing. The reference to the dancing is all the more
interesting on account of the boy's being unaware of the fact that
the tree round which he danced for the sake of merriment was the
abode of a deity, who enjoyed dance and songs.
The 'sin' alluded to in the story seems to be the offence against
the divinity when the tree was thrown away. This seems to be
a typical instance of the aboriginal idea of the divinity. It is only
the offence that counts. The motive is of no consideration for
the deity. And so the Karam-deota does not take into considera
the ignorance of the boy. The Karam-deota does not even
into consideration that the youngest brother did fight wit
brothers in order that the tree might remain in the courtyard
The 'sin' cannot be a man's making merry with his sister
law, according to the moral code of the aborigines in these
unless the Brahmanic idea of 'decency' intervenes.
A legend of Karam prevalent among the Pauri Bhuiy
Orissa, recorded by S. C. Roy says that a merchant returned
13. The Gazetteer of the United Provinces, Mirzapur, pp. 103-4.

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after a very prosperous voyage. His vessel was loaded wi

metals and other valuable things, which he brought f
countries. Before he unloaded the ship he wanted h
sons and daughters to go to the ship and perform a r
mony for his safe and happy return. It was however
puja day and the women were dancing round the Kar
and men were beating drums. No one paid any atten
merchant's call. The merchant then became furious a
the branches and threw them away. But no sooner w
than the wrath of the Karam-god fell on him and his sh
precious loads sunk in the depths of the water. T
consulted an astrologer and asked him what was the
his ship and how could he get it back. The astrologe
that it was the curse of the Karam god that had ca
to disappear and the only way to get it back was to
deity. The merchant again set on a voyage in search
deity. He found the deity in the sea, worshipped
and the god then told him to perform the Karam ritual
His sons and daughters-in-law must fast for seven da
and dance and sing during the Karam festival.14
The legend describes the importance of the Karam
the evil consequences at the omission of it (like the p
Yet it does not give us any clue, like the former ta
origin of the ritual. The legend implies that the Ka
was already in existence. Yet the contemptuous way
merchant treated the sacred branches, may suggest tha
a very popular custom among the well-to-do. No Hin
a sacred object of worship in his own community w
tempt. It is probable that the worship of this tree w
in communities which were different from the one he
mostly in a class of people which belonged to a lower
Another story prevalent among the Brahmins of Ch
relates that there were two brothers. Dharma was the elder brother
and Karma, the younger brother. Dharma was a rich man and
Karma very poor. Karma's wife once asked him to go to his rich
brother's house and bring some money. Karma went. But his
brother and his wife were very unkind to him. Repulsed and
insulted he returned home in a very sullen mood. On his way,
he saw some women worshipping the Karma tree. The women
14. S. C. Roy, The Hill Bhuiyas of Orissa, pp. 267-9.

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68 DURGA BHAGVAT
saw how poor and dejected he was and they advised him
the Karma as they did, for prosperity and happines
and soon his bad days were over. He continued the p
others followed his suit.15
This tale also suggests not the origin, but the practice of the
custom which did not exist among the Brahmins of the province
to which he belonged and also hints at its spread among the
Hindu castes.
The strength of the Hindu population being enormous in

comparison with that of the tribes, the area of the distribution of
custom is much larger, and there is a greater possibility for
modification of the original custom. After a custom has thus be
sufficiently stabilised in the major portion of the population
reverse process takes place. The minority of the aborigines fro
whom the custom had earlier been borrowed by the Hindus, on
account of the growing influence of Hinduism, are likely to borrow
the new details from their Hindu neighbours. The cross-curren
of culture may thus continually go on, silently and yet with a
great momentum. Similar seems to be the case of the Karma
festival which originated among the aborigines and was borrow
from them and popularised by the Hindus.16
The festival and dance:-The Karam festival is both a com-
munal17 as well as a household18 one. The Karam festival in
Mirzapur is simple. If begins on the eleventh day of th

half of the month of Bhado19 and lasts for a least ten d
fast on that day and wear a thread on the right arm ov
some crude spells are recited. Then they go into the fo
cut a branch of the Karam tree, which they fix up in t
yard. The men bow to it and the women decorate it
lead. Then they get drunk, dance round it and sing Kar
The festival is an occasion of rough license and debauch
understood that if any girl takes a fancy to a man, she
15. E. Dalton, Descriptive Ethnology of Bengal, pp. 259-60.

16. W. Crooke, Tribes and Castes of N.W.P. and Oudh, III, pp. 439 ff.
17. Viz. the Bhuiya, the Ghasia, the Musahar etc. in Mirzapur. W. Crooke
op. cit. II, pp. 71-83, Roy, The Hill Bhuiyas, p. 240.
18. Viz. The Majhwar in Mirzapur and also the Savar, the Kharwar, the
Boyar etc. in the district; Crooke Ibid. also, II, pp. 94-7, Roy, The Khariyas,
II, pp. 342 ff.
19. It can also take place on the 14th day, called Ancient Chaudas. Crooke,
Tribes and Castes of N.W.P. and Oudh, II, p. 83; III, p. 439.

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to kick him on the ankle during the dance and parent

pair married.20
During the dance 'men and women stand in opposite
advance and retreat to the music of the sacred drum'.21 The dance
goes on the whole night and then next morning the branch is
taken in a procession by men and thrown into a tank or a stream
outside the village.22
The Karam Festival in Bihar and Orissa
The Karam Festival among the Oraon:-The Oraon observe

the Karam festival zealously. The chief items of the ritual
cutting of three branches of the Karam tree, which are cal
Karam Raja. (2) The entry of the branches into the village
dancing ground, accompanied with dance and music. (3) Dancing
and singing continuing the whole of the night. (4) Garlanding the
branches the next morning and recitation of the Karam legend.
(4) Offerings of flowers, rice and curds to the branches, (5) Red
Karam baskets full of grain are put before the branches and 'some
ceremonially nurtured barley seedlings' are distributed among the
boys and girls who put the yellow blades in their hair. (6) The
branches are taken up and carried by women through the village
and are thrown into the stream.23
Among the Hill-Bhuiyas, the Karma is observed as follows

'The men plant the Karam tree on the altar' while women g
on making hur-hura sound. The girls now bow down before t
Karam branch and say, 'O Karam Raja, O Karam Rani, we are
making Karam-Dharam24 night.'
It is interesting to note that the Hill Bhuiyas have no special
Karma-dances included in their dances, like the Oraon and Munda.
The Karma in Central India
The Majhwar in Central India dance the Karma dance

month of Asarh and Kunwar or at the beginning of th
20. W. Crooke, op. cit., II, p. 83.

21. Op. cit., II, 439.
22. Op. cit., II, pp. 94-7.
23. S. C. Roy, Oraon Religion and Customls, pp. 240-247, Archer, The Blue
Grove, p. 413.
24. S. C. Roy, Tle Hill Bhuiyas, p. 240.

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70 DURGA BHAGVAT
When the time has come the Gaonta (village) headm

Baiga priest fetches a branch of the Karma tree fro
and sets it up in his yard as a notice and invitation
After sunset all the people, men, women and child
and dance round the tree, to the accompaniment of a d
as Mandar. The dancing continues all night and in
the host plucks up the branch of the Karma tree an
to a stream, at the same time regaling the dancers wit
and goat's meat. This dance is a religious rite in honour of
Karam Raja and is believed to keep sickness from the village and
to bring prosperity.25
The Binjhwar in Bilaspur also perform the Karma ritual in
the same way as the Majhwar.26 Among the Savar and Sahis of
Bilaspur the same customs are observed regarding the ritual. The
Gond in Bilaspur District and even the low-caste Hindus, like the
Ahir, Kosta, Panka, Ghasia, etc., perform the Karma ritual in the
manner mentioned above. However, the Karma does not form a
nucleus of the indigenous Gondi culture. In the south-eastern
portion of the State and in Bastar, where the Gondi culture is
found in concentrated strength the Karma ritual is not observed
at all. Nor is it observed in the western parts of the area wher
the Gond are found in considerable numbers. It seems from this
that though the Gond in the eastern portion of the State obs
the Karma ritual and though the Karma dances and songs a
popular, it is borrowed from the local culture rather than a
of the tribal or Gondi culture. The Baiga are adept Karm
dancers, but they do not seem to observe the ritual as the Binjh
with whom they have racial and cultural affinities, do.
Transfer of application:-So far we have seen that the Kar
ritual in its original form, i.e., the worship of the Karam tr
performed by the tribes in Bilaspur. In the remaining east
portions of Madhya Pradesh, the Karma dances and songs a
held at another harvest festival called Jawara, which is celebrated
in the month of Bhado. Seven kinds of corn are sown by men in
an earthen pot and then women dance round the pots of seedlings
for three nights. On the fourth day of the bright fortnight, the
pot containing the Jawara seedlings is thrown into a tank or stream
25. Russell and Hiralal, Tribes and Castes of the Central Provinces, IV,
p. 153.
26. Russell and Hiralal, op. cit., II, p. 335.

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by the women. The Jawara festival is observed all

Pradesh, but the Karma dances and songs are perfo
the eastern tracts. The Gond are very fond of the feast. The
Ghasia, Panka and Kosta also observe it. The Baiga, on the other
hand, do not observe Jawara. They seem to have dropped out of
the Karma ritual entirely.
It is interesting to note that this application of the Karma
dance and songs to the Jawara is not peculiar to the tribal people
of Central India. The Oraon also have a form of the ceremonial
use of the seedlings in the Karma ritual. Only it forms a seco

part of the ritual, while in Madhya Pradesh, it forms the
item of the ritual. This transfer of the dance and songs
ritual to another, shows how local culture gradually abso
transforms customs which belong to outside areas. The pop
of the Jawara among the Gond and the transfer of the K
dance and songs to it once again emphasise that the Karm
a Gond festival and that it has been imported into the la
the Gond by some tribes other than the Gond viz. the M
the Savar, the Sahis etc. who are found in strong concentr
the adjoining former feudatory states, in Orissa as well
Mirzapur district.
The Karma dance:-The Karma dance is more popular
more widely spread than the ritual. Even in parts where th
is unknown, the Karma dance with its various forms is danced
vigorously. In the eastern regions of Madhya Pradesh, the Karma
has ceased to be a seasonal dance and is danced all the year round,
on any and every important occasion, in winter and in summer
also, when nights are moonlit, or even when the darkness of the
nights is made less fearful by the little glow of a fire, round which
the young boys and girls dance. It is the principal dance of the
tribal people in these parts. The social life and love-life of the
people get so much colour from these nightly enjoyments.
Its significance:-The primary significance of the Karma dance
is an accompaniment to the ritual and hence religious. As a
rainy season dance-complementary to the harvest ritual, it implies
certain magical qualities which are beneficial for a good crop.
Certain movements in the dance are imitative of agricultural opera-
tions and this leads one to believe that the object of the dance is
primarily magical,27 though it is true that the symbolism is many
27. S. C. Roy, The Oraon, pp. 275-296.

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72 DURGA BHAGVAT
a time, 'vague and elastic'.28

In Madhya Pradesh, however, the symbolism has
appeared as the ritual itself is observed to very smal
chiefly by the tribes like the Majhwar, the Savar etc. w
in strong concentration outside the province rather
the Karma ceases to be a 'festival dance', and is looked
as a 'traditional social dance' in the larger portion o
India.
Varieties of the dance:-The Karma is a mixed dance, with

different formations and steps. Though it is not possible for us
to discuss the technical peculiarities of all the known varieties in
detail, we shall see some of the chief aspects of it. The varieties
of the dance are formed on (a) either the circular or linear forma-
tion, (b) accompaniment or non-accompaniment of the drum, (c)
postures, (d) steps and (e) slow or rapid movements.
The Karma in Mirzapur:-In Mirzapur men and women stand
in opposite lines and dance the Karma to the accompaniment of
the drum. About other varieties of the Karma in Mirzapur we do
not know.
The Karma in Jashpur:-(1) The standard Karam dance with

the drum is the one in which 'the boys and girls form two curving
lines on the rim of a circle, and the dance then consists of a zig-zag
walk to the right with the torsos erect, followed by a zig-zag walk
to the left with the dancers leaning forward. In the latter move-
ment the emphasis is on every step by on the left leg, the left
foot being brought down firmly with a bond of the knee while the
right leg is brought lightly back behind!29 The formation of the
dance is either circular or semicircular.30 The two varieties of the
dance are (1) Jugia Karam (in which 'the girls form two parts
a curved line half facing the centre of the circle. Two boys a
strung out in a loose line holding hands, while the girls interlo
their arms and stand with their bodies touching. The line then
moves round the circle the girls walking smoothly while the m
proceed with leaps. After an erect zig-zag progress they move back
wards, and then do a figure of four movements before the wa
is resumed. This consists of two paces forward, first with the rig
leg and then with the left. The right foot then moves upto ju
28. Archer, The Blue Grove, London 1940, p. 24.

29. Archer, op. cit., p. 202.
30. Ibid., p. 21.

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behind the left, and the left is then brought back to a

the right!)31 and (2) Lujhki in which the movement
and there is no reverse. The action consists of two
with four movements, the rhythm rising and falli
third movement of each figure. The dance is done w
partly bent and goes rapidly with running swing'.32
The Karam dance in Chota-Nagpur:-The Karam dance in
Chota-Nagpur is popular among the Hindus as well as the tribal
people. The Munda dance it. The Karam dances of the Oraon
are very popular and are called 'stooping dances' as distinguished
from the other tribal dances like Jadur and the Kharia-dances
which are danced in an erect position.33 In all the varieties of the
Karam dance the boys and girls form separate rows.
The varieties of the dance are (1) Lujhki in which the girls
adopt 'a peculiar limping gait' and clap with their hands.
(2) Hutungia Karam is a dance in which 'each girl claps
her neighbour to the left by passing her left arm round the latter's
waist and placing of her neighbour on the right!'
(3) Kesari Kappa:-This dance imitates the gathering of the
Kesari nuts or water nuts in the tanks. In this dance the girls
kneel down and the drummers (the boys) squat on the ground
facing them. The girls go on shaking their heads violently, so
that their hair is dishevelled. As the dance progresses, it reaches
a climax when 'one or more girls show signs of spirit possession!
Then the knot of the cloth of the girl who is thus possessed of
the spirit gets loose at the waist. One of the young men then
has to kick her or pull her by the hair till she comes back to her
senses. This is a very exciting dance which makes allowance for
obscenity.34
The Karam dances of the Munda:-The Munda have three
varieties of the Karam dance, which are different from the Oraon.
They are:-
(1) Lahsua Karam:-This is the Central Karam dance from
which the Khemta and Binsari have evolved. This is a mixed
dance 'in which the dancers join hands, stoop forward

themselves in an arc or circle. Towards the centre of the circle
31. Ibid., p. 202.

32. Ibid.
33. S. C. Roy, The Oraons, p. 294.

34. S. C. Roy, op. cit., pp. 294-5.

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74 DURGA BHAGVAT
they advance with graceful steps and retire backwards i

bending posture, all the dancers slightly moving toward
as to complete the circle.
The Khemta:-In the Khemta Karma all we know is that the
movements are slow and graceful.
The Binsari:-The Binsari is danced from cock-crow to sun-
rise, in which 'the posture is more erect than in other Ka

dances'.35
The Karma dance in Madhya Pradesh:-The Karma dance is

an intercommunal dance as it is danced by the low-caste Hindus as
well as the tribes. The tribal dance is however more lively and
vigorous. Among the tribes like the Baiga, the Savar, the Majhwar
etc. the dance is the principal dance. It is danced not only during
the rainy season, but even in summer and winter also. The Gond
in these parts also dance the Karma. But the small and very typical
forest tribes like the Bhunjia and the Kamar in Raipur district do
not dance it. Neither do the Gond in the southern part of Drug,
penetrating into the Bastar tract, dance it. It is only where Hindi
influence is predominent that the Karma songs and dances thrive.
It is also obvious from the ethnic spread of the Karma dances,
that it is the non-Gond tribes mentioned above, who have introduced
the Karma into the province, though the Gond bye and large have
taken it up and popularized it. This led even close observers of
the tribes like Russell to believe that the Karma was the main
dance of the Gond.36 The varieties of the Karma dance is typifi
by the performances of the Baiga who are adept dancers. They
are:-
The Khalla Karma:-The Khalla Kar

performance of the circular moveme
left foot, brings the right up to it a
right, brings the left foot back a little
position, and bows, then repeats. An
movement is this:-
'Bring the left foot forward and across the right, then b
a little to the left of the original position, then bring the r
foot forward and across the left, then back, this too a little
the left'.
35. S. C. Roy, The Mundas, p. 478.

36. Russell and Hiralal, op. cit., III, p. 136.

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(2) The Tadi Karma:-In this formation and the fo

'advancing and retreating movements' are significant
there is a quick left, right, left movement forward, th
foot is brought upto the left, touches the ground with
is taken back at once. The left follows, then the right, then a
bow, and then steps are repeated'.
(3) The Lahaki Karma:-"The Lahaki Karma, which is gen-
erally sung to the rhymed songs, and has a powerful effect on the
emotions, is a jerky, rather suggestive movement. The women
stand in line, each lifts the left leg by bending the knee a dozen
times, then puts the left leg a little forward, bends the knee, brings
the right foot up beside the left, puts the left forward again, bends,
brings up right, and so on. Or the line may go round and round;
in this case the right foot is moved first a bit to the right, the
left is brought upto it, but always a little in front. In this move-
ment, one foot only takes the lead and the other follows and at
every pace the body is jerked from the knee'.
The Jhumar Karma:-This dance is typified by its rapid move-
ment and is very attractive. It is described by Elwin as one 'in
which the feet are alternately brought forward and back very
quickly. The right shoots forward and is back in its place im-
mediately, and the left is out and back as quickly!37 It is curious
to know that Jhumar is taken to be a variety of the Karma in
Madhya Pradesh. Crooke takes Jhumar or Jhunhir to be a dance
different from Karma, but corresponding to it.38 Dalton has also
expressed the same opinion about the dance as it is practised by
the Nagesur and Boyar tribes from Mirzapur.39 Looking to the
practice of Jhumar in Bihar also it is a separate dance and is in
no way connected with the rainy-season dance, the Karam.40
Just like the connection of the Jawara harvest festival with the
Karma dance, the Jhumar also is patched to it, though in the rest
of Central India, it is entirely a separate dance.
The Karma songs:-The classification of the Karam or Karma
songs can be made like this:-
(1) Songs dedicated to Karam Raja in which the celebration
37. V. Elwin, The Baiga, pp. 432-5.

38. W. Crooke, Tribes and Castes of N.W.P. and Oudh, III, p. 439.
39. E. Dalton, op. cit., pp. 131, 135.
40. S. C. Roy, The Oraons, p. 299, Archer, op. cit., p. 20.

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76 DURGA BHAGVAT
of the ritual is glorified.41

(2) Love-songs, in which marital as well as premar
extra-marital love is described.42
(3) Licentious and obscene songs.43

(4) Songs discussing village-gossip and recording events of
social importance in the history of the village or the tribe. People
of prominence also form a subject of the Karma songs, as for ex-
ample King Bhartari (Bhartrihari, the famous composer of 'the
three centuries of verses' in Sanskrit) has found a place of pro-
minence in the Karma of the Sahis in Bilaspur.
In Madhya Pradesh all the varieties of the Karma songs except
the first are found. All the elements mentioned above will be
seen from the songs that follow.
Karma Songs
From Baiga in Drug
The fair woman pulls up

The end of her sari (covering her breast)
And she throws a glance,
And a pair of bullets with it.
On the bank of the river

The ascetic has put up his camp
Oh ascetici Give up your camp.
Kalaram is going to plant a mango there.
On the branch of the mango tree

The cuckoo bird cooes sweetly
Oh! the cuckoo bird cooes sweetly.
41. Archer, op. cit., pp. 44 ff..

42. Elwin, The Baiga, pp. 444 ff., Hivale and Elwin, The Songs of the
Forest, pp. 51, 55, 61, etc.
43. Archer, op. cit., p. 49, W. Crooke, The Tribes and Castes of N.W.P.
and Oudh, p. 83.

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In whose courtyard
Do you play the danda?
In your office-ground
Oh father! we play the danda.
While she went to fetch water

In a pot of gourd
You were seated on a hillock
And looked askance
At the moon-face of the fair girl.

While she was fetching water, Oh Kalbatiya
Be seated, Kalbatiya, my darling,
Be seated on my cot.
All guests have arrived.
Be seated on my cot,
Oh Kalbatiya.
Where shall I hide myself,

Oh 'gondali' flower?
Let tigers and foxes
Feast on my body,
Oh 'gondali' flower.
I shall send you back
To your father's house,
Having known your tricks.
Take this away, oh drummer,

But do not touch my breast covering
Under-neath my breast covering
Are plentiful sweets
If you touch my cloth,
It will kill me,
So take the sweets away, oh drummer.
Do not crack jokes, my boy.

Do not crack jokes.
Mother-in-law sits in the verandah,
Father-in-law squats on a cot,
Do not crack jokes.

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78 DURGA BHAGVAT
On a high hill
You are screaming loudly,
Oh peacock.
Your life shall be enclosed
In the pouch of the hunter.
On a high hill you are screaming.
10
On a high hill
Four men are sitting,
In a high village,
The fisher-woman and wine-grocer's wife are sitting.
The wine grocer has
Distilled the liquor himself.
The wine was made,
The youth drank it,
And yet the old man got intoxicated.
Oh young man! Do not drink Phulli-wine.
Let the intoxicated old man drink it.
Let the old man sleep on a cot.
Let the young man sleep on a bed-stead.
11
The drummer has a beautiful body.

Saint Kabir knows that the body is subject to decay.
Where does she inform her lover?
In the bazaar does she inform her lover.
The lover with a money-bag in his hand

She tells him this -
Oh king! How is it possible
I am in an impure condition?
12
Bring mud, smear the ground

You are in the habit
of sleeping without a mattress.
13
The new drum has
A string of bells,
Four brothers are keeping
A vigilant watch.

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14
The office at Bahyar

White-wash it properly.
Do not make a mistake
When the lover is watching you.
15
The seeds of brinjals are broken and eaten,

We go to see the fort of Ramgarh.
16
In the sea they have spread a net

Do not go in the stranglehold of the fish.
17
Black is your jacket,

With a double row of studs,
How can I resist you
Oh, my elder-sister's husband?
18
On the bank of the river

Kodon grain is sown;
A man is put to shame
By his wife.
19
It requires two men to fell a tree,

Oh! my love,
Give me water in the pot,
Oh! I am dying of thirst.
20
The lightning flashes in Khairagarh,

The Bagela youth mounted on his horse,
He holds a gun in one hand
And a sword in another.

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80 DURGA BHAGVAT
21
The bicycle is run by feet.

Even if I am taken to the well
I shall throw the rope in it.
But water I shall not draw
Until I am taken for a drive
In a motor-car.
The seed is covered well with its coat.
My king the baby is rocking well in the cradle.

The Kasi flowers bloom
In Savan and Bhado months
When the yarns of hemp are pounded.

Love once realized never breaks off.
23
Keep the net ready on tile dark night.

The peacock is caught in the net behind.
Rajaniya, the lover is caught in the first.
24
Such a beautiful flower44
Has bloomed in the courtyard

How can I know about it,
Oh brother!
When I saw the tree,
It was widely spread.
I saw the leaves and they were huge.
The bud too I saw
and it had not bloomed.
How can I know about it,
Oh Brother!
25
The stranger wants to bestow

Knowledge upon us.
If it is a bird
You can catch it and coach,
But when it is a woman
She won't pick up knowledge.
44. This suggests pregnancy and childbirth. The woman sees the p
i.e., her husband and herself, and its leaves, viz., the relatives. The bud is the
enlarged abdomen, the flower is the baby.

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Gonds of Raipur:-
Girl:
(1)
With a gusto have you come

To dance the Karma;
You have to give up mischief
And stand quietly by the wall.
Boy:
The red vegetable is no good.

In the turmeric the plough-share is stuck.
Oh! Blooming girl! Light the lamp
So I may see your beauty.
Girl:
Oh! They have gone to your house,

To bring fire.
Let it be burning the whole night.
Go back, oh man, to the hut
Where you fitted so well.
From Gonds and Hindus of Bilaspur:-
(2)
You be gone!
Wily are you calling me?
I do not understand such things at all.
Why beckon me by hand?
Who will hold my basket?
Who will hold the fish-net?
Who will show the pond?
I do not understand such things at all.
(3)
He reads the black letters,

From where have you brought the scripture?
From Chhuri have I brought it.
Kotwal has brought only a book
And reads black letters.

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82 DURGA BHAGVAT
(4)
The fun of conversation is gone.

You wander far and wide,
Even in the house the cart moves on,
As there is no strength in the waist.45
And yet you wink at me, oh kingl
The fun of the talk is gone.
You are seen in the Chanda Pahad.
Drumstick vegetable is cooked.
Eat it dish after dish.
From the Chanda mountain falls a rock.
And the world sees the sun now,
The deities46 make 'kalkal' noise
In the crevices.
Stones are thrown this way and that way.

Run away, oh witch, to the cemetery.
Oh king, now the trumpet sounds.
From Majhwar in Bilaspur:-
(1)
The small darling youth

Is considered a big person.
He ties a beautiful turban
And also a cloth on it.
On his arms are marks of sandalwood,
On his chest, beads.
He climbs the ghat of Gomnati
And wanders in Katghora.
He could neither give,
Nor take sufficiently,
As there are few
Who appreciate love.
(2)
The flower of 'kalinder'

Shines near the plantain tree.
The Teli asks for oil,
The Brahmin for ghee.
45. Viz. impotence.

46. Birds.

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(3)
Showers have come
How shall I go?

The showers beat on the head,
The water-pot falls down,
A stable is the shelter for a female-ass
Mother's home for a woman.
She weeps with pain
In the house of the father-in-law.
She dashes and breaks
The water-pot on the head.
(4)
Says the mother-in-law:-

The daughter-in-law
Wore a red sari
And served rice, slowly, slowly

In the dish of gold.
Her eyes were red,
Her face became dark
Where are the bangles?

Where are the armlets?
Where is the collirium for eyes?
(5)
A blind man sees a fort
Dim, very dim.

I reach Ranchi
And my body thrives.

The plain protects the fort.
The corners of the winnowing fan are triangular.
The winnowing fans are kept
In five-two markets.
The milk-man milches with fingers

The milk is poured into the jar.
Of that milk curds are made.
Of it becomes the ghee.

Semi-liquid, semi-solid.
Oh Joharl From where does the sipalu (police man) come?
Sitting on the verandah,
Offer him a seat
I bestow my household on you.
(6)
The fair woman

Weeps in the month of Savan,

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84 DURGA BHAGVAT
Who can escape a co-wife?

The man has left his wife,
But the fair woman cannot
Escape a co-wife
And she weeps.
(7)
With an axe the earth is dug.

The crab is searching for its hole.
The big fish searches for a deep current.
The small one for a ditch.
The crocodile walks majestically.

The dust is thrown up.
From the Sahis in Bilaspur
(1)
The king of Bhartari line

By the name of Lalikar,
The day he was born,
Drums were beaten as announcement.
Fresh, green cow-dung was brought,

With it the ground was cleaned.
With six pegs was it marked.
In it a water-jar was kept,
A silver lamp was also kept burning.
From Kasi pundits were called.
They sang auspicious songs.
The ordinary folk danced the Karma
The farmers' faces lit with joy
Such was the king Bhartari
By the name of Lalikar.
(2)
The king of Bhartari line47

Named Lalikar
47. The reference to king Bhartari alias Bhartrhari in Sanskrit li

the famous king and sage, composer of the three centuries of poem
polity and asceticism, is very amazing indeed. Just like Vikrama he
among lower classes in this part. The ideology of the two songs is
Hindu. The poetry in them is finely developed and the theme of th
song is superb. The reference to the deer in the pig sacrifice
glorifies it. It may be that the primitive object of worship graduall
place for the cow.

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Went out hunting,

A deer was playing,
It was romping about,
The king shot in a moment.
He shot in its direction,
The beautiful deer fell to the ground.
It got up for a while
And said-
Give my hoofs to the glorious cow,

So they will be worshipped in every house.
Give my horns to a warrior
So he will fight in battle and die.
Give my hide to a sage,
So he will (sitting on it)
Contemplate in the forest.
Give my eyes to a wise woman,
So she will be praised in the world.
(3)
She went to Pali bazaar
To buy a sari.
While making a bargain
She stopped,
And started looking at that (man's) hand
Near the 'Kosam' tree
In the Hardi bazaar.
(4)
Shall I make gruel of wheat flower?

Or shall I cook the taina bird?
Surely this girl wants
Wear, oh daughter-in-law,
Bangles from Chapa,
Armlets from Chhuri,
Collirium from Katghora
Wear them, oh daughter-in-law.
Conclusion
Summing up the discussion about the Karma ritual, dance and

songs, we can say that the Karma is not an indigenous element of
the Gond culture but seems to be the product of the Munda
culture. In Madhya Pradesh, the Baiga, Majhwar and Savar are
the people who perform the Karma. The other tribes seem to have

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86 DURGA BHAGVAT
copied it from them. The Karma ritual is observed by th

tribes alone, and in the eastern tracts of the State the Karma is
amalgamated in the Jawara festival which is very popular among
the Gond and the Hindus all over the region. The Karma tree
thus recedes into the background in the land of the Gond. There
is only one solitary instance given by Hislop known to us where
the Karma or Mundi wood is used by the Gond to make Nurma
Pen (a god in the Gond pantheon) in Chhindwara. No other
instance is known where the Karma tree is looked upon as sacred
in the Gond religion. The Karma dance also, owing to the deterio-
ration of the ritual in the region, exists mainly as a social tradi-
tional dance of the rainy season, though we find people dancing
the Karma even in summer and winter.
The varieties of the dance in Central India as well as the
adjoining regions show that most of the movements of the
are circular. The steps are varied according to the techniq
the performance. One fact which becomes noticeable in the
and dance of the Karma in Madhya Pradesh is that the ritu
lost importance while the dances have become more popula
original Karma ritual is very much curtailed and the dance
are transferred to the Jawara. The dances however are sp
widely and include even the Jhumar in them. The songs dr
ritual basis and change in the dances according to the emo
the dance is supposed to express (for instance, the Lahaki
pressive of rich emotions). The chief item of the songs is
tious sex-love. The next item is gossip and other motif
natural beauty, hero worship, satire etc. The songs are ever
and made up on the spur of the moment.
In short, the Karma is one of the most complicated festivals
of the tribal people in Central India in which the ritual, the dance
and the songs are each of them of a complex nature and cannot
be explained until we study these things as they are practised by
the tribes of the neighbouring regions.
THE PIG SACRIFICE
The cow-sacrifice:-The cow-sacrific

of the Gond culture, as we saw, in th
48. Hislop, op. cit., Appendix: Grigson, op. c

pp. 63-64.

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exists only among the tribes which belong to some cla

Gond. The other tribes like the Baiga,49 Korku etc. th
have many customs in common with the Gond, have ke
selves scrupulously aloof from cow or bullock-sacrifice.50
The pig sacrifice:-The next important sacrifice is the
of the pig, which is zealously sponsored by all aborigine
lower caste Hindus, like the Ahir, Kosta, Panka51 etc. Y
sacrifice is not restricted to the aboriginals of this prov
It is distributed widely over India.52 The pig sacrifice i
49. Elwin, The Baiga, p. 4.

50. The only case where a non-Gond tribe sacrifices a bullock is that of
the Bhil in Khandesh. Bullocks are offered to Vaghach Kunber and Hatipawa.
Khandesh District Gazetteer, p. 93.
51. Russell and Hiralal, op. cit., I, p. 8; II, p. 223-225; III, pp. 31, 466;
IV, p. 310; Sagour District Gazetteer, p. 42; Narsingpur District Gazetteer, p. 54
Elwin, The Baiga, pp., Grigson, op. cit., pp. 161.
52. In South India the pig sacrifice is very common viz. Thurston, Castes
and Tribes in South India, I. The Banthuk Savaras kill a pig at a
wedding (p. 263), II. The professional thiefs Dandasis, sacrifice a pig and sev
fowls to their goddess (p. 107). The Domars sacrifice the pig (p. 186). The
Haddis sacrifice a pig in marriage (p. 317), so do the Handijogis (p. 323). The
Hasalas offer a pig to the dead (p. 325). The Jogis kill pigs in marriage (p.
494). The Jatapu offer pigs to the caste goddess (p. 455). IV, The Koyis offer
a cow and a pig to their gods (p. 61). The Konda Dora kill pigs in marriage
(p. 351). The Khond bury a pig with the dead (pp. 374, 396). VI. The Nanga
Poroja sacrifice pigs to the Bhumideota. (p. 215). The Savar also sacrifice pigs
to the dead in marriage and when crops are not good. (p. 321). In Coorg, the
pig is sacriticed in honour of the dead and in the worship of Mariamma when
an epidemic breaks out. (Ritcher, The Manual of Coorg, pp. 163, 170). In
Assarii also it is widely spread and for every little thing a pig is sacrificed, viz.
when a man is ill a pig is killed (Hodson, the Naga Tribes of Manipur p. 137).
The Ao Naga kill a pig when crops are growing. A pig is killed when a god
or a dead person is seen in a dream and also to the lesser spirits when a vow
is made (Mills, The Ao Nagas, pp. 219, 220, 222). The Lhota Naga kill pigs
when there is sickness in the home and in all social gennas (Mills, The Lhota
Nagas pp. 131, 138).
In Northern India a pig is offered to Banaspati-Ma, the Mistress of the
Wood by every passer-by (Crooke, Northern India p. 231).
The Ahir in Northern India, in the Sohrai festival which takes place on
the fifteenth of Kartik when a cow is made to run or dance. Sometimes a young
pig is made to squeak near her calf and the mother followed by the whole
herd, made to pursue it and gore it to death (Crooks, Tribes, and Castes of
N.W.P. and Oudh, I, p. 65). The pig is killed by the Munda tribes Cf. Roy,
The Khariyas, II, pp. 522, 227.
In the Punjab a pig-sacrifice seems to be very rare.
In Maharashtra and Karnatak also it is almost extinct save in some few
cases like famine or draught, when a Brahmin minister offers a sacrif

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88 DURGA BHAGVAT
formed in every social 'genna' in Central India as in

the Naga tribes of Assam, yet it is very important.
of both the regular ritual as well as occasional wo
aborigines and is also a communal as well as a family
ing to the purpose, and the rite in which it is empl
It is a communal rite, performed by the Baiga of
when the village gods are to be worshipped. The
just as we saw it in the preliminary stage of the
Budhadeo. The Baiga ascertains whether the god is willing to
accept the offering or not and then making the animal eat some
rice cuts its head. This forms part of the regular communal
offerings which are annually made.
The occasional communal pig sacrifice takes place when there
is a break of epidemic in the village.53 What I found in the
Narbade valley and the central plateaus of the region was that four
pigs are buried alive in four quarters of the village boundary. Only
their heads are seen above the ground and they are trampled by
feet and killed. In some villages they are also buried completely
so that no sound is heard. In Chanda, driving the chariot of the
goddess and crushing the pigs and fowls to death is popular.
'two animals, a goat and a pig are killed, the latter over the body of the former
and it is essential that no iron instrument be used in killing the animals. The
animals are done to death by all the Brahmins headed by the Yajaman, pomelling
them to death with their fists (Abbot, the Keys of Power, p. 216).
It is to be remembered that in Assam, Bihar and Orissa and in South India
(except when there is an epidemic when the chariot of the goddess crushes the
animal to death) that the pig is decapitated. The methods followed in Central
India shall be duly discussed. The methods of the pig sacrifice however are not
fully known and the information about them is scanty and scrappy and hence
it is not possible for us to give here even a full idea of tlle ethnic and
geographic distribution of pig sacrifice. It seems however, that it began with
aborigines. It is widely distributed in Assam, and in Eastern Central and
Southern India. In the North it does not seem to be popular. Pig sacrifices
are of paramount importance and widely distributed in Indonesia and Oceania
also. (Lowie, Introduction to Cultural Anthropology, pp. 40, 41, 51. Also Mead,
Cooperation and competition amlong thle primitive people. Section 5. The
importance of the pig in ceremony). Rivers, Melanesian Society, pp. 91, 112), II,
pp. 210-5, Harrison, Savage Civilization, pp. 92, 110, 115).
53. Pig-burial among the Mochi, Parsi, Ahir, Lodha, Kori, from Uttar
Pradesh and Central India, at the Yellandu Coal field, in honour of Kali is
described by Bishop Whitehead. When an epidemic bursts out a pig is burie
in a pit. And another is buried at a distance of about a mile facing the first
pig. (Whitehead, The Village Deities in Southern India, p. 184).

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Pig-Sacrifice in Family Feast
The pig sacrifice is however more frequent in the fami

than in community feasts. A pig sacrifice is regularly
the family gods (1) when the harvest festival takes pla
when the worship of Bara-deo is made once in three ye
It is occasional when (1) there is a disease or (2) dea
family.
Approximate geographical distribution
From what I saw in Madhya Pradesh, I found out that the pig-
sacrifice is not so frequent in the Vindhyan territory, namely.
Sagour and Damoh. Also in the western portion of the Narbada
valley, i.e., Hoshangabad and Narsingpur and also in Berar, the
pig sacrifice is not popular and not very common. The goat seems
to have replaced the pig and so has the fowl. A pig is sacrificed
in the case of a vow made to Narayan Deo in illness and when
sowing begins, the seeds are smeared with the pig's blood or with
that of a fowl.
As we advance to the areas where primitive culture is foun

in a more concentrated form, the pig sacrifice also becomes mo
common.
Varieties of the Pig-Sacrifice
There are mainly two rituals of the pig-sacrifice, na

one of the Baiga and that of the Gond. The Baiga form
pig-sacrifice is typified in the laru kaj ceremony, in h
Narayan-deo, a demon, often identified with Bara-deo
sun-god,54 the chief household deity of the aborigines in
part of Madhya Pradesh, where the Baiga are found in
Laru is the name of the sacred pig. When there is illn
house, a vow is made to Narayan-deo for the patient's
When the patient recovers, a pig is dedicated for sacrif
ting a bit of its ears or tail and it is fed for three year
of the house prepares plenty of kodo and rice and gets
54. V. Elwin, The Baiga, p. 404; S. Fuchs, op. cit., pp. 391-3.

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90 DURGA BHAGVAT
of liquor. He invites his friends and relations and

begins the laru-kaj.
The details of the laru kaj ritual, described by
Fuchs,56 are given here in an abridged form, but wi
of items which I myself was able to collect.
(1) The laru-kaj is performed by the Samdhi (a
through marriage) of the sick person, called Kamri,
(magicians)57 or the temporary priests.
(2) In the courtyard at the house a pit, called Narada, is
dug with some logs across its mouth and a small hole about a foot
square and foot deep is dug before the door in the courtyard of
the house.
(3) The 'phulera', i.e., a bundle of bel leaves is made by the

sick person.
(4) The most important stage which follows after the prepara-
tion of narada and phulera is the handling of the pig. The pig
is caught and dragged squealing to the door. Once more rice is
put before it and the Dewar cries 'Look, Maharaj, today we give
you rice. Don't give us any trouble'. Directly it eats even so much
as a mouthful of rice, it is lifted up and its front legs are tied.
A lighted lamp in an iron vessel is waved round the creature three
times. Its mouth is forced open with two bamboo sticks and more
rice is pushed into it. Boiling water is put over its phallus and
allowed to run into the hole in the ground before the door. Then
three men, holding the pig by its two hind legs and buttocks, push
the pig's head into the hole which is now half full of water. Earth
from the sides is shovelled in so that no air can reach its nostrils.
The squealing stops abruptly though the animal's struggles a

redoubled. Then the men begin to bump it up and down in t
hole. The bumping is most efficient to cause death, which is d
to suffocation, and in about ten minutes the pig's struggles ce
and it is carried out to be washed and singed. While this is go
on, all the women present throw wet cow-dung and other ref
over the men and scream insults at them'. This is accompanie
with abusive songs.
(5) The pig is then washed and its hair singed off over a fi
Its body is dragged to the bigger pit and its blood is allowed
55. I was told that the laru kaj could also be performed on a Tuesday.
56. V. Elwin, op. cit., pp. 403-7; S. Fuchs, op. cit., pp. 427-49.
57. The number of Barua can also be five. The wife of the eldest Barua
also plays an important part in the ceremony as I shall describe later o

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flow into it. The grand-father and grand-mother wrap up

and the liver in bel leaves and put the bundle in the s
they sing.
The song I have got runs as follows:-
Bring milk, oh, bring milk,

Bring milk of the Surahi cow
Bring milk for washing feet.
Bring oil, oh, bring oil,
Wash the feet with oil,
Wash the feet with milk.
I was also told that when the dead pig is decapitated, its head
is kept in the leaf-bundle. Then its skin from neck to the loins
which is called 'Badhari' is also taken out and kept near the head.
Then the rest of the skin of the hind-part including the genitals is
taken off. The heart and liver are then extracted, wrapped in
Mahua leaves and cooked first. Women are not allowed to partake
of this food nor are outsiders given a portion of it. They can
partake only of the rest of the flesh which is cooked separately.
Elwin however says that the meat beneath the swing is distributed
by the Kamri and an old woman, four scraps of meat and a share
of rice for every household.
It is followed by a supper accompanied with songs mostly
obscene and they also dance. This is according to Elwin the final
stage of the ceremony.
The Kajwar Ceremony
I learnt from my informants, however, that the head of the

pig is cooked in the house the next day. It is given only to the
members of the household and the Samdhi. The head of the
family then says to Narayan-deo, "Come again when a boy wi
born in this house. Do not come any other time"! The hea
then thrown into the pit. The pit is then covered with mud
it is made a small mud platform. The baruas then go to the ju
and bring a huge thorn of the 'narisay' tree. They pretend
they were riding a horse, in the form of the thorn. They
are in search of the Barua, who is supposed to be an elderly wom
and who has helped them in feeding the pig on rice the prev
day. The Baruin hides. The men neigh like a horse and beat
Baruin when they find her. The women then attack the men

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92 DURGA BHAGVAT
run and disperse. This rite is symbolic of the dispersion

deo's ceremony, who was attacking the Baruin. Then
men go to the river and throw the thorn into the water
Rice is cooked and placed in the phulera. The Ba
mouthful of the cooked rice and go on spitting it i
house. And they sing:
Oh deer on the riverside
With knotted horns,
Hold the horns
And dance, and copulate.
Oh Kajwar-baba,
Hold the horns
And dance.
Then baruas catch the phulera, and run with it to the Narada
into which they throw it. All the bones, and remains of food, water
etc., are thrown into the pit. Then the Kamri keeps the head of
the pig on the side of the pit and says, 'Come again'.
The householder and his wife are then made to sit near the
platform on the sacrificial pit and are covered with one cloth. I
an iron bowl, called Karchul, oil is poured. Three wicks ar
burnt in it. The kamri then holds the lamp and approaches th
couple followed by the Baruas. Then they sing and call out the
names of all important gods, Narayan Deo, Budha-deo, the Sun an
the Moon, Banaspati-Mata, Budhi-mata, Nanga Baiga, Nangi Baig
etc. and put the lamp upside down and pour water on it.
Then the Samdhi who has taken a prominent part in all th
operations pertaining to Laru Kaj, comes to the door in the dis
guise of a Sadhu. 'I have come from the East, I go to the West
The householder and his wife then give him a winnowful of ric
and pulses. Abusive songs are sung and the pig-sacrifice is ended
The Gosai and Pusai of the Gond
Though the Gond staying in the Baiga neighbourhood follo

the same method of a pig sacrifice in the name of Narayan
in Drug, I came across a different form adapted by the Gon
called Gosai Pusai. Gosai Pusai, done in the name of Narayan
Deo is a prophylactic, disease-curing form of worship. Gosai Pusai
is also done before the worship of Bara-deo every three years or
by some, as the Kothia in the Oundhi tract, once in twelve years,
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Gosai Pusai is performed in the month of Pus, usually

half of the month, or on the fullmoon of Baisakh. An
Monday is chosen for it.
Gosai means the 'lord'. The Gosai is Narayan-deo. When
there is illness in the house a pig's tail is cut and it is let loose
for three years. The Samdhi* of the householder then takes a
prominent part in the sacrifice and four more men who assist him,
one of them being the sick man (in case of a woman another man
is chosen).
Narda and phulera:-Women clean the house with cow-dung
and then men make a pit on the threshhold and also a phulera of
the leaves of mango and bel, as in the case of the Baiga Laru-Kaj.
The pahara:-A pit is dug by the men inside the house over
which planks are laid. The legs of the animal are then tied to
four pegs in four directions with a rope. The pig is made to eat
a little rice strewn on the planks and with an iron bar its neck is
crushed, and also the testicles and the penis.
The head is then severed from the body and so are the genitals.
The blood is allowed to drop into the pit. The Samdhi blows air
into the scrotum of the animal and all the men sing and dance.
The head is kept near the pit and the liver and heart are
cooked by the officiating men and also eaten. The rest of the
flesh is cooked and distributed to all. Some say women can eat it.
Some say they cannot.
Then another meal takes place.
(1) The Maria Gond also adopt a similar method of tying
the legs of the animal and crushing the testicals with stones. But
in their sacrifice the pig is killed as in an ordinary offering, i.e.,
it is decapitated with an axe or its head is smashed with a huge
wooden pestle, or if it is a small pig it is whirled in the air and
smashed down.58
Men cook the pig and some rice. Having finished the meals
men and women throw mud and cow-dung at each other and sing
abusive songs. Songs are sing at various stages of the pig sacrifice.
When women clean the house with cow-dung and make a
square in which the pig is to be sacrificed, they sing.
During the pahara or crushing ceremony, men also sing:-
58. Cf. Elwin, The Baiga.

* The Samdhi is the male member, either the father of the bride or the
bridegroom; he is father of one's daughter-in-law or son-in-law.

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94 DURGA BHAGVAT
(1)
The tree of bel,

The creeper of bel,
Loaded with fruit.
Oh son! drink the milk of the bel fruit.
Oh Gosaiya! Wash the feet with milk.
The 'Khichari' made of rice and urad pulse.
Eat, oh Gosaiya eat.
The twigs of the mango tree
And a stump of saj
Let it be your resort.
(2)
On the full moon of Baisakh,

Oh deer on the river side,
Dance and jump
Hold the horns and dance and capulate.
(3)
King Paramesar (god) had five daughters

The daughters played and jumped
On the golden throne of Paramesar.
Paramesar asked the five daughters
By whose fate do you eat?
(The first four said)-
We eat by your Karma,59 oh father.
He asked princess Chango,
By whose Karma do you eat?
By my Karma do I eat, oh father!
Paramesar sprang up,
From his golden throne
Shaking with anger.
He ordered:
Take princess Chango to the forest,

Let her live there.
Twelve mountains were crossed,
And to Sondhad mountain
She was taken.
She was asked to stay there.

On the mountain a temple
Began to rise out of the ground.
A throne of gold also was visible,
The golden throne of Chango.
A big golden palace emerged.
59. Fate of man resulting from the deeds of a former life.

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TRIBAT GODS AND FESTIVALS IN CENTRAL INDIA 95
The city of Chango,

Came into being.
Chango sat under the golden umbrella.
King Parsamesar was crestfallen,
He bowed down before her,
Come, oh child, to your old place.
I shall not go to your place, oh father.60
(4)
The Chowk is made,

And polished with a pearl dye.
Oh Gosaiya, be seated on your seat.
Be seated, oh earth,
Be seated, oh sky,
Be seated, king Narayan.
Let the four gods be seated.
Let the sun and moon be seated.
The worship of Narayan is taking place,

The sun and moon witness it.
Where were you born, oh barua?

Where were you known?
In the plantain grove
Was I born,
And known in the abode of the gods.
(5)
The Khichari dish of 'urad' and 'mung',

And the 'pirapeti' snake
Eat, oh Gosaiya!
On the 'Janaira'61 night
Mango leaves are cut,
And also the pillar of Saj.
The scorpion bites the mother-in-law,
And the mother-in-law shouts.
The pulp of brinjals6 a)

It is well bitten by the scorpion.
What will you give,
If the scorpion sting is removed?
Oh Jatalsing deer of Singaldip,
Hold the horns,
And dance on the banks of the Jumna.
Have sex-intercourse,
Charbar charbar,
The penis should move briskly,
60. The story is exactly like the Marathi tale of Varnasathi.

61. The night on which the sacrifice is performed.
61 a). The pulp of the brinjal is the vagina; the scorpion is the penis.

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96 DURGA BHAGVAT
The warrior, his the penis

Runs on the surface of the bed
Then comes horripilation on the chest.
Get up, oh wife,
Light the lamp,
For sex-intercourse call your father.
(6)
Hold the horns,

And have sex-intercourse.
Your eyes and ears are famous.

Let them be famous,
The penis should strike,
The famous peg of the buffalo.
The two kinds of sacrifices mentioned above are the most
important ones. Whenever Narayan-deo is to be propitia

in Gosai Pusai, only the pig and no other animal is to be sacri
Another peculiarity of these sacrifices is that no blood of th
is shed. While in other smaller sacrifices the details are not s
and any other animal also domesticated can be killed.
Minor pig-sacrifices
When the harvest is gathered and new corn is eaten a

offered to the household-god in all the Gond regions. Som
a fowl is substituted for a pig. In this case the ritual is no
rate. Here decapitation of the victim is the central item
sacrifice and bloodshed is essential.
Rat Mai festival:-In Chhattisgarh Rat-mai or Mother Nigh

is worshipped in winter, in the dark fortnight of the month
Magh. Black lines of lamp soot are drawn on the inner walls
the home which represent the goddess. In Raipur, however, I
told that a crude female figure was formed of mud and cove
with the soot. In Bilaspur a stick covered with black soot
planted on a platform in the interior of the house. The stick
the symbol of the goddess.
A pit is dug by the eldest married male member of the family
who fasts the whole day before the symbol of Rat-mai, and a lam
is burnt. He calls out the name of the goddess and sacrifices
cow or a black goat. But a pig is preferred. He then takes out
heart and liver and cooks them separately. Only men can part

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of this flesh. Women are not allowed to enter the room and cast
even a glance at the light that is burning in the place. If th
intrude, they may lose their eyesight. The rest of the flesh
cooked and rice also, and that is given to all the members of
family. All the remains of the food and even the refuse is th
in the pit in the room and buried.
Conclusioin:-As pork forms an important portion of the
riginal diet, pig-sacrifice is more commoon among them than
other sacrifice. From the different varieties of the sacrifice I came
across in Central India the household sacrifices seem to be more
ancient and important than the communal ones. In the household
sacrifices also the sacrifices in honour of Narayan-deo seem to be
very old as the method of killing the animal without bloodshed, by
suffocation or crushing, belong to that stage of human civilization,
when implements like an axe or knife had not come into existence.62
The distinction between the Baiga and Gond methods also is
striking. The absence of women in the principal rites of pig
sacrifice is essentially Gontdi. The purpose of the Baiga and Gond
sacrifice however, is just the same, i.e., warding off disease. In the
case of the harvest ceremonies the bloodshed symbolises fertility.
THE PHAG
The Phag or Holi is a typical Hindu festi

on the full moon day of Phagun, in hon
and in commemoration of the event of
(god of love) by the fire from the thir
the spring festival of the Hindus. The
of the festival are (1) lighting of the Ho
burning of the god of love. (2) Obscene
swinging which is prevalent only in the
Damoh. The Holi is widely celebrated in Central India. The
aborigines who live in closed-up areas, like the Bharia of Chhind-
wara, observe it. The Korku in the wildest tracts of Hoshangabad
also celebrate it. The only tribes which do not celebrate Holi are
the Kanmar and the Bhunjia from Raipur and the Gond and other
tribes from the Oundhi tract in Drug.
The festival:
The festival is celebrated in the Hindu way, excepti
62. Elwin, The Baiga, p. 403.

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98 DURGA BHAGVAT
details.
In the Narbada and Tapti valleys, in Chhindwara and Seoni
districts the Holi is celebrated in a peculiar way. A pole of wood
called Khandera is erected in honour of Meghnath, the son of
Ravan. Men and women gather round the pole, dance and sing
extremely obscene songs. Some men try to climb up the pole and
women beat them and drive them away which is called the 'gur
torna' or 'the breaking of jaggery'. Aboriginal women are very fond
of this game. Another thing they do is to tie a coloured cord on
the wrist bands called 'band' on the hands of their wives and
sweethearts. The Maria Gond in Ahiri tract make two figur
cow-dung, one a male figure, the other female. They are t
burnt in the Holi fire. A group of Raj-Gond who hailed
Bastar described to me the festival as it is celebrated by the
'and H-alba of Bastar who still adhere to the old tradition. The
Holi is supposed to be the mourning of the people for Ravan, th
king of Lanka. Ravan is called Bonaro.
Nine kinds of wood are required for the Holi fire, of which
the bel (Aegle Marmelos) wood is the chief wood, the other eigh
being of any kind. A stick of the castor tree is kept on a hen
egg. On that is placed an iron ring. Earth is thrown on the
till they are completely covered up. Then the wood is piled on
it, the 'bel' wood first. The head-man of the village or the eldes
male member of a family with wife and children, lights the Ho
fire. The Holi fire is supposed to be the funeral pyre of Ravan
The one who lights it has to take a bath.
A small bird called Chiral is generally heard making a noise,
sad and wailing. It resembles a cry. It is said that the bird
mourns for Ravan, for two months.
The importance of Ravan in aboriginal culture is striking. The
Gond have a branch which is called Ravanbansi. There are some
villages in the province which go by the name of Ravanvadi.

commemoration of Ravan and his son Meghnath are also pecu
The Hindus in Chhattisgarh make three figures of mud represent
Ravan, his brother Kumbhakaran and his son, Indrajit. They sh
arrows at the two brothers, but spare the son.63
The Phag dance:-The Phag dance is danced by men an
63. The Shanar in South India also worship Ravan. They rejoice in
Rama's defeat and Ravan's victory. (The Madras Manual of Administration, I,
p. 126).

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women separately. The dance of the men, called D

is a vigorous and most lively stick dance. They form
drummers standing at the centre, and go round an
steps uniform and movements rhythmical. The dance
is unorganised and has not any importance attache
Phag dance is essentially the dance of men.
The songs:-The contents of the Phag dance song
songs about Khandera or Meghnath as we find them
bad, Betul64 etc. (2) The songs describing the band
in Hoshangabad.65 (3) Love songs of a licentious ch
Obscene songs. (5) Miscellaneous songs.
In Sagour the Phag songs are divided into Rahi,
Khyal.
Rahi is the name given to the musical performance of a
dancing girl and hence the Rahi songs suggest a licentious spirit.
Khyal of course is the Hindustani variety of songs.
What Suwan means is not known. The songs however seem
to contain some serious element and sometimes even philosophise
on the riddle of life.
(1)
The songs of the Raj-Gond from Bastar:-

The pile of wood is made.
So high it is,
Clouds have gathered thickly.
Bonarol Oh brother! Bonarol
The white ashes are applied
To all that are standing around,
And also the black soot.
In the stomach of Rayratan66

There are all sparks of fire.
(2)
The Danda song, from the Gond of Drug:-

The worms eat the raw mango
And also the linseed crop.
64. A sample of these songs can be seen in my paper on folk songs. Vide
Folk-songs in the Satpura valleys.
65. Ibid.
66. Another son of Ravan, who mourns his death.

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100 DURGA BHAGVAT
Lightening crashes on Mahua tree,

The Teli and Kalar cry.
(3)
From the Gond and Hindus in Sagour:
Rahi:-
Oh woman!
Why are you standing dejected in a corner,

Did your husband's elder brother
And his wife cause pain to you?
Did your husband abuse you?
Did your husband's mother and sister hurt you?
My husband's brother and his wife did not hurt me,
Now was I hurt by his mother and sister,
Nor did my husband fling abuse at me
I only remembered my mother's house.
(4)
Suwan:-
Oh departing swan,67
No more shall we meet.
The swan of Singaldip

Flew to this country.
It has not picked the pearls
That were strewn before him.
He travelled about the land.
The swan flew over the field of Kodo,
And the fool wanted to drive him away.
Oh fool! do not drive the swan away,
The swan has no love for farms.
Nor does he eat the wild fruit.
The swan eats unbored pearls.
The creator is able to provide them.
The swan has taken a flight to the lake.
Adieu! Oh friend!
Where are you gone?

When shall we meet?
Send a messenger!
The lake is dry,
There is no water.
67. The swan is the lover. The song is also said to describe the rid
life. Swan is the soul. What happens to the soul after death no one knows.

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The swan goes away thirsty.

Oh swan, the old love still tortures
From time to time.
(5)
The body is visible

Through the sari of muslin.
Where is the sari made?
Where is it sold?
The sari of muslin,
In Sagour it is made
And is sold in every market.
(6)
Khyal:-
Give up living in Brindaban,

Ways are becoming reverse,
For the sake of a little curds
The Ahir abuses profusely.
My eyes are surely not my enemy.
(Formerly where Tulsidas sat)
Saying but one word Hanuman.
Till Ram met him,
Now people play dice,
Both sides win and lose,
Till both become beggars,
The beggar has a red leg.68
In his hand there is loss,
And the wealth of dreams
Has gone far far away.
Conclusion:-Looking to the contents of the songs given a

it is clear that the songs from Hoshangabad and Betul are
good specimens of licentious love-songs.
The songs from Sagour cannot be called exactly love son
excepting the swan-song, but they (especially the Khyal) are obvi
licentious.
The Holi as it is celebrated by the aborigines is a copy of

the Hindu festival. The real and most important appendage of
the aboriginal culture is its connection with Ravan. The Holi-fire
more appropriately symbolises the burning of Ravan's corpse than
68. Penis.

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102 DURGA BHAGVAT
that of Kamdeo. Had it been the death of the god o

songs would not have been so jubilant. It is the spri
rebirth of the god of love, that calls for jubilation, s
The Holi festival thus is a complex festival in which
festivals have merged:
(1) Burning of Kamdeo symbolised by the fire as

'bom' or 'bum' cry, which is used to express grief in mo
in abuses.
(2) Rebirth of Kamdeo, i.e., spring festival symbolised by the

band ceremony, swings, etc., and also licentious songs, which is of
Northern Indian origin.
(3) The festival of the goddess Holika which can incorporate
any feature of the complex Devi-cult according to the taste of the
people and convention.
(4) The cult of Ravan as we have already described it.
THE DIVALI
Hindu festival:-The Divali like the Holi is not a Gond

festival. It is essentially a harvest festival and the cattle festival
dedicated to Devi. The Ahir in Central India are supposed to be
the most adept Divali dancers and their songs have been imitated
by the tribes.
The aborigines in the south-eastern portion of Central India,
who are not influenced by Brahmanism to any great extent, do
not observe Divali. The Kamar do not know it. Neither do the
Bunjia. The Baiga pay little respect to it. The Gond in the
Oundhi tract do not observe it.
In Sagour especially the influence of the Ahir is very gr

The Divali songs of the Gond and Hindu alluded to the Ahi
some way or other.
Ethnic significance:-The Gond and Korku in Betul a
Hoshangabad draw wall drawings on the front side of the huts a
the cattle-pens also. The drawings are symbols of the granar
cow-pen.
Aboriginal form:-The aboriginal way of celebrating the D
consists in worshipping the household gods with goats, pig
fowls. The dance is the Karma dance and where Karma is not
known women dance Setam and men Sela.

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In Sagour Bilwari69 songs are most popular. They

special Divali songs, love-songs of a licentious nature
The songs:-The Divali songs of the Gond from B
a delighted conversation between a girl and her mother
maternal love.70
In Chhattisgarh it is the songs of the Rawat that are borrowed

by the tribes. They comprise (1) Doha, (2) Parrot songs of the
Rawats71 and songs in honour of Krishna.
Doha:-Doha is a Northern Indian variety of songs. The
Doha songs in Chhattisgarh are very obscene.
(1)
I shall beat you with the penis.

I shall also beat your mother's vagina,
If you do not listen to me.
I shall put the penis in your knot of hair.
(2)
The impotent man

Tries sex intercourse.
He spreads the bed

On the bank of the river.
Parrot-songs:-
(3)
Get up, oh parrot, sit on the arm.

So, says Bhagvan
Oh Lachman,72 you are injured, on the head
By an arrow.
Get up, oh parrot
And sit on the hole of the ear.73
You bite the ear and spoil it
Get up, oh parrot!
And sit on the nose tip.74
Bite and spoil it.
69. The Bilwari songs are also sung when wheat is sown in the field, and
by women when they grind corn.
70. D. Bhagvat, Folk-songs in the Satpura valleys.
71. These songs are entirely different from the parrot songs of women in
Chhattisgarh.
72. Lachman is the parrot and the parrot is likened to the penis.
73. Vagina.
74. Clitoris.

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104 DURGA BHAGVAT
Song in honour of Krishna:-
(4)
Bhagwan is born.
From where comes the blanket?
From where the Khumri?
From where does Bhagvan come?

From Raipur comes the Blanket and Khumri,
From Dhandha comes Bhagvan.
Songs from the Gond in Saugor:
Divali:-
(5)
Fine indeed is the caste of the Ahir,

Every day, after getting up,
He eats stale rice gruel.
Kankuvar became thirsty,
Slowly he walked to the well.
There Rahi was filling water
Whose cow-my enemy -is this?
Oh chief! Drive the cow slowly.
The parting of my hair
Is filled with dust.
Once only I do my hair

Let it not get spoiled.
(6)
The line of the parting of the hair

Is as fine as a straight thread.
Oh Panihari, drawing water from the well,
Fill the jar and listen to my request.
Kankuvar is thirsty.
Give him a little water to drink.
Why should I give you water?

Let your mother and sister do it.
Or your respectable wife.
Why should I give you water?
I shall break your pot
If you mention my mother and sister,
If you mention my respectable wife.
Give me only a little water to drink
Or here the traveller goes away thirsty.
Rahi started drawing water.
And Oh! Kankuvar pulled the veil

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Sticking to her ears.

The end of the garment
That covered her breast
slipped off
And oh! her ears have since then
Become crooked.75
Bilwari:-
(7)
My odhni is lost.
My age is small.
The odhni of Asur
Which was given by my lover.

Where is the bodice made?
Where is it sold?
The Asur76 bodice
Which the lover brings

Is sold in every Asur market.
The lover gave me the Asur bodice
When my odhni was lost

Who gave the bodice?
Who gave the odhni?
Who paid for it?
My lover gave me the bodice,
My husband gave the odhni.
My friend paid for it.
(8)
Where is collirium made?

In what market is it sold?
For my lover I chose it.
I shall give you collirium.
All my life, oh beloved.
For the sake of the beloved
Collirium was made.
In the town collirium is made
In every market it is sold.

Now and again, all my life
I shall give you collirium, oh beloved.
Who buys collirium?
Who pays the money?
I shall give you collirium
Often and often, all my life, oh beloved.
75. i.e., she has lost her good name.

76. The reference to Asur is ambiguous,

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106 DURGA BHAGVAT
For the sake of my sweetheart

I chose it.
(9)
How fine the fair limbs look,

And how nice too
The bangles of my husband's sister.

Where are the bangles made?
In what market are they sold?
They look so fine on my husband's sister
In town are the bangles made
In every market are they sold.
Who gave the bangles?
Who paid the money?
The beloved gave them.
My husband paid for them.
Conclusion:-The Divali in spite of its wide spread in Cen

India, retains the Hindu element entirely and the aborigine
not seem to have contributed anything special to the festival. Th
copy the Ahir in every respect. The Divali dances of the Ahir
the Rawat in the province are danced by men alone. They
vigorous dances. A small boy is made Krishna and the rest of
men his Gopas or friends. They all wear beautiful plum
peacock feathers. They form a circle and dance with a brisk
The aborigines dance the Sela or Karma at Divali and h
not borrowed the dance from the Ahir though they have co
their songs.

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Tribal Gods and Festivals in Central India

Author(s): Durga Bhagvat

Stable URL: https://www.jstor.org/stable/1177671

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I. THE TRIBAL GODS

Gradually with the political awakeni

The following pages are intended as a cont

The clash between scriptural and popular traditio

society into the four varnas; they tabulated many a fact as

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individual's relations with his family, with his socie

revised, commented upon and expanded. As far as Hindu society

munal traditions is a problem that presents immense possibili

The place of the aboriginal problem in Indian social life:

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of the aborigines with the Hindus has created great i

I. THE TRIBAL GODS

The aborigines of Central India are polytheistic, but their

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origin is Gondid, he receives recognition from almost a

2. W. Crooke, Religion and Folk-lore in Northern India, London, 1926, I,

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Gond children offered their worship. This myth is in

4. V.W. Grigson, The Maria Gonds of Bastar, London, 1938, p. 194.

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The control on marriage:-The "number of gods" am

at Pavagadh (2) Kinhakal at Harigadh, (3) Tekam at Tikurgadh (4)

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to the number of the gods, is vigorous in the Chand

The most useful and practical function this "number of the

The names of the clan-gods:-Though Hislop has given us a

The Gond gods:-The Gond gods, whether the clan go

(1) Baradeo, Budhadeo or Budhal-pen, the great god.

Except Pharsa Pen, Gagara-deo and Sankara-deo the rest

9. Grigson is of the opinion that these are "merely incidental

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now become inter-tribal gods.

In the pit where iron is melted Patharasur and Koylasur live.

as in the worship of the disease godlings.

10. See V. Elwin, op. cit., p. 263.

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village deities, whose worship is communal and perfo

(1) Devi or Mata, representing Mot

(4) Bhanisasur, the buffalo-demon, who lives in water places

Most of these deities are malevolent and the bringers of diseases.

His inter-tribal nature:-Bara-deo or Budha-deo is the most

11. W. Crooke, The Religion and Folk-lore of Northern India, London,

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important of all Gond gods. The Gond pantheon is

The synonyms of Bara-deo or Budha-deo.

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(4) The Gond and Pardhan of Mandla and Bilaspur

(6) In Mirzapur he is known as Ningo19 or Ningo Baghi

18. S. Hislop, op. cit.

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god, pleased with their services, blessed them, and is

The allusion to Maha-deo, and the brothers finding a deity

26. Vide V. Elwin, p. 259.

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