Tribal Gods and Festivals in Central India: The Clash Between Scriptural and Popular Traditions

Tribal Gods and Festivals in
Central India
By
D urga B hagvat
I.
THE
TRIBAL
GODS
Gradually with the political awakening, but more strongly

since the attainment of political freedom, the need for cultural
unity is felt urgently in India by one and all. This need is
manifested in diverse waysas a vast literature in books, magazines,
newspapers and reports of public speeches shows. One often gets
lost in this confusing tangle of opinionsa bizarre jumble of facts
and theories. Much of this confusion is due to our tendency to
hold on to outworn traditions and beliefs, and also to our ignorance
or misrepresentation o facts. So little is known about our people.
Looking to the vast area of this country, the diversity of races,
religions and languages, with the mist of hoary tradition pervading
on all sides, it is no easy task to attempt tackling the problem of
cultural unity directly. We. must first divide the Indian population
into definite groups according to race, religion, language, etc. and
study each group separately scientifically, without prejudice and
rancour.
The following pages are intended as a contribution to such a
study. I have collected the material for it during months o patient
field-work in Central India. My intention was, above all, to study
the extent of penetration of the aboriginal culture in Central India
by H indu religious beliefs and customs.
The clash between scriptural and popular traditions:

Our forebears in ancient time made a crude division of Indian
society into the four vcirnas; they tabulated many a fact as con
firmed by tradition and gave detailed directives regulating an
28
D U R G A BHAGVAT
individuals relations with Iiis familywith his socicty and with God.
These directives were laid down in the Shastriis which were often
revised, commented upon and cxpancletl. As lar as H indu society
is concerned, the injunctions ol the Shastiascspccially in the parts
which are called Smritis (tradition), in continuity with the Veaic
tradition, are even to this day considered irrevocable.
However, the Shastras bein^ 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 lias 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 possibilities
for cultural study. We are not yet in a position to account for
various disparities between groups of people who are inhabitants
of the same locality, speak the same language, have come from the
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 o 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 H indu 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
T R IB A L GOD S A N D FESTIVALS IN C E N T R A L IN D IA
29
of the aborigines with the Hindus has created great interest.1 Are
the aborigines compatible with the Hindus? The pig-sacrifice, the
worship of Rara-dco, which no H indu is allowed to attend makes
the non-Brahmanic heritage of the aborigines quite plain. On the
other hand their superstitions, language, dress, festivals etc. are so
closely linked up with their H indu neighbours of the backward
classes that one can hardly make out a Gond from a Kosta or
n Prnka. In political and economic matters, the destiny o 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 H indu 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.
30
D U R G A BHAGVAT
origin is Gondid, he receives recognition from almost all the tribes

in the province as well as by some tribes outside the province also.
Nnrayan-dco is another inter-tribal deity. Some identify him with
the sun-deity2 but some believe that he is neither the sun-god nor
the god Narayan of H indu mythologybut an aboriginal deity o
the household
3 whose functions are certainly distinct from the
former H indu deities. Yet Narayan as he is worshipped by the
Korku, Mavesi, Bharia, etc.is always called by the worshippers
the sun-god. Narayan as the recipient o the pig-sacrificethe re
mover of illness and the protector of the hearth, however, seems to
be quite aboriginal in character. The homage paid to Narayan
by the aborigines is universal.
The origin of the Gods: W hat is most interesting and peculiar
about the aboriginal gods in the province is their origin. There is
a general belief that before man inhabited the world, all the space
in the sky, all hills and plains and the rivers and the oceans were
inhabited by the gods. It is also believed that these gods were
created by Bhagvan and that the deities never left the spots assigned
to them. Some of the gods are still performing their ancient
functions. Thus Bhainsasur is the god o the fields. Bhirnsen is
the spirit which dwells in the fields as well as in hills and near all
water places. There are very many Don gar Deotas or Hill-spirits.
There is Ratmai, the goddess of the night, etc. Yet it is quite
certain that nowadays the deities do not manifest themselves so
often as in old days. Some say that with the advent of man on
the earth the gods became invisible and hid themselves in their
assigned places. It is only when they are offended or are invoked,
they manifest themselves in some form or other. It is the village
magicians duty to see that no god is offended or if he is offended
that he is appeased. W hy the gods disappeared or became in
visible, when man cameno legend has so far revealed to us.
A myth however tells us, that in old times, when Parvati got
her first offspringsthe aboriginal children troubled her and every
body a lot. Mahadeo got tired of their mischief and buried them
in a pit, only four Gond children and a little girl survived. The
children who were buried became deities and to them the other
2.
W . Crooke, Religion and Folk-lore in Northern In d ia , London, 1926, I
pp. 5, 74.
3. V. Elwin, The Baiga, London, 1939, p. 404; S, Fuchs:
B h um ia of Eastern M andla. Bombay, 1960, pp. 391-3.
The Gond and
T R IB A L C O D S A N D FESTIVALS IN C E N T R A L IN D IA
31
Gond children offered their worship. This myth is in keeping

with the aboriginal tradition of ancestral worship. The legends o
Baradeo or Budhadeo of the Gond, and the custom of the Kamar
of worshipping nothing but Duma or the mnle-ancestor, confirm
the theory.
The variety of the gods: There are two kinds of tribal gods
who are actually worshipped, v i z . ( 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
o the gods to which the clan belongs, are kept in an earthen pot
called gadwaand kept inside the house o the head o the
family.4 Each clan is supposed to have a special spot in some part
o the forest where the family Saj tree stands. The spot is called
gadha or pen-karathe circle o the gods. High up in the
branches, is kept a bundle of grass in which in bambu cases are
kept the set o 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-deoor 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 d an 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
o 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 U jjain6 etc.
4.
5.
V .W . Grigson, The M aria Gonds of Bastar, London, 1938, p. 194.

Ib id .
6. (a) T he four gods clan is called Netam and is divided into four septs,
cach has its own gadh, v i z .( 1 ) Sadmaki at Lanji, (2) Kowa at Varsegadh, (B) Sidam
at M andla, (4) C hidam at Surjalpur.
(b)
The five gods clan callcd Tekam is divided into five septs, viz. Gliodam
32
D U R G A BHAGVAT
The control on marriage: The number of gods among the

Gond, is very important and yet a difficult thing to explain. W ho
are the gods that make the pantheon is still a moot problem.
Hisiop in his papers has attempted to give lists of the various
clan gods. But there is no uniformity between the gods belonging
to different localities. Neither is the status of the gods nor is the
animal they require for their worship the same everywhere.7
Grigson however states that it is hopeless to expect the house
holder or the epen-gadtva} custodian to name each of the chuddur
penk(the small gods) or their Bhera Pen (big god) counter parts.8
It happens many a time that a Gond only tells you the number
of the gods of his sept but he does not know their names. Hislops
lists are sufficient to show, how broad and elastic the whole system
of the gods is. Where the names of the various gods are known,
they are given offerings separately as each god relishes a different
kind of food. Otherwise the whole set of the gods is looked upon
as one god and worshipped. The division of the septs according
at Pavagadh (2) Kinhakal at Harigadh, (3) Tekam at T ikurgadh (4) Kalesiri at
Rayratangadh (5) Raysiri at Soharigadh.
(c) The six gods clan callcd Vika is divided into ( 1 ) Kalam at Chanda,
(2) Bedam at Boirgadh, (3) Atram at Chanda, (4) Vika at Vairagadh, (5) Vorkada
at M ohada, (6) Podapa at Borigadha.
(d) The seven gods clan called D hurva is divided into seven septs: viz.
( 1 ) Maravi at G adha, (2) Pusanakka at Jhurigadh, (3) Kanaka at H irapur, (4)
Maldongaria at Chowkgadh, (5) Vadiva at Varamavati, (6) D hurva at U jjain, (7)
K unjam at Surajgadh.
7. As for instance, the six gods in N agpur are ( 1 ) Pharsa Pen or the
axe god, (2) Rhode or Khodiyal, so named from being made of the trunk of a
tree called m u n d i or Karam, (3) Sanalk is the spirit of the dead m an, (4) M unjal
is the spirit of the young unm arried m an, (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 Gagaradeo(2) D u lh a 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) D u lh a 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) M atiya (3) Sale (4) Palo
(4) Sakai deo (5) Gadwa or Kham (who represents the dead) (6) Khatar pen
(7) Kodiyal.
T he five gods
from Chindw ara are ( 1 ) Pharsi Pen or Dulhadeo, (2) Nurm a,
(3) Ghangra or Gagara, (4) Raytal (one of the G ond ancestors), (5) Badiyal
(Raytals brother).
S. Hisiop, Papers, A ppendix I-IV. Nagpur.
See also: S. Fuchs, op. cit pp. 149-150.
8.
V.W . Grigson, op. cit p. 194.
T R IB A L G O D S A N D FESTIVALS IN C E N T R A L IN D IA
33
to the number 01 the gods, is vigorous in the Chanda, Godavan

Nagpur, and Betul tracts. In Chindwara, Seoni and Hoshangabad,
I found that the people had confused ideas about the number of
the gods to which they belonged. In the eastern tracts of Mandla,
Balaghat and Chhattisgarh, people only know their sept and have
almost forgotten the number of gods.
This shows that the old system of the separate number of the
gods and separate place of worship for each clan has already been
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 Hisiop has given us a
few lists of the clan-gods of different localities, the lists are not
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 gods or
otherwise, are few and striking. Though I am not yet in a posi
tion to give an exhaustive list of them, the most important are the
following:
1
-2 / 3
-4
5
6
7
8
Baradeo, Budhadeo or Budhal-pen, the great god.

Dulha-deo, the bride-groom god.
Pharsa Pen or the battle-axe god.
Gagara-deo or the bell-god.
Sankara-deo or the Chain-god.
Kodiyal or the horse-god.
Matiya or the whirlwind-god.
Hulera or the cattle-god.
Except Pharsa Pen, Gagara-deo and Sankara-deo the rest have

9.
Grigson is of the opinion that these
later addition to their religion (op. cit., p. 194).
are
merely
incidental
and
D U RG A BHAGVAT
34
now become inter-tribal gods.

The Korku Pantheon : The Korku call a deity Gomaj just
as the Gond call it Pe/n in their language; Narayan or Surajgomai and Dongar-gomai or the hi 11-god are their chief gods.
The Horse-god, Khodiyal, is also worshipped by them.
The Baiga Pantheon:
The gods worshipped by the Baiea are
not special gods of the tribe, but the gods worshipped by all the
tribes staying in the same locality, viz. Mandla, Balaghat and
Chhattisgarh. The Baiga lias no respect for the Gond god Bara-deo.
Even Narayan-deo he ridicules thoueh he oers 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,
Bliimsen, Ratmai, Dulha-deo, Narayan-deo, Lohasur etc.
These are no special deities of a tribe, but deities who all the
tribes in the locality edve recognition to.
The Agaria Pantheon:~-The Aearia have a more definite set
of eods on account of their profession, though they believe in all
the gods mentioned above, tlieir special deities are Lohasur, the
iron-god, Koylasur, the coal-gocl, 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 Baliudliukan live.
In the skin of the cow used for the bellow lives Sallaitrai, etc.10
Proper offerings ol fowls, pigs and eoats are to be made to the
gods each time iron is smelted.
The Bharia gods: The Bharia worship Narayan, Khodiyal,
Khattapal and Dhanwai and Durga.
Mother Earth: Besides the tribal gods mentioned above, there
is Dharati Mata, who is the only goddess who is really loved by
tlic aborigines. The cartli-cult is very prominent in Central India
and many tribes celebrate the Earths marriage with the Sun in
sprinetidc. The Baiga would not take to the tilling of the soil,
bccause 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 shitting cultivation in the tribal areas.
The cult of Mother Earth is seen in the harvest festivals as well
as in the worship ot the disease godlings.
The village pods: Besides these deities there are also special
10.
See V. Elwin, op. cit., p. 263.
35
village deities, whose worship is communal and performed by the

head o the village. These deities are more often than not common
with the village-deities of the lower caste Hindus, the denies which
belong to the impure class as Crooke puts it and are given offerings
of blood. In mixed villages of aborigines and the Hindus, the
deities are the same. Only where the aboriginal influence is predominent, 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.11 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 stones
representing a female deity Bijasen, who is supposed to protect
children. In the Hinduised villages she is identified with Devi.13
The Hinduised and the most popular village-gods, however,
( 1 ) Devi or Mata, representing Mother Earth with a multitude

of synonymsa malevolent deity, the patron ot diseases.
(2) Dulha-deo or tlie bridegroom-god.
(3) Hardul, the cholera-god.
and fields.
(4) Bhanisasur, the bulialo-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
1 1 . W. Crooke, The Religion and Folk-lore of Northern In d ia , London,
1926, I. p. 103 also The Hoshangabad District Gazetteer, p. 73.
12. The Sagour District Gazetteer, p. 43.
The D am oh District Gazetteer, p. 36.
13.
The Hoshangabad District Gazetteer, p. 72.
D U R G A BHAGVAT
36
important of all Gond gods. The Gond pantheon is extremely

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
Singblium 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, tlie 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 Mirzapurthe Khond in Orissa and the Kharia from the same
place call him tlieir supreme deity. Tlie one god who competes
with him in regional diffusion is the sun-god, called either Narayandeo 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 tlie 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 Pharasipen while in Deogadh and to some extent in Nagpur also tlie
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. Hisiop, Aboriginal
A ppendix V.
15.
Tribes of the
Central Provinces, N agpur, 18(36.
S. Hisiop, op. cit., A ppendix I iv.
16. S. Hisiop, op. cit. A ppendix ix, and A ppendix iii.

17. Grigson, The M aria Gonds of Bastar, p. 194, According to Mr. Grigson's
opinion the words Bara and B udha are tlie H in d i corruptions of the original
G ondi word Bhera.
He however does not attem pt to give the meaning of the
word, and takes it as the original proper name of the god.
37
(4) The Gond and Pardhan of Mandla and Bilaspur call him
Prem-narayan.
(5) In Chhindwara, Balaghat Nagpur, Sagour especially and
in all other parts where the H indu influence is growing he is
called Maha-deo.18
(6) In Mirzapur he is known as Ningo19 or Ningo Baghia20
among the Majhwar, also known as the Gond-Majhwar.
The
Gond and allied tribes call him Badiyal-Pen in Orissaand his
worship has spread as far as Singbhum.21
In Sarguja also he is called Bariya-sahwho 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 Malercall him Biri Bero, Ber, Bero Gosain and Berupennu. 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 wnich he
is called, give us some clue to the origin of the god, and the
significance ol 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 (Terminalia tomentosa) on
the Himalayas and he was waiting for their services. The brothers
went to the Himalayasand 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 liis pro
tection. The brothers offered him pigs and fowls also, and the
18.
19.
S. Hisiop, op. cit.

The Gazetteer of the United Provinces, M irazpu rp. 102.
20. W . Crooke, The Tribes and Castes of N. IV.P. & O udh I I I , p. 435.
2 1 . E. D alton, Tlie Descriptive Ethnoloev of Bengal^ pp. 278, 281.
22.
23.
W . Crooke, op. cit., p. 437.

S. C. Roy, The Khariyas, II, p. 321.
24.
E. D alton, op. cit., p. 297.
25.
S. EndleThe Kacharis, London 1 9 li, p. 38.
38
D U R G A BHAGVAT
0(1pleased with their services, blessed them, and is still blessing
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 wmch is both consistent and
inconsistent with the tribal tradition.
The pie-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 ms 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 mm as he was dying
and became their first god.27
The leirencl 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
Baghia which suggests the possibility of Nin<ro having been killed
by a tiger. Some believe Baghia to be Ningos euard. 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, Kubhadra and J^mgobhan Pariyar. The sixteen women in the family,
26.
27.
Vide V. Elwin, p. 259.

R a ip u r District Gazetteer, p. 107.
28.
The Gazetteer of the United Provinces, M irzapur, p. 102.
T R IB A L G OD S A N D FESTIVALS IN C E N T R A L IN D IA
39
viz. the mother of Pharsa Pen, the three wives of the three victims
and twelve daughters of Subhadra, killed themselves.29 W hat the
reason of the dispute was we do not know. The instrument with
which he hacked ms brothers to death seems to have been an axe
(Pharsa or Pharsi) from which he got the name of Pharsa Pen.
The name of Manko Raytal is also connected with him.
The terrible feud seems to have left a deep impression on the
people, who began to look with awe on the victor and called him
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 Anaadai (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 different
opinion of this ancient god. Bara-deo's temple was the bexvarhis
present shrine the Saj stump carefully preserved. But with the
passing of bewar, Bara Deo lost his temple and power/
The Baiga have succeeded to some degree in establishing a
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 Deos kicks on the threshold, or living with
Dulha Deo behind the hearth'.31
There is also a legend which tells us that a Rawat woman in
ancient times made love to a Gond man. Of their illicit connection
a boy was born. The father killed tlie boy and buried him. Since
then, in order to appease the spirit of the dead, the Gond made
him tlieir special deity and called him Bara-deo.32
Bara-deo in the creation legends:
In the creation legends of
the Gond as well as in the ancicnt song of Lingo, Bara-deo does
29.
S. Hisiop, op. cit. Appendix I iv.
30. Ib id .
3 1 . V. Elwin, op. cit., pp. 56-57.
32. Russell and H iralal, Tribes and
p. 355.
Castes of the
Central Provinces, IV,
DURG A BHAGVAT
40
not seem to take any active part in the creation of mankind as

others like Maha-deo, Lohguncli, Bhimsen, Pavan Daseri, Lohasur,
Agyasur, Nanga Baiga etc. are supposed to have done. Only in
a Baiga legend, tlie part he plays is described thus:
W hen 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 fiew and (lew and flew, at last she saw the smoke
l'rom Nanga Baigas fire rising above the trees. When Nanga Baiga
saw the crowlie said, Here's something good to eat. He was
trying to catch her when Bara Deo called out from the Saj tree,
D ont trouble hershe has come from Bhagvan'. When he heard
that, Nanga Baiga took the crow in his lap and fondled lier
.33
The legend 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
m ild 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 vas that had brought illness on them.
The gccldcss Shriyal Jangu went to the above mentioned two
Gond brothers in a dream and told them that if they offered her
pigs in the dark-half oi: the month of Magh all their trouble would
stop. Worship me in the dark, in the dark-half of Magh, and
call me Rat M ai('Mother N ight)she said to them. Ever since
she protects the Gond very fondly.
About the paraphernalia of Bara-deo the only tiling we know
is that Matiya-deo, the whirlwind-god, is his attendant.37 In Seoni,
33.
34.
35.
V. Elwin, op. cit., p. 314.

See p. 57.
V. Elwin, op. cit., p. 60.
36. In the song of Lingo, a list of G ond gods is given. Jingo Raytal is
one of them. Can it be the same as Shriyal Jangu?
Because there Manko
Raytal also is m entioned (Hisiop, op. cit., Part I.
Central In d ia , p. 190).
37.
S. Hisiop, op. cit., Appendix 111.
Also Forsyth, H ighlands of
41
cind as we have already seen, in Mirzapur, Baghia is called his

guard.
His relation with other Gond gods:
Bara-deo is not only the
greatest of the Gond geds, but also stays quite aloof from the rest.
He stays high up on the Saj tree in the thickest portion o the
forest and never leaves it. He does not interfere with human
affairs in any way. The house-hold gods of the Gond, called the
small gods or Chuddur Pen, control exogamy, according to the
number of gods worshipped by the clan. These gods also remain
aloof and do not carc to look into the dealings o men, unless
they are not propitiated in the proper way and at proper time.
Bara-deo also does th? same. Yet what is the nature of that
relation between him and the clan gods we are unable to say.38
The legends suggest four important points, v i z . ( 1 ) his birth
from the Chamars, which points to the human origin of the god,
(2) his connection with the agricultural deities, (3) the Saj tree
as his abode, (4) that he is a Gond god and not a Baiga god.
His cult: he origin of the worship of Budha-deo as found
in a legend which I got from a Gond in Raipur, says that once the
Gond king Mardandi slept under the shade of a dumar tree
(Ficus glomerata). Devi, Budha-deo, Bar-deo, Singhdeo and Mata
came out of the tree. They took forms of the fIawa birds and
sat on the tree, chirping merrily. Mardandi woke lip with the
noise, he saw the Dirds, and caneht them. He then brought them
as far as Dhamdha in Raipur. Being tired, he put the birds on
the groundtheir legs tied up with a cord. In a moment the
birds changed into five stones. Mardandi was astonished at this
extraordinary happening.
He knew they were some gods and
immediately set up two flags, one black, the other yellow, in their
honour and worshipped the stones with sumptuous offerings, o
cowgoat, pips and fowls. he eods, pleased with the offerings,
came to him in his dream and told him tlieir respective names
and when and how they should be worshipped.
In Raipur Budlia-deo is thus represented by a stonethou eh
38.
In M andla, Rilaspur and Balaghat, where the Baiga influence is pred om incntBara-deo is supposed to have sunk to the position of a household
god, and lives on the threshholcl sharing kicks w ith Narayan Deo. This was
the result of a curse given to him by Nanga Baiga for eating the im pure food
prepared by D om Raja, when other gods like Bhimsen, Pavan Daseri refused to
touch it.
(Elwin, op. cit., pp. 320-321).
D U R G A BHAGVAT
42
really speaking he is not represented by any fetish. He is an

ethereal god who lives in the Saj tree. Bara-deo is represented by
a platform of earth about six inches high.
Devi and Mata are represented by the flags, which is definite
borrowing from popular Hinduism current in the province. There
is no emblem for Sing-deo. W hen worship is offered only his name
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 eared 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 dotsand 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-deos 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. O f 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 H indi, are the songs of Budha-deo, the
funerary songs, the Gotulgit or the traditional songs o the Gond
sung in the dormitories.
A song from Raipur:
ri-lo-yo-ri-lo-xi-ri-lo-ri-ri-lo-ri-lo-yo
O f what is the staff made?
The staff is made of bamboo
This is the staff of god
The staff of Mother.
The cloth-flag
O f the Desai Mother,
The Mother of the village.
The bunch of peacock feathers
For the Devi of the g a rh .^
T he Devi of the royal family.
T he Devi Deomagaral.
39.
T h a t is why singreally speaking a lio n and in coloquial language
interpreted as a tiger is callcd a god and worshipped along w ith Bara-deo.

40. G arh means a place which has an exogamous significance.
Several
septs belonging to one garh cannot intermarry.
43
Dham karati Devi

T he god Bar-deo
The god Budha-deo
The god Lingo
A nd Sing-deo
H o n ou r to them.
After invitation is given to all the gods, men take the yellow
and black flags, beat the drum and men and women dance and
sing beginning with the song given above, and then any other
songs may follow. The songs need not be in Gondi.
In the morning both men and women in the family bathe in
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 family
offers these deities a goat each. When the victim eats the grains
of the rice spread before the deity, the deity is supposed to have
accepted the offering, and then the throat of the animal is cut
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 male
member partakes of the food firstthen the other members of the
family. Women are allowed to partake in the sacrificial food after
the men have finished. Then comes the worship of Budha-deo,
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 victim
is appropriated by the members of the family. When the feast of
Budha-deo is celebrated no one in the village can refuse the invita
tion. No distinction of caste and creed is observed. The sacrificial
food is distributed to all. Even Brahmins cannot refuse pork that
day. The remaining foodand then bones etc. are not thrown out.
A ditch is dug in the inner room of the house in which all that
remains is buried. Men and women now can sing abusive sex-songs
and enjoy themselves in any licentious way to their hearts content.41
But that does not form a compulsory part of the ritual.
In the O undhi tract of Drug, the ritual is more elaborate and
4 1 . Here
Budha-deo
s worship
takes place in
the house only and
hcnce
as in M andla, the god seems to have sunk to the position of a household god.
44
DU RG A BHAGVAT
preserves the distinction between the worship of the local gods

and that of Budha-deo much better.
Worship is offered to Budha-deo oncc in three years. Usually the
month of Pus (Jan.-Feb.) is chosen for the olTerings. 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 threshholcl. 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 Budlia-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.
Mother! O h mother!
Whose B udhal is it?
It is Budhal of N arcthi sept.
Mother! O h mother!
It is his Budhal.
Play, mother,
Play and dance.
D o not pick up a quarrel,
D o not be displeased.
P u t all your heart in the play.
There are the seven sisters.
Play all together, w ith one heart,
O h seven sisters!
There are seven younger brothers,
W h o is older than tliey?
45
The gods on the hills

Are older than they
A n d all the sisters.
The H ulki songs are sung all through the night. Next morning
all men go to the river and bathe in it. Returning home they tie
all gods (pegs) with a rope and say, We have honoured you in
the best way possible. Now only the worship o Budha-deo re
mains, so do not interfere! They then steal a virgin cow from
the village. This is the victim of Budha-deo. They tie the front
legs of the cow to a tree with a rope and also the hind legs to
another tree. Then the Baiga cuts its head with an axe. The rest
of the gods are offered goatspigs, fowls etc.i.e. the animals which
they are supposed to relish. The head of the cow is placed care
fully in a bundle of cloth and tied to the roof. The rest of the
body is cooked by the householder as also the flesh of the other
victims. The sacrificial food is offered to all that have assembled
irrespective of caste, creed and sex. The remaining portions of
the flesh, bonesetc.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 neighbours
accompany them. And all the village gods are o 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 is
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 people
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 of
the sacrificial flesh and rice. It is distributed to all the members
of the family, except unmarried boys, virgin girlsand children.
It is believed that i the latter eat it or even touch it they will
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 worship
took place not in the house but in the forest where the family Saj
46
D U R G A BHAGVAT
tree rested.42 The offering of a white goat43 to him seems to be

a later change which must have been due ( 1 ) to the growing in
fluence of Hinduism, where the cow is revered and (2) to the
growing poverty and timidity of the tribes which made them unable
to get hold of a calf. The offering of the pig is made on lesser
occasions when the god is propitiated.
Other occasions when Bara-deo is worshipped:
In addition to the normal triennial propitiation of Bara-deo, he
is worshipped on some special occasions a l s o . ( 1 ) The most im
portant is the worship offered to him, which in every detail corres
ponds to the rites described above. When a young unmarried
man diesa special worship with a calf-sacrifice is offered to Bara
deo.44 In Mandla, Bilaspur and Drug however, Bara-deo is pro
pitiated also when the eldest male member of the family dies. Only
men take part in the worship and eat the sacrificial food. (2) In
the O undhi tract Bara-deo is worshipped with some details when
a marriage45 is to be celebrated. A female calf is the only offering
to be made. The only addition to the rites is that special honour
is paid to the sister and her daughter and they are given proper
presents. (3) When a vow is made to Budha-deo, then also cowsacrifice is to be made, so a Gond Baiga from the O undhi tract
told me. (4) W hen the ceremony of eating new corn46 takes place
in the month of Bhado, Bara-deo is offered a pig. This time he
is treated entirely as a household god and the Saj tree in the
forest is not taken into consideration. (5) He is also worshipped
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 o 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
and
42. S. Hisiop, op. cit., Appendix IV. Grigson, op. cit.; Crooke, The Tribes
Castes of N .W .P. and O udh, I I I p. 440, Crooke, Folk-lore of Northern
In d ia , II, p. 103, D alton, op. cit p. 135.

43. S. Hisiop, op. cit A ppendix I I I .
Also Appendix I II ,
of Budha-deo, a cow is offered to Gagara and Palo. Sale-gagara
emblem of Bara-deo in Seoni.
44.
45.
46.
47.
is .
S. Hisiop, Ib id .
Ib id .
Ib id .
Ib id .
Sagour District Gazetteer, p. 55.
47
Orissa look upon Saj (Shorea robnsta) as liis abode.49 The Gond
in Bengal worship him under the Asan tree50 {Terminalia alata
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 H indu influence.
D ULHA-DEO
The god of the hearth: Dulha-deo or the Bridegroom-god is
one of the most cherished deities of the hearth, among the primi
tives of the northern portion of Central India. He is also supposed
to be a marriage-godli ng.
His emblem: He is represented by a stoneor a man riding
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 Chhattisgarhand the former
Feudatory states. It is almost an impossible task to enumerate the
number of the tribes who worship him. Among the Boyar o
Chandbhakar Dulha-deo is the household god and the sole object
49.
W . Crooke, Tribes and Castes of N .W .P. & O udh, I II, p. 440.
50. D alton, op. cit pp. 184281, 283.

5 1 . E. D alton, op. cit p. 135.
52. This emblem is found in places where he is taken to be a villagedeity to whom the bridal pair pay their first visit after the wedding.
The
Sagour District Gazetteer, p. 42. The D am oh District Gazetteer, p. 36.
53.
S, Hisiop, op. cit., Appendix I I
48
D U R G A BHAGVAT
of worship*.56 He is also the tribal god of the Ghasia, Kharwar

and Savar in Mirzapur, where he is preeminently a marriage
godling
.
Legends about him :
A ll the legends of Dulha-deo centre
round the fate of a Gond bridegroom who was devoured by a tiger
oh the way to his brides 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 o this god
can be aptly described as in a Chhattisgarhi proverb where there
is a hearth, there is D ulha. The most important tribes who
worship him are the Gond, the Baiga, the Pardhan, the Binjhwar,
the t)hanuhar, the Majhwarthe 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 h i l l , 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 uncles
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
54.
55.
56.
57.
E. D alton, op. cit p. 134.

Crooke, The Tribes and Castes of N .W .P. and O udh, pp. 425-6.
RuSsell and H iralal, op. cit., V o l.I V , p. 512.
Ib id I I p. 8 ff.
58. W .H . Sleeman, Rambles and Recollections of an In d ia n Official,

U. Prv 1915p . 101 ff,
Oxford
49
The motif of the tale, viz. the force o 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
H in du culture where purdah prevails. It is typical of the Bhopal
tract. The legends however unanimously maintain that he was a
Gond. The Gond in Chindwarainclude 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 Pusone month before
the H oli (in Phag). The worship continues fifteen days or a
month. Hisiop describes the worship of the god in Chhindwara
in the following manner:
The head o the family leaves ms 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 whicn 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 o 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 ones sex-life, and that strange fears surround it is very well
reflected in the episodes of Dulha-deo. Gansams 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.
H ardul would appear to have been deified as a marriage-god
because of his great affection for his sister and his miraculous doings
59. S. Hisiop, op. cit., Appendix II.
In d ia , I. p. 120.
Also Crooke, Folk-lore in Northern
60. S. Hisiop, op. cit A ppendix II.

6 1 . Ibid.
62. Crooke, Folk-lore in N orthern In d ia , I. p p . 119 ff.
D U RG A BHAGVAT
50
in connection with her marriage. Dulha-deo on the other hand

appears as a warning against hasty sex-love.
The connection of Dulha-deo with the axe-god suggests some
warfare in connection with marriage. We do not know what it is.
GANSAM
The God and his cult: Gansam is a popular village god (not
of a malevolent type like the village goddesses) who protects the
village from the tiger. He is represented either by a stone on
the village boundary or a platform and a pole.63 He is pro
pitiated once a year regularly when the autumnal harvest festival
takes place. He is offered only a fowl by the village Baiga. Special
worship is also o ered to the god when the village fowls, pigs,
cattle etc. are stolen by the tiger or any men are killed by the
beast.64
Geographic spread:
His cult is wide-spread in the Northern
portion of Central India, especially the Narmada and Tapti valleys,
Seoni and Chhindwara plateau, Chhattisgarh and the former
Feudatory States right up to Mirzapur. Crooke says that Gansam
is one of the chief divinities of the Seoni Hinduised Dravidian races
who touch the North-Western regions to the south across the Kaimur
and Vindhya ranges, the physical as well as the ethnical frontier
between the valleys of the Ganges and Jam unaand the mountain
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 M irzapur call him D au Gansam (uncle Gansam) or
Bansgopal (the deity residing in the bamboo and protectingit) and celebrate
his marriage in Baisaka with Banaspati Mata (the goddess of the woods).
Crooke, Folk-lore in Northern In dia, I I, pp. 34-35.
65. W . Crooke, Folk-lore in Northern In d ia , I, pp. 17-18.
66.
W . Crooke, op. cit.
W.
51
The Gond o Amoda67 in Central India are said to be the descendents 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 W edding:~
H ardul is also one of the deified heroes who is worshipped
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 brothers 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 Am adob or Am adoh in Bilaspur district, lying on the road
from Pendra to Amarkantak? I t is an extremely dangerous spot thickly shaded
w ith mango and other w ild trees and has a spring of water where tigers come
every night.
68. D alton, Descriptive Ethnology of Bengal, p. 232.
69.
Burns, Sons of the Soilp. 84.
70. He is worshipped extensively in the U nited Provinces and is a cholera

deity. N orth of Jam un a he controls plague. Crooke, Folk-lore, I, p p . 135 ff.
D U RG A BHAGVAT
52
but call her loving brother Hardul. W hen he died, she went and
wept over his grave. HarduFs spirit was moved. The gallant
m an
s ghost came out of the gravedressed as a warrior and cele
brated his sisters wedding in the grandest manner. Since that
time he is looked upon as a marriage godling and propitiated on
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 night 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 harvest 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 sketches of the most typical and
representative festivals.
THE
HULKI
The autumnal dance:

The H u lk i dances are the autumnal
dances of the Gond, in the O undhi tract of Drug and Bastar. They
7 1 . Crooke, op. cit,, p. 136.
72. D . Ibbetson, Glossary of P un jab Tribes and Castes, I, p. 195.
53
correspond with the Divali dances of the Ahir and the Gond in
other parts as well as the Karma dances. The H u lk i dances are
mixed dances accompanying the H u lk i a great festival of the Gond.
Men and women stand in a circle and a man holds by waist two
women on either side of him. The beaters of the drum stand in
the middle and the dancing party steps a little towards the centre
and then draws back a little. The hands of the women are free
and they waive them to and fro, the movements of the feet are
dragging and slow.
The H u lk i dance and songs also correspond with the feast of
Thakur-deo wherein the Earth Mother 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 H u lk i 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 H u lk i begins in the month of Bhado and lasts till
the Diwali day, which is also the proper H u lki day.
The songs: The H u lk i begins with the following songs:
Ti-no-na-mar-na-na-re
O n the hill-top,
Whose temple is that, oh grand father
O f what tree are made the pillars?
O f O dcha tree are made the pillars.
O f what w ill the planks of the roof be?
The planks on the roof w ill be teak.
W h a t shall be above the planks?
There w ill be posts
O f straight a n d unknotted wood on it.
W h a t w ill you place on it?
T he Odcha branches w ith leaves.
W h a t rope shall be used?
O f green grass the rope shall be made.
T he peacock-feather grass
Shall be spread on it.
O f the tail of the tehra bird
Shall be the protruding portion of the roof.
O f the bird's tail
Shall be made the groove.
Such w ill be the temple
W ith doors on four sides,
A nd w ith beautiful panels,
Adorned w ith scales of the fish.
Inside the temple
Blankets are spread.
D U RG A BHAGVAT
54
O n that sits Pandari Koko.i

A nd Lingo also has descended.
Johar, Johar, oh Lingo I
The minda-lyre gives out tunes,
Kadur-kumit says.
O n his waist he wears brass bells,
Anklets on his feet.
W ith his m outh 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 of

small-pox and tattoo. The marks of small-pox on face and body
are compared to tattoo marks. The goddess of small-pox is identified
with an Ojha woman who puts the tattoo marks on the Gond
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.
W h o is this O jh a woman?
She belongs to the island above.
W h a t is she doing?
She has a basket called h ila
Her needle is made of thelkathorn
O f m arking n u t is made her oil and black-soot.
The O jh a woman from the yonder world!
(2)
The black and yellow cords!
How does she descend?
She holds the cords and comes down.
1 . Li ngos brother.
2.
3.
Lingo and his brother Pandari Koko are the patrons of dance and music.
According to the H in d u conception the earth consists of seven islands
(Saptadvipa).
4. The Earth.
5. The name Singaldip or Lanka is very im portant in the folklore of the
province.
In the pig-sacrifice to Narayan-deo, the pig is called the deer of
Singaldip. In funeral songs also Singaldip is mentioned.
Sagor the soul is called the swan of Singaldip.
In a Phag song from
She comes w ith a basket in her hand.
She descends on Singaldip.
W here does she go and sit?
W here does she sit?
She sits on a broad rock.
She enters the village.
'Tattoo, oh tattoo yourselves, she calls out.
The O jh a woman is very strong.
She tattooes for the whole life.
Such is the m ighty O jh a woman.
(3)
O h m others mother,
The lyre is playing!
O f what is made the bar of the lyre?
O f what is made the peg?
The peg and the bar are made of teak wood,
O n the bar is p u t leather.
O f Kosa silk the cords are made.
I was fast asleen
I was fast asleep.
A t mid-night.
Whose lyre it is
T hat gave out bird-like notes?
I was cooking rice
The pot I threw down
W hen I heard the sweet lyre.
It was the first cock-crow,
The baby began to cry
W ith feeble voice.
I heard the sweet lyre.
W hen I was about to take the baby.
I was grinding Kodo
A nd the grinding-wheel stopped
W hen I heard the sweet lyre.
(4)
Whose gods are these?
They are the gods of the Poya sept.
A n d the relatives of the gods are playing,
A n d all the deities.
T he sisters also,
Play, mothers, play.
T he playground is broad
Like the teak leaves.
Ears are long like the bamboo leaves.
Big are the hills
DU RG A BHAGVAT
56
A n d dense the woods.

W e went there to pluck leaves.
W e then heard a sound
W h ic h came from the horn of a bison.
W e pushed our silver ear rings aside,
The silver ear rings like pu m p k in flowers.
A nd then the sound
Entered our ears.
W e have not come
For the sake of the rice,
W e 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.
O f teak wood a p alan qu in is made.
W ith legs of Koria wood
The pole is made
O f a bamboo w ith 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 lugraJ
I am going to dance the dewarifi
After dancing is done
I shall return it.
I shall return it.
Give me your bodice,
I am going to dance Suwa
W hen 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
A n d return your necklace.
6. M andhai 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 w ith nails and teeth is very
common in M andhai.
7. Sari.
8.
D ivali.
(6)
Ti-na-na-na-mara-na-na-re
W h o is the T hakur m an, oh brother,
W h o is the T hakur man?
The one who wears armlets
Is the T hakur M an!
W h o is the T haku r woman, oh boy?
The one who wears armlets
Is the T hakur woman!
W h o is the hakurs son, oh boy?
The one who wears a wrist-band
Is the T h a k u rs son.
W h o is the T h a k u rs daughter-in-law, oh boy?
The one who wears a pair of bangles
Is the haku rs daughter-in-law.
W h o is the T h a k u rs grand-son, oh boy?
T he one who wears bangles
Is the Thakur's son-in-law.
W h o is the T h a k u rs grandson, oh boy?
The one who wears a necklace
Is the T h a k u r
s grandson.
W h o is the T h a k u r
s grand-daughter, oh boy?
The one who wears a large ring on the neck
Is the T h a k u rs grand-daughter.
(7)
ro-ro-lo-ho-re-loW here does the grass spring up?
Where does the cane spring up?
In hills the grass grows
And in D ham dha the cane.
How does the grass look?
How does the bas (cane) look?
Green looks the grass
A nd long is the bas.
W ith what is the grass cut?
A n d w ith what is the bas cut?
W ith a knife they cut the grass
A nd w ith an axe the bas.
How is the grass bound?
T he grass is kept in a cart
T he bas in a yard.
W h a t is the use of grass?
W h a t is the use of bas?
T he grass is used for thatching the roof
And. bas is used for the ceiling.
58
DU RG A BHAGVAT
The festival:
The H u lk i is a communal festival. The songs
given above are sung by men and women at night in their respec
tive villages, accompanied with the H u lki and Re-la dances and
songs from the beginning of the H ulk i period. The proper H ulk i
falls on the same day as the Divali of the Hindus.
( 1 ) H urra: 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
o rice and other ood-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 to
the head man of the village, that evening. If the young men
have not been received with proper welcome by the people or
the head man o the village they had visited, the head man of
this village and his wife, send a sari and bangles to the host, as
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 H ulk i 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 H u lk i visit to another village and so on. The H ulk i 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.
THE
PUS KO L A M
59
FESTIVAL
The Puskolam is definitely a Gond festival, which is celebrated

on the ull-moon day of Pus. It is a communal festival.
Puspunni is celebrated by the Gond, Muria and Halba of
Batar and O undhi tracts.
The festival:
In the evening preceding the full moon o Pus,
the young men of a village, go to another neighbouring village.
The young men on this occasion wear all the ornaments of the
women in their village. They are received well by the young men
and unmarried girls o the village. In every house the guests are
accommodated and no one takes any objection to the freedom the
young men take with the girls of that village.
Next morning they are given rice and other food-stuffs by the
villagers and they cook their dinner on the river-side. In the
evening, with the rise of the moon, the rites of 'deur chadwa(climb
ing the temple) begins. It is only the guests that take part in it.
They form a circle and with the sacred drum beating, begin
a danda (stick) dance, in which they jum p and move on briskly.
The following song is sung during the dance:~
(1 )
re-re-lo-yo-re-re-la
From w hat village
Do these young men come?
O h young boys and girls!
From M ohola have the young men come.
W h a t is the plan of the youths?
They have come to play the Danda.
O f w hat tree are the sticks made?
O f bhiria tree the sticks are made.
From w hat village the sound w ill come
aga baga dang, kudar kang,
From C h ilan village w ill that sound come.
From what village do the small bells come?
O h young boys and girls.
From M ohola the bells do come.
Three or four men then hold one anothers arm and dance
in a line. Each young man allows as many smaller boys to stand
60
D U RG A BHAGVAT
on his shoulders, one above the other, as he can. This is called

the deuror temple. The men dance in a line, the dance is called
the M unjota or monkey-dance. They sing the following song:
(2 )
T he monkey sits on a high rock,
Vayangvayang
9 it says.
W ith whom are you angry, oh monkey?
Vayang, vayang*.
Get down, oh monkey,
Vayang, vayang
.
W h a t w ill you eat, oh monkey?
Vayang, vayang*.
Eat a pot of wheat, oh monkey
Yes!
Yes!
Vayang.
M undikavadi:
W hile the youths are thus dancine and singing
the villagers throw coins at them. This is called mundikavadi.
Young unmarried girls from the village rush towards the dancers
to pick up the coins. But the dancers prevent them. They beat
them and try to drive them away. The girls do not retreat easily.
They break the line with force and give a good fight to the young
men. There is a great din and roar of laughter during all the
time. W hen all the coins are picked up, the dance is finished.
Next morning the young men again receive presents o corn
from the villagers and an unmarried girl who is not engaged or
betrothed is also given to them by the villagers. If a eirl is not
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 marriage.
Next year the dancers have to return the gift when their visit is
repaid by their hosts. In return for a bull, however, a cow and
a calf are returned. The bull and the cow are killed and their
flesh is eaten on the return home.
The return home:
After the young men of a villaee have left
for the adjoining village, all the young unmarried girls in the village,
gather food-stuffs from every house and go out of the village into
the jungle on the boundary. They cut the branches of trees, clean
the ground and make a pandal. It is imperative that every un
married girl of the village must take part in this and other items
of the festival that follow. Before the young men return home, the
9.
This is an im itation of the souncls which a monkey produces,
61
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 hearts content.
Below is a sample of the songs sung on the occasion.
(3)
Oh! Phadki bird!
W h y are you sullen?
Oh! Phadki bird!
You eat the fruit of the G othia tree
Sit on the branch of the T endu tree
Oh! Phadki bird!
Eat the T endu fruit.
You sit on the G othia tree
O h! Phadki bird!
W h y are you sullen?
Eat the fruit of the G othia tree!
Sit on the branch of the Char tree
Oh! Phadki bird!
Go to the plains (of Chhattisgarh)
Oh! Phadki bird!
W h a t do you eat?
Oh! Phadki bird!
I eat the corn of wheat.
I eat the IJrad grains.
They thus sing and dance till past midnight. The boys and
girls then sleep in the same pandal. Many a love-game is played
that night and many a match arranged. If the parents of any girl
disallow her to stay in the frivolous company of the young men,
the matter is reported to the boy-friends of the other girls. The young
men unanimously agree on the point that as a protest to the insult,
no one of the company should make an offer of marriage to the girl
unless she apologises. But usually this does not happen as the
girls are eager to mix with the boys and their parents also have
62
D U R G A BHAGVAT
tested similar enjoyment. Next day in the morning, the girls cut
a branch of Semar or cotton tree which is now covered with fresh
green foliage and ready to burst into bright red blossoms. The
tree is the symbol of youth. A girl cuts a branchand four or
five other girls, stand below and catch the branch in their arms.
The branch of the plant of youth must not fall on the ground.
The boys gather all the sticks (danda) of Semar which they had
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 Relasongs are
forbidden from beginning to the end. The explanation given by
the Gond is that Puskolam is a feast dedicated to a god (to
which god we do not know). Can it be that when actual lovemaking is allowed to any extent there is little need to give vent to
emotions?
Conclusion: 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
63
boys form a solid group of their own, tlie eldest boy being called
Mariyan (a cousin) or Mukadam (chief etc.) So also the girls form
a group of their own, and the eldest girl who leads the group is
called Marandal (cousin) or Belosa. These terms are now used by
boys and girls also as synonymous for lovers. Another striking
feature of this system is that each boy and each girl has a secret
name of the society which only the young men and women know.
The boys are called Raja, Pardhan, Mukadam etc. Girls are given
names of flowers. Whatever afEairs take place in the group remain
secret and parents have no voice in declaring a match unless the
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 men wear
ing female ornaments when they go to the dance.
(5) The Festival in all its aspects is symbolical of conjugal
love.
THE
KARMA
The festival: The Karma is the harvest festival which takes

place in the rainy season, in the month of Bhado, the bright
fortnight.
The triple aspect of the festival is ( 1 ) the r it u a l,(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
64
D U RG A BHAGVAT
importance as it discloses to us some o the moot points regarding,

( 1 ) the origin of the Karma festival,(2) the tribes which are special
representatives of the old ^arma-worshippers both in the central
regions and the adjoining ones; (3) the technique of the ritualthe
dances and the songs, (4) the popularity of the Karma dances and
songs; (5) and the religious significance attached to it (as it is
actually observed).
In Central India the Karma is widely spread among all the
lower-caste Hindus, and aborigines in the eastern portion, viz. in
Mandla, Balaghat, Bilaspur, north of Raipur, and the northern half
of Drug, the former Feudatory States in Chhattisgarh and then in
the former Jashapur, Raigarh and Sarangarh States which merge
into the Kaimur range, and the Chhota Nagpur plateau where the
Karma or Karam festival and dances still thrive vigorously. The
absence of the Karma in the south-eastern portion of Raipur dis
trict merging into the Muria country, and the south-eastern corner
of Drug, the O undhi and Panabaras tractwhere we find some of
the rare specimens of the concentrated Gondi culture, is very
significant. The Karma is not known in Bastar and also in the
northern portion of the Godavari district which is strongly in
fluenced by the Gond culture of Bastar. This geographic distribu
tion shows that the Karma is not a part of the indigenous Gond
culture, and that it is merely superimposed on the Gond and
allied tribes either through the contact with tribes living on border
lands and being influenced by the culture of the neighbouring re
gions, or through the migration of the tribes which belong to some
group of the prominent neighbouring tribes. This leads us further
into the inquiry of the problem of the particular tribes in Central
India among whom the details o the Karma festivals are preserved
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,10 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 distribut:o
i in Central India:
H in d u lower castes: Among all lower caste Hindus o Chhattis
garh, Mandla, Balaghat and right upto Nagpur, the agriculturists
dance and sing the Karma. The medium of the Karma songs
J0t
E, D alton, Descriptive Ethnology of Bengal, pp. 131, 135198
65
being some form of the eastern H indi dialects, the Karma songs
have not reached places where the people speak Gondi, Marathi,
or Telugu. In Chhattisgarh the Karma is very popular among the
Rawat, Koshta and Panka.
Tribes:^ A m o n g 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.11
Very famous are the Ghasia, whose Karma songs are wellknown. 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 H in du
and H indu 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
H indu population who dance the Karma more vigorously than the
Bhuiya, M unda 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 M unda tribes from the Hindus.12 But looking
to the condition of Madhya Pradesh and Mirzapur, where also
H indu lower castes indulge in the Karrna, 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
1 1 . Elwin, The Baiga, pp. 432 ff.
12-
S. C. Roy, The M undas, p. 478.
66
D U R G A BHAGVAT
six sisters-in-law to cook it and when it was ready would take it

to his brothers in the fields. This youngest brother was in the
habit of planting a branch of Karam tree in the courtyard, and
of dancing before it with his sisters-in-law. Now this delayed the
cooking and one day the elder brotherscoming home unexpectedly
found them so engaged, tore up the tree in anger and threw it
into the river. At this the younger brother was enraged and left
the house. Then everything went wrong with him, till he saw the
Karam-deota floating on the river. He tried to draw near to it, but
a voice from the branch sternly forbade him to approach because
he was a sinner. He then propitiated the god by prayer and was
directed to go home. On his return he found everything that
had been evil on his former journey was changed. Even the family
house, which had fallen into ruins and his brothers who had been
reduced to great poverty were restored to tlieir 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, v iz .,( 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 boys 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 consideration
the ignorance of the boy. The Karam-deota does not even take
into consideration that the youngest brother did fight with his
brothers in order that the tree might remain in the courtyard.
The sin cannot be a mans making merry with his sisters-inlaw, according to the moral code of the aborigines in these parts,
unless the Brahmanic idea of decency intervenes.
A legend of Karam prevalent among the Pauri Bhuiya of
Orissa, recorded by S. C. Roy says that a merchant returned home
13.
The Gazetteer of the United Provinces, M irzapur, pp. 103-4.
67
after a very prosperous voyage. His vessel was loaded with precious
metals and other valuable things, which he brought from foreign
countries. Before he unloaded the ship he wanted his wife and
sons and daughters to go to the ship and perform a religious cere
mony for his safe and happy return. It was however the Karampuja day and the women were dancing round the Karam branches
and men were beating drums. No one paid any attention to the
merchant's call. The merchant then became furious and uprooted
the branches and threw them away. But no sooner was this done,
than the wrath of the Karam-god fell on him and his ship with its
precious loads sunk in the depths of the water. The man then
consulted an astrologer and asked him what was the matter with
his ship and how could he get it back. The astrologer told him
that it was the curse of the Karam god that had caused the ship
to disappear and the only way to get it back was to invoke the
deity. The merchant again set on a voyage in search of the Karam
deity. He found the deity in the sea, worshipped Karam Raja
and the god then told him to perform the Karam ritual every year.
His sons and daughters-in-law must fast for seven days and nights
and dance and sing during the Karam festival.14
The legend describes the importance of the Karam ritual and
the evil consequences at the omission of it (like the previous tale).
Yet it does not give us any clue, like the former tale, about the
origin of the ritual. The legend implies that the Karam festival
was already in existence. Yet the contemptuous way in which the
merchant treated the sacred branches, may suggest that it was not
a very popular custom among the well-to-do. No H indu can treat
a sacred object of worship in his own community with such con
tempt. It is probable that the worship of this tree was prevalent
in communities which were different from the one he belonged to,
mostly in a class of people which belonged to a lower stratum.
Another story prevalent among the Brahmins of Chota-Nagpur,
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. Karmas wife once asked him to go to his rich
brothers 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 H ill Bhuiyas of Orissa, pp. 267-9.
D U RG A BHAGVAT
68
saw how poor and dejected he was and they advised him to worship
the Karma as they did, for prosperity and happiness. He did it
and soon his bad days were over. He continued the practice and
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
H in du castes.
The strength of the H indu population being enormous in
comparison with that of the tribes, the area of the distribution o a
custom is much larger, and there is a greater possibility for a
modification of the original custom. After a custom has thus been
sufficiently stabilised in the major portion of the population, a
reverse process takes place. The minority of the aborigines from
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 H indu neighbours. The cross-currents
o 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 borrowed
from them and popularised by the Hindus.16
The festival and dance:
The Karam festival is both a com
m unal17 as well as a household18 one. The Karam festival in
Mirzapur is simple. If begins on the eleventh day of the bright
half of the month of Bliado19 and lasts for a least ten days. Men
fast on that day and wear a thread on the right arm over which
some crude spells are recited. Then they go into the forest and
cut a branch of the Karam tree, which they fix up in the court
yard. The men bow to it and the women decorate it with red
lead. Then they get drunk, dance round it and sing Karam songs.
The festival is an occasion of rough license and debauchery. It is
understood that if any girl takes a fancy to a man, she has only
15.
E. D alton, Descriptive Ethnology of Bengal, pp. 259-60.
16.
17.
W . Crooke, Tribes arid Castes of N .W .P. and O ud h, I I I pp. 439 ff.

Viz. the Bhuiya, the Ghasia, the Musahar etc. in M irzapur. W . Crooke
op. cit. II, pp. 71-83Roy, The H ill Bhuiyas, p. 240.

18. Viz. The M ajhw ar in M irzapur and also the Savar, the Kharwar, the
Boyar etc. in the district; Crooke Ib id . also, II, pp. 94-7Roy, The Khariyas,
II, pp. 342 ff.
19. It can also take place on the 14th day, called Ancient Chaudas.
Tribes and Castes of N .W .P. and O ud h, I I p. 83; I II , p. 439.
Crooke,
69
to kick him on the ankle during the dance and parents get the
pair married.20
During the dance men and women stand in opposite lines and
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 are (1)
cutting of three branches of the Karam tree, which are called
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 go
on making hur-hura sound. The girls now bow down before the
Karam branch and say, O Karam Raja, O Karam Rani, we are
making Karam-Dharam24 night/
It is interesting to note that the H ill 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 in the
month of Asarh and Kunwar or at the beginning of the rains.
20.
W . Crooke, op. cit II, p. 83.
2 1 . Op. cit I I, 439.

22. Op. cit I I, pp. 94-7.
25.
S. C. Roy, Oraon Religion and Customs, pp. 240-247, Archer, The Blue
Grove, p. 413.
24.
S. C. Roy, The H ill Bhuiyas, p. 240.
70
D U RG A BHAGVAT
W hen the time has come the Gaonta (village) headman or the
Baiga priest fetches a branch of the Karma tree from the forest
and sets it up in his yard as a notice and invitation to the village.
After sunset all the people, men, women and children, assemble
and dance round the tree, to the accompaniment of a drum known
as Mandar. The dancing continues all night and in the morning
the host plucks up the branch of the Karma tree and consigns it
to a stream, at the same time regaling the dancers with rice, pulse
and goats meat. This dance is a religious rite in honour of
Karam Raja and is believed to keep sickness from the village and
to briner 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 where
the Gond are found in considerable numbers. It seems from this
that though the Gond in the eastern portion of the State observe
the Karma ritual and though the Karma dances and songs are so
popular, it is borrowed from the local culture rather than a part
of the tribal or Gondi culture.
The Baiga are adept Karma
dancers, but they do not seem to observe the ritual as the Binjhwar,
with whom they have racial and cultural affinities, do.
Transfer of application:
So far we have seen that the Karma
ritual in its original form, i.e., the worship of the Karam tree, is
performed by the tribes in Bilaspur. In the remaining eastern
portions of Madhya Pradesh, the Karma dances and songs are
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. O n the fourth day of the bright fortnight, the
pot containing the Jawara seedlings is thrown into a tank or stream
25.
p. 153.
26.
Russell and H iralal,
Tribes and
Castes of the Central Provinces, IV,
Russell and H iralal, op. cit., I I p. 335.
71
by the women. The Jawara festival is observed all over Madhya

Pradesh, but the Karma dances and songs are performed only in
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 tlie ceremonial
use of the seedlings in the Karma ritual. Only it forms a secondary
part of the ritual, while in Madhya Pradesh, it forms the central
item of the ritual. This transfer of the dance and songs of one
ritual to another, shows how local culture gradually absorbs and
transforms customs which belong to outside areas. The popularity
of the Jawara among the Gond and the transfer of the Karma
dance and songs to it once again emphasise that the Karma is not
a Gond festival and that it has been imported into the land of
the Gond by some tribes other than the Gond viz. the Majhwar,
the Savar, the Sahis etc. who are found in strong concentration in
the adjoining former feudatory states, in Orissa as well as in
Mirzapur district.
The Karma dance:
The Karma dance is more popular and
more widely spread than the ritual. Even in parts where the ritual
is unknown, the Karma dance with its various forms is danced
vigorously. In the eastern regions of Madhya Pradesli, 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 fireround which
the young boys and girls dance. It is the principal dance o 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.
D U RG A BHAGVAT
72
a time, 'vague and elastic.28

In Madhya Pradesh, however, the symbolism has almost dis
appeared as the ritual itself is observed to very small extent and
chiefly by the tribes like the Majhwar, the Savar etc. who are found
in strong concentration outside the province rather than in it. So
the Karma ceases to be a festival danceand is looked upon rather
as a traditional social dance in the larger portion of Central
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 circleand 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 of
a curved line half facing the centre of the circle. Two boys are
strung out in a loose line holding hands, while the girls interlock
their arms and stand with their bodies touching. The line then
moves round the circle the girls walking smoothly while the men
proceed with leaps. After an erect zig-zag progress they move back
wards, and then do a figure of four movements before the walk
is resumed. This consists of two paces forward, first with the right
leg and then with the left. The right foot then moves upto just
28.
Archer, The Blue GroveLondon 1940, p. 24.
29.
30.
Archer, op. cit p. 202.

Ib id ., p. 21.
73
behind the left, and the left is then brought back to a pace behind
the right!)31 and (2) Lujhki in which the movement is to the right
and there is no reverse. The action consists of two figures each
with four movements, the rhythm rising and falling round the
third movement of each figure. The dance is done with the knees
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 M unda 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-d^nccs
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 latters
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 o 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 M unda: 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, and form
themselves in an arc or circle. Towards the centre of the circle
3 1 . Ib id .p. 202.
32. Ibid.
33. S. C. Roy, The Oraons, p. 294.
34.
S. C. Roy, op. cit., pp. 294-5,
74
D U RG A BHAGVAT
they advance with graceful steps and retire backwards in the same
bending posture, all the dancers slightly moving towards the left so
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 Karam
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 H indi
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 typified
by the performances of the Baiga who are adept dancers. They
are:
The Khalla Karma: The Khalla Karma affords a very good
performance of the circular movement. The woman advances the
left foot, brings the right up to it and swings it back and to the
right, brings the left foot back a little to the right of its original
position, and bows, then repeats. Another formation of circular
movement is th is :^
Bring the left foot forward and across the right, then back
a little to the left of the original position, then bring the right
foot forward and across the left, then back, this too a little to
the left.
35.
S. C. Roy, The M undas, p. 478.
36.
Russell and H iralal, op. cit., I l l , p. 136.
75
(2) The Tadi Karma: In this formation and the following,

'advancing and retreating movements are significant. In the Tadi
there is a quick left, right, left movement forward, then tlie right
foot is brought upto the left, touches the ground with the toes and
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 lineeach 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 Jhum ar 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 Jhum ar is taken to be a variety of the Karma in
Madhya Pradesh. Crooke takes Jhum ar or Jhunhir to be a dance
different from Karmabut 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 Jhum ar 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 Jhum ar 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
87. V. Elwin, The Baiga, pp. 432-5.

38.
39.
W . Crooke, Tribes and Castes of N .W .P. and O udh, I II, p. 439.

E. D alton, op. cit pp. 131, 135.
40.
S. C. Roy, The Oraons, p. 299, Archer, op. cit., p. 20.
DU RG A BHAGVAT
76
of the ritual is glorified.41

(2) Love-songs, in which marital as well as premarital and
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 o the Karma songs, as for ex
ample King Bhartari (Bhartrihari, the famous composer of the
three centuries o verses in Sanskrit) has found a place o 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
l
The
The
A nd
And
fair woman pulls up

end of her sari (covering her breast)
she throws a glance,
a pair of bullets w ith it.
2
O n the bank of the river
The ascetic has p u t up his camp
O h ascetic! Give u p your camp.
Kalaram is going to plan t a mango there.
3
O n the branch of the mango tree
The cuckoo bird cooes sweetly
O h! the cuckoo bird cooes sweetly.
4 1 . Archer, op. cit pp. 44 ff..

42. Elwin, The Baiga, pp. 444 ff., Hivale and Elwin,
Forestpp. 5 1 , 5561etc.
43.
The Songs of the
Archer, op. cit., p. 49W , Crooke, The Tribes and Castes of N.W.P,
and O ud h, p. 83,
4
In whose courtyard
Do you play the danda?
In your office-ground
O h father! we play the danda.
5
W h ile she went to fetch water
In a pot of gourd
You were seated on a hillock
A nd looked askance
A t the moon-face of the fair girl.
W h ile she was fetching water, O h Kalbatiya
Be seated, Kalbatiya, my darling,
Be seated on my cot.
A ll guests have arrived.
Be seated on my cot,
O h Kalbatiya.
6
Where shall I hide myself,
O h gondali flower?
Let tigers and foxes
Feast on my body,
O h gondali flower.
I shall send you back
To your fathers house,
Having known your tricks.
7
Take this away, oh drum m er,
B ut do not touch my breast covering
Under-neath my breast covering
Are plentiful sweets
If you touch my cloth,
It w ill kill me,
So take the sweets away, oh drummer.
8
Do not crack jokes, my boy.
Do not crack jokes.
Mother-in-law sits in the verandah,
Father-in-law squats on a cot,
p o not crack jokes
D U RG A BHAGVAT
9
O n a high h ill
You are screaming loudly,
O h peacock.
Your life shall be enclosed
In the pouch of the hunter.
O n a high h ill you are screaming.
10
O n a high h ill
Four men are sitting,
In a high village,
The fisher-woman and wine*grocerfs wife are sitting.
T he wine grocer has
D istilled the liquor himself.
The wine was made,
T he youth drank it,
A nd yet the old m an got intoxicated.
O h young m an! Do not drink Phulli-wine.
Let the intoxicated old m an drink it.
Let the old m an sleep on a cot.
Let the young m an sleep on a bed-stead.
11
T he drum m er has a beautiful body.
Saint Kabir knows that the body is subject to decay.
W here does she inform her lover?
In the bazaar does she inform her lover.
T he lover w ith a money-bag in his hand
She tells him this
O h king! H ow is it possible
I am in an im pure condition?
12
Bring m ud, smear the ground
You are in the habit
of sleeping w ithout a mattress.
13
The new drum has
A string of bells,
Four brothers are keeping
A vigilant watch.
14
T he office at Bahyar
White-wash it properly.
D o not make a mistake
W hen the lover is watching you.
15
The seeds of brinjals are broken and eaten,
W e 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,
W ith a double row of studs,
How can I resist you
O h, my elder-sisters husband?
18
O n the bank of the river
Kodon grain is sown;
A m an is p u t to shame
By his wife.
19
It requires two men to fell a tree,
O h! my love,
Give me water in the pot,
O h! I am dying of thirst.
20
The lig htn in g flashes in Khairagarh,
The Bagela youth m ounted on his horse,
H e holds a gun in one hand
A n d a sword in another.
DU RG A BHAGVAT
80
21
The bicycle is run by feet.
Even if I am taken to the well
I shall throw the rope in it.
B ut water I shall not draw
U n til I am taken for a drive
In a motor-car.
T he seed is covered well w ith its coat.
My king the baby is rocking well in the cradle.
T he Kasi flowers bloom
In Savan and Bhado months
W h en the yarns of hem p are pounded.
Love once realized never breaks off.
23
Keep the net ready on the dark night.
The peacock is caught in the net behind.
Rajaniya, the lover is caught in the first.
24
Such a beautiful
f lo w e r 4 4
Has bloomed in the courtyard

How can I know about it,
O h brother!
W hen I saw the tree,
I t was widely spread.
I saw the leaves and they were huge.
T he b u d too I saw
and it had not bloomed.
How can I know about it,
O h 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 wont pick up knowledge.
44.
This suggests pregnancy and childbirth.
plant,
T he woman sees the
i.e., her husband and herself, and its leaves, viz., the relatives.
enlarged abdomen, the flower is the baby.
The bud is the
Gonds of R aip u r:
Girl:
W ith a gusto have you comc

To dance the Karma;
You have to give up mischief
A nd stand quietly by the wall.
Boy:
The red vegetable is no good.
In the turmeric the plough-share is stuck.
O h! Bloom ing girl! Light the lam p
So I may see your beauty.
Girl:
O h!
They have gone to your house,
T o bring fire.
Let it be burning the whole night.
Go back, oh m an, to the hut
W here you fitted so well.
From Gonds and Hindus of Bilaspur:

(2)
You be gone!
W h y are you calling me?
I do not understand such things at all.
W hy
W ho
W ho
W ho
I do
beckon me by hand?
w ill hold my basket?
w ill hold the fish-net?
will show the pond?
not understand such things at all.
(3)
He reads the black letters,
From where have you brought the scripture?
From C h h u ri have I brought it.
Kotwal has brought only a book
A nd reads black letters.
DURG A 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 w a is t.4 5
A nd yet you wink at me, oh king!
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 m ountain falls a rock.
A nd the world sees the sun now,
The d e itie s ^ e make kalkal noise
In the crevices.
Stones are thrown this way and that way
R u n away, oh witch, to the cemetery.
O h king, now the trum pet sounds.
From Majhwar in Bilaspur :

(l)
The small darling youth
Is considered a big person.
He ties a beautiful turban
And also a cloth on it.
O n His arms are marks of sandalwood,
O n his chest, beads.
He climbs the ghat of G om nati
A nd wanders in Katgliora.
He could neither give,
N or take sufficiently,
As there are few
W h o appreciate love.
(2)
The flower of kalinder
Shines near the plan tain tree.
The Teli asks for oil,
T he B rahm in for ghee.
45.
46.
Viz. impotence.
Birds.
(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
M others home for a woman.
She weeps w ith 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:
T he daughter-in-law
W ore a red sari
A nd served rice, slowlyslowly
In the dish of gold.
Her eyes were red,
Her face became dark
W here are the bangles?
Where are the armlets?
W here is the collirium for eyes?
(5)
A b lin d m an sees a fort
D im , very dim .
I reach R anchi
A n d 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 w ith fingers
The m ilk is poured into the jar.
O f that m ilk curds are made.
O f it becomes the ghee.
Semi-liquid, semi-solid.
O h Johar! From where does the sipalu (police man) come?
Sitting on the verandah,
Offer h im a seat
I bestow my household on you.
(6)
The fair woman
Weeps in the m onth of Savan,
D U RG A BHAGVAT
S4
W h o can escape a co-wife?

The man has left his wife,
B ut the fair woman cannot
Escape a co-wife
A nd she weeps.
(7)
W ith 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,
T he day he was bom ,
Drums were beaten as announcement.
Fresh, green cow-dung was brought,
W ith it the ground was cleaned.
W ith six pegs was it marked.
In it a water-jar was kept,
A silver lam p was also kept burning.
From Kasi pundits were called.
They sang auspicious songs.
The ordinary folk danced the Karma
The farmers faces lit w ith joy
Such was the king Bhartari
By the name of Lalikar,
(2)
T he king of Bhartari
lin e 4 7
N am ed Lalikar
47.
The reference to king Bhartari alias Bhartrhari in Sanskrit literature,
the famous king and sage, composer of the three centuries of poems on love,
polity and asceticism, is very amazing indeed. Just like Vikrama he is popular
among lower classes in this part. The ideology of the two songs is typically
H in d u . The poetry in them is finely developed and the theme of the second
song
is
superb.
The
reference
to
the
deer
in
the
pig
sacrifice
obviously
glorifies it. It may be that the prim itive object of worship gradually changed
place for the cow.
85
W ent out hunting,

A deer was playing,
I t was rom ping about,
T he king shot in a moment.
He shot in its direction,
The beautiful deer fell to the ground.
It got u p for a while
A n d said
Give my hoofs to the glorious cow,
So they will be worshipped in every house.
Give my horns to a warrior
So he w ill fight in battle and die.
Give my hide to a sage,
So he w ill (sitting on it)
Contemplate in the forest.
Give my eyes to a wise woman,
So she w ill be praised in the world.
(3)
She went to Pali bazaar
To buy a sari.
W h ile m aking a bargain
She stopped,
A nd started looking at that (m ans) hand
Near the Kosam tree
In the H ard i bazaar.
(4)
Shall I make gruel of wheat flower?
O r shall I cook the m aina bird?
Surely this girl wants
Wear, oh daughter-in-law,
Bangles from Chapa,
Armlets from C hhuri,
C o llirium 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
86
DU RG A BHAGVAT
copied it from them. The Karma ritual is observed by the Bilaspur

tribes alone, and in the eastern tracts o 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 Hisiop known to us where
the Karma or M undi 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 Karma
are circular. The steps are varied according to the technique of
the performance. One fact which becomes noticeable in the ritual
and dance of the Karma in Madhya Pradesh is that the ritual has
lost importance while the dances have become more popular. The
original Karma ritual is very much curtailed and the dances etc.
are transferred to the Jawara. The dances however are spread
widely and include even the Jhumar in them. The songs drop the
ritual basis and change in the dances according to the emotions
the dance is supposed to express (for instance, the Lahaki is ex
pressive of rich emotions). The chief item of the songs is licen
tious sex-love. The next item is gossip and other motifs, like
natural beauty, hero worship, satire etc. The songs are ever fresh
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
P IG
SACRIFICE
The cow-sacrifice: The cow-sacrifice seems to be a speciality

o the Gond culture, as we saw, in the worship of Bara-deo.48 It
48.
pp. 63-64.
Hisiop, op. cit., Appendix: Grigson, op. cit Godavari District Gazetteer,
87
exists only among the tribes which belong to some class of the
Gond. The other tribes like the Baiga,49 Korku etc. though they
have many customs in common with the Gond, have kept them
selves scrupulously aloof from cow or bullock-sacrifice.50
The pig sacrifice: The next important sacrifice is the sacrifice
of the pig, which is zealously sponsored by all aborigines and even
lower caste Hindus, like the Ahir, Kosta, Panka51 etc. Yet the pig
sacrifice is not restricted to the aboriginals of this province only.
It is distributed widely over India.52 The pig sacrifice is not per
49.
50.
Elwin, The Baiga, p. 4.

The only case where a non-Gond tribe sacrilkcs a bullock is that of
the B h il in Khandesh. Bullocks are offered to Vaghach Kunber and Hatipawa.

Khandesh District Gazetteer, p. 93.
5 1 . Russell and H iralal, op. cit I, p. 8; I I p. 223-225; I II , pp. 31466;
IV p. 310; Sagour District Gazetteer, p. 42N arsingpur District Gazetteerp. 54;
Elw in, The Baiga, pp., Grigson, op. cit., pp. 161.
52. In South In d ia the pig sacrifice is very common viz. Thurston, Castes
and Tribes in South In d ia , I.
The Banthuk Savaras kill a pig at a
wedding (p. 263), II. The professional thiefs Dandasis, sacrifice a pig and seven
l!owls 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 k ill 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 K hond bury a pig w ith the dead (pp. 374, 396). V I. The Nanga
Poroja sacrifice pigs to the Bhumideota. (p. 215). The Savar also sacrifice pigs
to the dead in marriage and when crops arc not good. (p. 321). In Coorgthe
pig is sacrificed in honour of the dead and in the worship of M ariam m a when
an epidemic breaks out.
(Ritcher, The M a n u a l of Coorg, pp. 163, 170). In
Assam also it is widely spread and for every little thing a pig is sacrificed, viz.
when a m an is ill a pig is killed (Hodson, the Naga Tribes of M a n ip u r p. 137).
T he 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 Nagaspp. 219, 220, 222). The Lhota Naga k ill pigs
when there is sickness in the home and in all social gennas (Mills, The Lhota
Nagas pp. 131, 138).
In Northern In d ia a pig is offered to Banaspati-Ma, the Mistress of the
W ood by every passer-by (Crooke, Northern In d ia p. 231).
T he A hir in Northern In dia, 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 O ud h, I p. 6j). The pig is killed by the M unda tribes Cf. Roy,
The Khariyas, I I, pp. 522227.
In the P unjab 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 Brahm in minister offers a sacrifice when
8B
D U RG A BHAGVAT
formed in every social genna in Central India as in the case o

the Naga tribes o Assam, yet it is very important. It forms part
of both the regular ritual as well as occasional worship of the
aborigines and is also a communal as well as a family affair accord
ing to the purpose, and the rite in which it is employed.
It is a communal rite, performed by the Baiga of the village
when the village gods are to be worshipped. The ceremony is
just as we saw it in the preliminary stage o the worship o
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 W hat 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 instrum ent be used in killin g the animals. The
anim als are done to death by all the Brahmins headed by the Yajam an, pom elling
them to death w ith their fists (Abbot, the Keys of Power, p. 216).
It is to be remembered that in Assam, Bihar and Orissa and in South In dia
(except when there is an epidemic when the chariot of the goddess crushes the
anim al to death) that the pig is decapitated. The methods followed in Central
In d ia shall be duly discusscd. The methods of the pig sacrifice however are not
fully known and the inform ation about them is scanty and scrappy and hence
it is not possible for us to give here even a full idea of the ethnic and
geographic distribution of pig sacrifice. It seems however, that it began w ith
aborigines.
It is widely distributed in Assam, and in Eastern Central and
Southern India.
In the N orth it does not seem to be popular.
Pig sacrifices
are of param ount importance and widely distributed in Indonesia and Oceania
also. (Lowie, Introduction to C ultural Anthropology, pp. 40, 4 1 , 5 1 . Also Mead,
Cooperation and competition among the prim itive people.
Section 5.
The
importance of the pig in ceremony). Rivers, Melanesian Society, pp. 91,112)II,
pp. 210-5, Harrison, Savage Civilization, pp. 9 2 , 110115).
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 W hitehead. W h en an epidemic bursts out a pig is buried
in a pit. A nd another is buried at a distance of about a mile facing the first
pig. (Whitehead, The Village Deities in Southern In dia, p. 184).
89
Pig-Sacrifice in Family Feast

The pig sacrifice is however more frequent in the family circle
than in community feasts. A pig sacrifice is regularly offered to
the family gods ( 1 ) when the harvest festival takes place, and (2)
when the worship of Bara-deo is made once in three years.
It is occasional when ( 1 ) there is a disease or (2) death in the
family.
Approximate geographical distribution

From what I saw in Madhya Pradesh, I found out that the pigsacrifice is not so frequent in the Vindhyan territory, namely.
Sagour and Damoh. Also in the western portion o 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 f o w l . 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 pigs blood or with
that of a fowl.
As we advance to the areas where primitive culture is found
in a more concentrated form, the pig sacrifice also becomes more
common.
Varieties of the Pig-Sacrifice

There are mainly two rituals of the pig-sacrifice, namely, the
one of the Baiga and that of the Gond. The Baiga form of the
pig-sacrifice is typified in the laru kaj ceremony, in honour of
Narayan-deo, a demon, often identified with Bara-deo and the
sun-god,54 the chief household deity of the aborigines in the eastern
part of Madhya Pradesh, where the Baiga are found in strength.
Laru is the name of the sacred pig. When there is illness in the
house, a vow is made to Narayan-deo for the patients recovery.
W hen the patient recovers, a pig is dedicated for sacrifice by cut
ting a bit of its ears or tail and it is fed for three years. The head
of the house prepares plenty of kodo and rice and gets a quantity
54,
V. Elwin, The Baiga, p. 404; S. Fuchs, op. cit., pp. 391-3,
90
D U R G A BHAGVAT
of liquor. He invites his friends and relations and on a Saturday55

begins the laru-kaj.
The details of the laru kaj ritual, described by Elwin and
Fuchs,56 are given here in an abridged form, but with the addition
of items which I myself was able to collect.
( 1 ) The laru-kaj is performed by the Samdhi (a male relative
through marriage) of the sick person, called Kamriand three Barua
(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 'phitlera, 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. D ont 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 pigs 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 animaFs struggles are
redoubled. Then the men begin to bump it up and down in the
hole. The bumping is most efficient to cause death, which is due
to suffocation, and in about ten minutes the pig's struggles cease
and it is carried out to be washed and singed. W hile this is going
on, all the women present throw wet cow-dung and other refuse
over the men and scream insults at them
. This is accompanied
with abusive songs.
(5) The pig is then washed and its hair singed o over a fire.
Its body is dragged to the bigger pit and its blood is allowed to
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 num ber of Barua can also be five. The wife of the eldest Barua
also plays an im portant part in the ceremony as I shall describe later on.
91
flow into it. The grand-father and grand-mother wrap up the head
and the liver in bel leaves and put the bundle in the swing and
they sing.
The song I have got runs as follows:
Bring m ilk, oh, bring m ilk,
Bring m ilk of the Surahi cow
Bring m ilk for washing feet.
Bring oil, oh, bring oil,
W ash the feet w ith oil,
W ash the feet w ith m ilk.
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
Maiiua 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 womanfour 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 Kaj war 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 will be
born in this house. Do not come any other time The head is
then thrown into the pit. The pit is then covered with mud. On
it is made a small mud platform. The baruas then go to the jungle
and bring a huge thorn of the narisaytree. They pretend as if
they were riding a horse, in the form of the thorn. They now
are in search of the Barua, who is supposed to be an elderly woman
and who has helped them in feeding the pig on rice the previous
day. The Baruin hides. The men neigh like a horse and beat the
Baruin when they find her. The women then attack the men who
92
D U RG A BHAGVAT
run and disperse. This rite is symbolic of the dispersion of Narayandeos ceremony, who was attacking the Baruin. Then the Barua
men go to the river and throw the thorn into the water and bathe.
Rice is cooked and placed in the phulera. The Baruas take a
mouthful of the cooked rice and go on spitting it in the whole
house. And they sing:
O h deer on the riverside
W ith knotted horns,
H o ld the horns
A n d dance, and copulate.
O h Kajwar-baba,
H o ld the horns
A n d dance.
Then baruas catch the phuleraand run wxtn it to the Narada

into which they throw it. A ll the bonesand 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. In
an iron bowl, called Karchul, oil is poured. Three wicks are
burnt in it. The kamri then holds the lamp and approaches the
couple followed by the Baruas. Then they sing and call out the
names of all important gods, Narayan Deo, Budha-deo, the Sun and
the Moon, Banaspati-Mata, Budhi-mata, Nanga Baiga, Nangi Baigin
etc. and put the lamp upside down and pour water on it.
Then the Samdhi who has taken a prominent part in all the
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 rice
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 follow
the same method of a pig sacrifice in the name of Narayan Deo,
in Drug, I came across a different form adapted by the Gond,
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 O undhi tract, once in twelve years,
93
Gosai Pusai is performed in the month of Pus, usually in the dark

half of the month, or on the fullmoon of Baisakh. Any day except
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 rnango 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 sacrificedthey 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 ones daughter-in-law or son-in-law.
D U RG A BHAGVAT
(1)
T he tree of bel,
The creeper of bel,
Loaded w ith fruit.
O h son! drink the m ilk of the bel fruit.
O h Gosaiyal W ash the feet with milk.
T he K hichari made of rice and urad pulse.
Eat, oh Gosaiya eat.
T he twigs of the mango tree
A nd a stump of saj
Let it be your resort.
(2)
O n the full moon of Baisakh,
O h deer on the river side,
Dance and ju m p
H o ld the horns and dance and capulate.
(3)
King Paramesar (god) had five daughters
T he daughters played and jum ped
O n the golden throne of Paramesar.
Paramesar asked the five daughters
By whose fate do you eat?
(The first four said)
W e 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 w ith anger.
He ordered:
Take princess Chango to the forest,
Let her live there.
Twelve m ountains were crossed,
A n d to Sondhad m ountain
She was taken.
She was asked to stay there.
O n the m o untain a temple
Began to rise out of the ground.
A throne of gold also was visible,
T he golden throne of Chango.
A big golden palace emerged.
Fate of man resulting from the deeds of a former life.
T R IB A T G O D S A N D FESTIVALS IN C E N T R A L IN D IA
The city of Chango,
Came into being.
Chango sat under the golden umbrella.
K ing Parsamesar was crestfallen,
He bowed down before her,
Come, oh child, to your old place.
I shall not go to your place, oh f a t h e r . 6 0
(4)
The Chowk is made,
And polished w ith a pearl dye.
O h 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 m oon be seated.
T he worship of Narayan is taking place,
T he sun and m oon witness it.
Where were you born, oh barua?
Where were you known?
In the plantain grove
Was I born,
A n d known in the abode of the gods.
(5)
T he K hichari dish of urad and m u n g
A nd the pirapeti snake

Eat, oh Gosaiya!
O n the Jan a ira
6i night
Mango leaves are cut,
A nd also the pillar of Saj.
The scorpion bites the mother-in-law,
A n d the mother-in-law shouts.
The p u lp of b rin ja l61 a)
It is well bitten by the scorpion.
W h a t w ill you give,
If the scorpion sting is removed?
O h Jatalsing deer of Singaldip,
H o ld the horns,
A nd dance on the banks of the Jum na.
Have sex-intercourse,
Charbar charbar,
T he penis should move briskly,
60.
The story is exactly like the M arathi tale of Varnasathi.
6 1 . The night on which the sacrifice is performed.

61 a). T he p u lp of the b rin jal is the vagina; the scorpion is the penis
96
DURG A BHAGVAT
The warrior, his the penis
Runs on the surface of the bed
T hen comes horripilation on the chest.
Get up, oil wife,
L ight the lamp,
For sex-intercourse call your father.
(6)
H o ld the
And have
Your eyes
Let them
horns,
sex-intercourse.
and ears are famous.
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 propitiated, and
in Gosai Pusai, only the pig and no other animal is to be sacrificed.
Another peculiarity of these sacrifices is that no blood of the victim
is shed. W hile in other smaller sacrifices the details are not specific
and any other animal also domesticated can be killed.
Minor pig-sacrifices
When the harvest is gathered and new corn is eaten a pig is
offered to the household-god in all the Gond regions. Sometimes
a fowl is substituted for a pig. In this case the ritual is not elabo
rate. Here decapitation of the victim is the central item of the
sacrifice and bloodshed is essential.
Rat M ai festival: In Chhattisgarh Rat-mai or Mother Night
is worshipped in winter, in the dark fortnight of the month of
Magh. Black lines of lamp soot are drawn on the inner walls of
the home which represent the goddess. In Raipur, however, I was
told that a crude female figure was formed o mud and covered
with the soot. In Bilaspur a stick covered with black soot is
planted on a platform in the interior of the house. The stick is
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 lampis burnt. He calls out the name of the goddess and sacrifices a
cow or a black goat. But a pig is preferred. He then takes out the
heart and liver and cooks them separately. Only men can partake
97
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 they
intrude, they may lose their eyesight. The rest of the flesh is
cooked and rice also, and that is given to all the members of the
family. All the remains of the food and even the refuse is thrown
in the pit in the room and buried.
Conclusion: As pork forms an important portion of the abo
riginal diet, pig-sacrifice is more common among them than any
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 o women in the principal rites o pig
sacrifice is essentially Gondi. 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 H o li is a typical H in du festival which is celebrated

on the full moon day of Phagun, in honour of the goddess Holika
and in commemoration of the event of the burning of Kamdeo
(god of love) by the fire from the third eye of Siva. The H oli is
the spring festival of the Hindus. The most important features
o the festival are ( 1 ) lighting of the H oli fire symbolical of the
burning of the god of love. (2) Obscene gestures and songs, (3)
swinging which is prevalent only in the Narbada tract, Sagour and
Damoh. The H oli 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 o Hoshangabad
also celebrate it. The only tribes which do not celebrate H oli are
the Kamar and the Bhunjia from Raipur and the Gond and other
tribes from the O undhi tract in Drug.
The festival:
The festival is celebrated in the H indu way, excepting a few
62.
Elwin, The Baiga, p. 403.
98
D U RG A BHAGVAT
details.
In the Narbada and Tapti valleys, in Chhindwara and Seoni
districts the H o li 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
tornaor 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 bandon the hands of their wives and
sweethearts. The Maria Gond in Ahiri tract make two figures of
cow-dung, one a male figure, the other female. They are then
burnt in the H o li fire. A group of Raj-Gond who hailed from
Bastar described to me the festival as it is celebrated by the Gond
and Halba of Bastar who still adhere to the old tradition. The
H o li is supposed to be the mourning of the people for Ravan, the
king of Lanka. Ravan is called Bonaro.
Nine kinds of wood are required for the H o li fire, of which
the bel (Aegle Marmelos) wood is the chief wood, the other eight
being of any kind. A stick of the castor tree is kept on a hens
egg. O n that is placed an iron ring. Earth is thrown on them
till they are completely covered up. Then the wood is piled on
it, the 'beV wood first. The head-man of the village or the eldest
male member of a family with wife and children, lights the H oli
fire. The H o li 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. The
commemoration of Ravan and his son Meghnath are also peculiar.
The Hindus in Chhattisgarh make three figures of mud representing
Ravan, his brother Kumbhakaran and his son, Incirajit. They shoot
arrows at the two brothers, but spare the son.63
The Phag dance: The Phag dance is danced by men and
63.
The
Shanar
in
South
In dia
R a m a s defeat and R a van's victory.

p. 126).
also
worship
Ravan.
They
rejoice
in
(The Madras M a n ua l of Adm inistration, I,
99
women separately. The dance of the men, called Danda or Sela,

is a vigorous and most lively stick dance. They form a circle, the
drummers standing at the centre, and go round and round, the
steps uniform and movements rhythmical. The dance of the women
is unorganised and has not any importance attached to it as the
Phag dance is essentially the dance of men.
The songs: The contents of the Phag dance songs are ( 1 ) the
songs about Khandera or Meghnath as we find them in Hoshanga
bad, Betul64 etc. (2) The songs describing the band ceremony as
in Hoshangabad.65 (3) Love songs of a licentious character. (4)
Obscene songs. (5) Miscellaneous songs.
In Sagour the Phag songs are divided into Rahi, Suwan and
KhyaL
R ah i is the name given to the musical performance of a
dancing girl and hence the R ah i songs suggest a licentious spirit.
Khyal of course is the Hindustani variety of songs.
W hat 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.
Bonaro I O h brother! Bonaro!
The white ashes are applied
To all that are standing around,
A nd 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.

Folk-songs in the Satpura valleys.
65.
66.
Ib id .
Another son of Ravan, who mourns his death.
Vide
D U R G A BHAGVAT
100
Lightening crashes on M ahua tree,

The Teli and Kalar cry.
(3)
From the Gond and Hindus in Sagour:

R a h i:
O h woman!
W hy are you standing dejected in a corner,
D id your husbands elder brother
A n d his wife cause pain to you?
D id your husband abuse you?
D id your husbands mother and sister h u rt you?
My husbands brother and his wife d id not hurt me,
Now was I hurt by his mother and sister,
N or did my husband fling abuse at me
I only remembered my m others house.
(4)
Suwan:
O h departing swan,67
No more shall we meet.
The swan of Singaldip
Flew to this country.
It has not picked the pearls
T hat were strewn before him .
He travelled about the land.
The swan flew over the field of Kodo,
A nd the fool wanted to drive him away.
O h fool! do not drive the swan away,
The swan has no love for farms.
N or does he eat the w ild fruit.
The swan eats unbored pearls.
T he creator is able to provide them.
T he swan has taken a flight to the lake.
Adieu! O h friend!
W here are you gone?
W hen shall we meet?
Send a messenger!
The lake is dry,
There is no water.
67.
life.
The swan is the lover.
Swan is the soul.
The song is also said to describe the riddle of
W h a t happens to the soul after death no one knows.
T R IB A T G OD S A N D FESTIVALS IN C E N T R A L IN D IA
101
The swan goes away thirsty.

O h swan, the old love still tortures
From time to time.
(5)
The body is visible
T hro ugh the sari of muslin.
Where is the sari made?
Where is it sold?
The sari of muslin,
In Sagour it is made
A nd is sold in every market.
(6)
Khyal:
Give up living in Brindaban,
Ways are becoming reverse,
For the sake of a little curds
T he A h ir abuses profusely.
My eyes are surely not my enemy.
(Formerly where Tulsidas sat)
Saying but one word H anum an,
T ill R a m met him ,
Now people play dice,
Both sides win and lose,
T ill both become beggars,
The beggar has a red leg.68
In his ha n d there is loss,
A n d the wealth of dreams
Has gone far far away.
Conclusion: Looking to the contents of the songs given above

it is clear that the songs from Hoshangabad and Betul are very
good specimens of licentious love-songs.
The songs from Sagour cannot be called exactly love songs,
excepting the swan-song, but they (especially the Khyal) are obviously
licentious.
The H o li as it is celebrated by the aborigines is a copy of
the H indu festival. The real and most important appendage of
the aboriginal culture is its connection with Ravan. The Holi-hre
more appropriately symbolises the burning of Ravans corpse than
102
DU RG A BHAGVAT
that of Kamdeo. Had it been the death of the god of love the
songs would not have been so jubilant. It is the spring festival,
rebirth of the god of love, that calls for jubilation, swinging etc.
The H o li festival thus is a complex festival in which a variety of
festivals have merged:
( 1 ) Burning of Kamdeo symbolised by the fire as well as the
bom or bum cry, which is used to express grief in mourning and
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
H in d u festival: The Divali like the H oli 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
O undhi tract do not observe it.
In Sagour especially the influence of the Ahir is very great.
The Divali songs of the Gond and H in du alluded to the A hir in
some way or other.
Ethnic significance: The Gond and Korku in Betul and
Hoshangabad draw wall drawings on the front side of the huts and
the cattle-pens also. The drawings are symbols of the granary and
cow-pen.
Aboriginal form: The aboriginal way of celebrating the Divali
consists in worshipping the household gods with goats, pigs or
fowls. The dance is the Karma dance and where Karma is not
known women dance Setam and men Sela.
103
In Sagour Bilwari69 songs are most popular. They comprise

special Divali songs, love-songs of a licentious nature.
The songs: The Divali songs of the Gond from Betul contain
a delighted conversation between a girl and her mother, and reveal
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.
(l)
I shall beat you w ith the penis.
I shall also beat your m others vagina,
If you do not listen to me.
I shall p u t the penis in your knot o hair.
(2)
The im potent m an
Tries sex intercourse.
He spreads the bed
O n the bank of the river.
Parrot-songs:
(3)
Get up, oh parrot, sit on the arm.
So, says Bhagvan
O h L a c h m a n 72 you are injured, on the head
By an arrow.
Get up, oh parrot
A n d sit on the hole of the
e a r .7 3
You bite the ear and spoil it

Get up, oh parrot!
A n d sit on the nose tip.74
Bite and spoil it.
69. The Bilw ari 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.
7 1 . These songs are entirely different from the parrot songs of women in
Chhattisgarh.
72. Lachm an is the parrot and the parrot is likened to the penis.
73.
Vagina.
74.
Clitoris.
DU RG A BHAGVAT
Song in honour of Krishna:

(4)
Bhagwan is born.
From where comes the blanket?
From where the Khum ri?
From where does Bhagvan come?
From R a ip u r comes the Blanket and K hum ri,
From D handha comes Bhagvan.
Songs from the Gond in Saugor:

D ivali:
(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 R a h i was filling water
Whose cow my enemy is this?
O h chief! Drive the cow slowly.
The parting of my hair
Is filled w ith 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.
O h Panihari, drawing water from the well,
Fill the jar and listen to my request.
Kankuvar is thirsty.
Give him a little water to drink.
W h y should I give you water?
Let your mother and sister do it.
O r your respectable wife.
W h y 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
O r here the traveller goes away thirsty.
R a h i started drawing water.
A nd O h! Kankuvar pulled the veil
T R IB A T GOD S A N D FESTIVALS IN C E N T R A L IN D IA
Sticking to her ears.
The end of the garment
T hat covered her breast
slipped off
A nd oh! her ears have since then
Become crooked.75
Bilwari:
(7)
M y odhni is lost.
My age is small.
The o dhni of Asur
W h ich was given by my lover.
Where is the bodice made?
W here is it sold?
The Asur76 bodice
W h ic h the lover brings
Is sold in every Asur market.
The lover gave me the Asur bodice
W h en my odhni was lost
W h o gave the bodice?
W h o gave the odhni}
W h o paid for it?
M y 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 .
A ll my life, oh beloved.
For the sake of the beloved
C ollirium 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.
W h o buys collirium?
W h o pays the money?
I shall give you collirium
Often and often, all my life, oh beloved.
75.
76,
i.e., she has lost her good name.

The reference to Asur is ambiguous,
D U RG A BHAGVAT
106
For the sake of my sweetheart

I chose it.
(9)
How fine the fair limbs look,
A nd how nice too
The bangles of my husbands sister.
W here arc 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.
W h o gave the bangles?
W h o paid the money?
T he beloved gave them.
M y husband paid for them.
Conclusion: The Divali in spite o its wide spread in Central

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

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Tribal Gods and Festivals in

Gradually with the political awakening, but more strongly

The clash between scriptural and popular traditions:

The place of the aboriginal problem in Indian social life:

origin is Gondid, he receives recognition from almost all the tribes

W . Crooke, Religion and Folk-lore in Northern In d ia , London, 1926, I

The Gond and

Gond children offered their worship. This myth is in keeping

V .W . Grigson, The M aria Gonds of Bastar, London, 1938, p. 194.

The control on marriage: The number of gods among the

V.W . Grigson, op. cit p. 194.

to the number 01 the gods, is vigorous in the Chanda, Godavan

Baradeo, Budhadeo or Budhal-pen, the great god.

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

now become inter-tribal gods.

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

village deities, whose worship is communal and performed by the

( 1 ) Devi or Mata, representing Mother Earth with a multitude

The Hoshangabad District Gazetteer, p. 72.

important of all Gond gods. The Gond pantheon is extremely

Central Provinces, N agpur, 18(36.

S. Hisiop, op. cit., A ppendix I iv.

16. S. Hisiop, op. cit. A ppendix ix, and A ppendix iii.

He however does not attem pt to give the meaning of the

word, and takes it as the original proper name of the god.

S. Hisiop, op. cit.

W . Crooke, op. cit., p. 437.

E. D alton, op. cit., p. 297.

S. EndleThe Kacharis, London 1 9 li, p. 38.

0(1pleased with their services, blessed them, and is still blessing

Vide V. Elwin, p. 259.

The Gazetteer of the United Provinces, M irzapur, p. 102.

S. Hisiop, op. cit. Appendix I iv.

Central Provinces, IV,

not seem to take any active part in the creation of mankind as

V. Elwin, op. cit., p. 314.

S. Hisiop, op. cit., Appendix 111.

Also Forsyth, H ighlands of

cind as we have already seen, in Mirzapur, Baghia is called his

(Elwin, op. cit., pp. 320-321).

really speaking he is not represented by any fetish. He is an

T h a t is why singreally speaking a lio n and in coloquial language

interpreted as a tiger is callcd a god and worshipped along w ith Bara-deo.

Dham karati Devi

the house only and

preserves the distinction between the worship of the local gods

The gods on the hills

tree rested.42 The offering of a white goat43 to him seems to be

In d ia , II, p. 103, D alton, op. cit p. 135.

W . Crooke, Tribes and Castes of N .W .P. & O udh, I II, p. 440.

50. D alton, op. cit pp. 184281, 283.

S, Hisiop, op. cit., Appendix I I

of worship*.56 He is also the tribal god of the Ghasia, Kharwar

E. D alton, op. cit p. 134.

58. W .H . Sleeman, Rambles and Recollections of an In d ia n Official,

Also Crooke, Folk-lore in Northern

60. S. Hisiop, op. cit A ppendix II.

in connection with her marriage. Dulha-deo on the other hand