BHIL NAKTO

A Folkloric and Cultural Way of Obtaining Salvation for Bhil Souls

Yearning for meeting God and winning of salvation for the departed souls is an inevitable indigenous belief among the Bhils to be done after the death of the elders especially. But as the sanskritisation and modernization takes place rapidly the tribal cultural and religious beliefs and religous practices are getting diluted mostly Hinduism. In this connection one should point out, that the Bhil cultural, religious and human rights are being disturbed and damaged. Nakto, a Bhil way of winning salvation for the departed souls is being beautifully maintained by the traditional and modern Bhils. The cultural damages done to the tribals of Central and Western India are being resented silently and slowly . Such opposition is being expressed in private and a times in the public meetings towards Hindus and Christians alike. A damage, to the tribal India is being felt strongly and systematically in the present century. This sort of missionary work has largely contributed negatively in the tribal communities of India. Indian missionaries in the tribal India have overlooked this fact more than the foreign missionaries especially who came from Kerala, Manglore and Goa.

In the Nakto, the deities are appeased in a three day long religious ritual, in the large gathering of the clan(gotra / jat) members, shaving off the hairs on the heads by male members of the clan, feeding to the members of the village and clan community, singing of the family history by the Ravalias(clan bards), final farewell to the departed soul or souls before the day break, mounring by the women folk, religous and ritual offerings by the married girls of the family, token of gifts for the brothers of the family by the married girls of the same etc...

These are some of the main features of the ritual called Nakto

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