GAL : THE RELIGIOUS CEREMONY OF THE BHILS

The Bhils have very complex relgious ceremonies traditionally inherited. The tribal anthropology of the Bhils does not portray this beautiful and sublime aspect, since the social and cultural anthropology of the tribal India has certainly and intentionally neglected especially by the Indian universities and even what is available is based on the social and cultural prejudices not done justice to the cultural traditions of the majority of the population of India which is 80% in the country. Many tribes of India like Warlis, Santhal, Mundas, Khadia, Oraons have beautiful values, world views and the supernatural world of the tribal India significantly portray this aspect, a times better than their Hindu bretheren of the plains. Some foreign scholars of cultural anthropology have done justice to the tribal anthropology, tribal folklore and tribal history in Chhotanagpur, Gondwana, and North East. In the case of the Bhils the Vienna school of cultural anthropology has contributed significantly to the proper understanding of the tribal anthropology of the Bhils as compared to India scholars. In this case two names should be specially pointed such as of Dr. Wilhelm Koppers SVD and Leo Jungblut SVD.

The thanks giving rite of god Gal, portrays uniquely the elements of tribal anthropology with no corruption in the tribal tradition of the Bhils from other sources like Hindus, Muslim, Jain, Budhists, etc.

There is long myth prevalent in the oral literature of the Bhils of Central and Western India which describes that a Bhil named Khando Ravji was facing an irksome and difficult and almost an impossible situation, since the kind had imprisoned him. In this circumstance khando Ravji took an oath in honour of god called Gal promising that if he is freed from the prison, he would offer him a thanks giving sacrifice as it is done through Gal rite or ritual. His wish was granted. Later according to the promise made to the god Gal, Khado Ravji offered honestly the thanks giving sacrifice and popularised the ceremony of Gal Dev among the Bhils of Central and Western India.

Rita Wiesinger a cultural anthropologist from Austria has studied in details the festival of Gal in her monograph popular among the Bhils of Jhabua(MP) India . In this case the Bhils, men only take vow to the god Gal for granting them favours in the impossible situation. And when granted they fulfill the vow by climbing over to a high Machan(platform made of wood) and go round upon it in the swinging form 3-4-5- or 7 times. And while the devottee comes down from the machan, offer a sacrifice of a goat, slaying its head and smearing its blood at the foot of the Machan main pole symbolising the god Gal.Then they return home for sharing meal with their friends and relatives.The festival of Gal occurs after the burning of Holi on the fooling evening or afternoon.

The festival of Gal is exclusively of the Bhil origin popular in whole of Bhilanchal. It is an indigenous festival of India, culturally and folklorically unique to the tribal anthropology of India.

For the thanks giving rite the devotee who takes an oath to god Gal, goes to several Bhagoria markets in the Bhilanchal, dressed in white turban, red clothe rapped round his body, white dhoti round his waist, kajal in the eyes, turmeric on his body, accompanied by girls belonging to his clan singing folksongs in honour of his oath and god Gal.

This indicates that the Bhils have rich folklore, strongly religious in outlook, cultural values, sincere and selfless in their devotion, which non tribals either looked down, unaware, igrorant or did not recognise the traditions of tribal India. Certainly as the pragmatic aspect of tribal cultures, we find that the tribals in this case the Bhils have better religiosity than many of the religious traditions of India and world religions.

As such there are a few hundred spots where the thanks giving ceremony to god Gal are offered in Bhilanchal with great reverence, honour, discipline, crisis-management, honesty, self-purity, and so on. The greatest thing is to be observed is that the Bhils have managed and are managing their own social and cultural gatherings of even large numbers. Both state and Central Governments have made great damage a times to the Bhil management, Bhil Panchayats, Bhil religion, including outsiders by not recongnising, honouring, and introducing the coruupt systems from outside in the fields of social, cultural, legal areas. The gatherings of Gal and other places are the proofs of the same. Will the good govenments, social scientists, NGOs, even miisionaries ever understand that the Bhils and other tribals are more honest, honest citizens, just, in many ways......?

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THE CULTURAL PRACTICES AND FOLKLORIC OBSERVENCES OF BHIL HOLI

The festival of Holi is very popular among the Bhils of Central and Western India. It is celebrated with great care, fun, romance and variety among the members of the tribe and the Bhil folk community. As the tribal folklore is, an appropiete hour is fixed through the cultural observences to set fine to the burning of Holi. Holi is the main wood covered by a number of wood for burning at night by the village community of the Bhils. The main wood is considered to be holy or scared.

The drums are played in the evening, folksongs are sung by girls and women of the village, and some where around at mid night or later the Holi is consumed to by flames. Prior to the burning of Holi, Bhil virgins, women and men folks offer sweets and distritue part of it to the participants present, Men offer alcohol to Holi as part of thier sign and symbol of reverence and devotion.In the evening at the Holi burning sights dances are performed, folksongs are sung, drums and other musical instruments are played and much fun takes place including defamation of evil by abusing . It is at this sight the virls boys and girls break their fast too.
When the Holi is burt , villagers take back to their houses the burning wood considered to be good.

The following day, boys, girls, men and women eat, drink dance and make merry. Groups of dancers go house to house collecting fund for further enjoyment. A beautiful sight in Bhilanchal, tribal culture, cultural rights, folklore, adivasi way of life becomes alive. A sight that is socially, culturally considered to be unique by visitors from ouside of Bhilanchal and India. Should it not be allowed and encouraged to exist as it is....?

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BHOOKDYUN HAAT(HUNGERY MARKET) OF BHILANCHAL

The tribals of India have variety of folklore and cultural practices of their own, unlike their Hindu bretheren of towns and countryside. One such folkloric practice is 'fast' on the eve of burning of Holi, a festival popular among the indigenous communities of India. In fact it is a Hindu folklore but introduced by the Brahmins of India as part of sanskritisation.

In whole of tribal India especially in Bhilanchal, a severe fast is maintained prior to the burning of Holi which takes place in the evening of midnight as the selected time goes. The day or time before the burning of Holi is considered to be sacred and all the evil is to be consumed by fasting and later by burning of Holi in its flames, is the strong belief of the tribal India including of the Bhils.
The Bhil virgins especially including men and women of the Bhil community fast, visit to the markets of Bhilanchal, purchase, coconutts, sweets for the Holi offering and breaking of fast which ceremonially takes place in each one's family some time at the sunset.

This market which is not a weekly one, but that is visited on the eve of Holi burnig is named by the Bhils of Bhilanchal as 'Bhookdyun Haat' literally meaning hungery market or the day of fast in its core spirit of Holi festival. The tribals of India celebrate Holi festival in their own cultural manner or folkloric way which now being influenced by Hindu way of celebrating of the festival of Holi. The Bhookdyun haat of Jhabua this year was on 10th of March 2009. There were ample number of Holi fasters especially Bhil virgins, singing folk songs of Holi and fast, dancing on the beat of drums was clearly seen in the town . Large number of girls were seen standing in the market places at every nuke and corners singing in unison Bhili folksongs. Similar sights were reported in Petlawad, Thandla, Jobat and other parts of Bhilanchal.

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TRIBAL FOLKLORE, FOLK MEDICINES, FOLK TRADE AND INDIGENOUS HUMAN RIGHTS....?

Of late it was discovered by some of the NGOs in the district of Jhabua(MP) that the eco-friendly or natural colours marketed for Holi festival and other events was beautifully and conveniently prepared for commercial reasons from an indigenous flower called Khihodi(Kishuk Kusum) from the tree called Khankhra in Bhili language(Palash/Tesu). Till very recent times Khihodi was sold in the Bhil markets only for a through away price on 5 Rupee ( 10 penny of a USA $) a kilo. One Bhil man or a woman even if he or she works for ten hours a day, will be a able to collect maximum 2 kilos. With that they can purchase food for a small child and what about for the rest of the family members at home and also medicines for the the sich at home....? But today an indigenous NGO working in the district of Jhabua called Pragati under the leadership of a Bhil named Malhing Kattara sold or bought it for Rupee 150 per kilo thus fetching enough money to purchase much needed daily food, for for the hungrary, deprived and oppressed tribals to whom even the legitimately alloted relief funds for making available themselves food, do not reach. Most NGOs are enjoying the foreign funds coming for the tribal development and never looking into such important matters at home. They even end up their projects often saying that the tribals are not interested in their development where as the NGOs are developing themselves further depriving the indigenous communities.Only the % of deprivation of tribals by the NGOs will vary compared to the public sector persons.

Similarly there are many home grown, locally growing and small forest produce of the Bhil jungles are marketed for negligible price, or often cheated by the non tribal traders, habits of whom are now penetrating in the tribal way of social and cultural life polluting these naive and innocent peoples to oppress and manipulate their own. Items of this type are herbs and many such useful things for day today life could be easily valued for the folk medicines, folk commerce, folk human right or indigenous rights, human rights, Bhil rights in Jhabua, as inseparable part of tribal property for trading and earning income for the their community income generation. In the late eighties of the last century, Mama Baleshwar Dayal did envisage a an ambitious and indigenous tribal plan for the cheap treatment of the Bhils, income generation programme and also for retaining the tribal money in their own community as the Jain community does. But the Government of India did not value the proposal and project of Mama Baleshwar Dayal remained hidden in the dusty files of Government of India.

In every tribal district of India especially among the Warli region, Gond region, Oraon, region, etc these types of deprivations are at stake. The Bhils are being deprived and exploited thus is various hidden ways impoverishing them not only socially, commercially, politically, culturally but in small little way like this. Will there come a day, when the tribal India will see a situation where their human rights are respected by the main strea community at least in small little ways....?

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THE BHIL BHAGORIA OF JHABUA 2009

The Bhil Bhagoria a traditional feast of love and romance was celebrated with much beauty amidst the splashing of colours, dancing on beats of huge tribal made indigenous drums, enchanting of the traditional love songs, eating of pans, exchanging of gifts, swinging on the jhoolas, etc. The Bhagoria festival was held in Jhabua the district head quarter, on the 8th of March 2009.

Some three hundred Bhil dhols(drums) together with with mandals, kundis, thalis, shahnais were played with much enthusiasm to express love and romance in traditional tribal and indigenous way. Over 50 thousand Bhil youth mostly together with men and women of the Bhil folks danced on this day from morning till evening untill sun set.The whole community of Bhils wait for this day, which is the last weekly market prior to the Hindu festival of Holi.

The previous member of Lok Sabha Mr. Dileep Singh Bhuriya and the present member of the Lok Sabha Mr. Kantilal Bhuriya too participated with much joy in the celebration of Jhabua and other Bhagoria festivals together with their friends. But the participation of the VIP personalities add no glamour to the tribal way of celebration of Bhagoria. It is but a communitarian and individual way of expression love, folklore, romance and joy to refill their lost energies for which the Bhils even after migrating to some far off land return to this geographical land of the Bhils. It is but a unique celebration to mark an indigenous tribal, cultural, social events on earth which can be witnessed in the midst of these Adivasi peoples,. which cannot be desribed in few words but witnessed only ....

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THE WARLI TRIBALS

The Warli tribal’s are the one of the oldest tribal groups of Western India. Even the Govt. of India and of Maharashtra have introduced hundreds of developmental projects, the situation of Warlis of Maharashtra, like many tribal groups in other parts of India is still not better.
The Warlis of Devai in Vasai of the Thane district in Maharashtra is deplorable one. They still live by hand to mouth inspite of many developmental projects. Naresh Kovte of Vasai in this part of the country is still illiterate and poor with his other members of the tribe. Only the children of this community have begun to go to schools. He climbs on the coconut and other trees felling its fruits, besides doing all type of jobs to make his living. It is these types of people living in the vicinity of Mumbai need development and not those who are in the muti national companies.

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ANCIENT HISTORY CULTURE 7 FOLKLORE OF ADIVASI INDIA

Ancient India was the land of Indigenous / Adivasi / tribal or Deshaj peoples who in the anthropological language are called autochthons. Gradually in the course of time more powerful people encroached in their habitats and enslaved them socially, culturally, politically and religiously them in North and Central India. The well known autochthons among these peoples whose history and culture had already developed to a certain level were the Nishads, Nags, Bhils, Gonds, Santhals, Warlis, etc such indigenous groups of the country.

Today their folklore and culture is in great danger of vanishing due to the lack of recognition by the more able peoples or castes of India. One idea is being popularised that the traditional identity of these 85% peoples be conveniently vanished and that they be assimilated in the Dalits category. A historical fact or mistake that no one shall absolve them, hence it is the time to alert the persons working for the overall human and cultural rights of Adivasis, poor, marginalised and indigenous peoples, to take a note to study the ancient history, traditional culture, folklore and original identity of these 85% peoples of India.

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