INTRODUCTION:

The Sanskritisation was the route through which low castes and tribes were able to rise, over one or two generations, to a higher position in the hierarchy by adopting vegetarianism, forsaking alcohol consumption, and Hinduising their ritual and pantheon. One can agree with this description as a definition as long as it accepts that such shifts were linked to some degree of upward economic movement and as long as it is not seen as a mono-dimensional, non-interactive process. J. Troisi has written that “belief and rituals are invariant factors in all religions. Rituals are rationalized and made effective by beliefs.

It is only by considering religion as a mode of action as well as a system of beliefs that the living meaning of both rituals and beliefs becomes evident.”¹

The dominant belief system arises from the dominant majority population. Despite the fact that the indigenous belief system and their sacred places are disrespected bulldozed in the process of development. Among the Adivasis, the belief systems are based on traditional, Hindu, Christian and Islam religion. Muslims are not in substantial number, because those Adivasis who converted to Islam but they lose their tribal identity as conversion law of Islam is different than from Christian. ²Ethnography is the highest source of tools for writing history of the tribal. There are quite a good number of interesting traditions and legend connected with tribal religion. These traditions and legend vary from region to region, but majority of them are quite similar in their nature as they convey almost similar meaning. The tribal beliefs, rituals and practices are very much associated with their life, and it is difficult even to isolate or separate those from the people.

The whole religious belief system of the tribal of India may broadly be classified³ in the following way: (a) Sacred Area: The sacred geographical concept, one can apply even to tribal religion in India, with their sacred groves, sacred performance and sacred ritual. In Bastar tribal villages, one can find sacred places like big grove of sal tree (known as Deogudi), ghotul etc. These are the places of their worship and regarded as sacred places. (b) Sacred Being: Amongst the Gond people of Bastar region, their deceased ancestors are believed to be their most important sacred beings. Their clan deities and totems are also important. Among their other sacred beings Dharti Mata is worshipped by all the tribal of Bastar region. Nelharin Mata of hill marias is equivalent to Sitala Mata of Hindu pantheon. (c) Sacred Specialist: Some are regarded as mediators between common people and the almighty. Among the Bastar tribal, the sacred specialists selected for the priest posts are on a hereditary basis. The sacred specialists are pujhari, gaita, waddai, gunia, and so on.

Adopted Methods:

The data for the study was collected from six villages in four districts inhabited by Gonds in Chhattisgarh. The village samples were selected based on the majority of the tribe in various villages which the information was collected from the Tahasil office of Bastar, Jagdalpur and Dantewada. The case study method and interview technique using detailed questionnaire schedule were adopted to understand the people practices and opinion regarding tribal religion. Standard anthropological tools and techniques have been applied for collection of empirical data. The collection of qualitative information was done from respondent and obtaining information from the Gonds to understand their perception regarding the memorial stone, belief and practices and their death culture also.

Nature Worship:

The Sun god Porad, one of the great Gods in the Vedic times, is still widely worshipped by the Gonds in Chhattisgarh. We can find the symbol of the Sun God from the sculpture of their megalithic monuments from Dhilimili. The Sun is often credited with healing powers in all sorts of diseases and is responsible for rain. The Earth God Bhum is venerated as the mother of all living things and the giver of food and is regarded as a benevolent female deity. She has a name popularly known to Gonds as Dharti maet (Mother Earth). As a rule, newly married couples of the Gond tribe must sleep on the earth for the first three nights. Also, before the beginning of cultivation, they used to sacrifice animals or fruits to Dharti maet. They also worship moon (lenj) and stars (ukka) in every amabasya and purnima day. They worship numerous rivers like Dhaar in Bastar region, because it provides them water throughout the year. Some other rivers are Indravati, Wenganga and Danteswari. There are so many small and big mountains called dungri in this region and every mountain is believed to be guided by some God or Goddess. Gods and Goddesses such as Banjari Mata, Mauli Mata and others are worshipped. The most sacred trees according to them are pippal, palas, saja, karanj, sal and neem.

In this region, both tribal and non-tribal observe several rituals and festivals. Some of the festivals are performed at family level and some at community level. The tribal have a large number of deities and they believe that their deities reside in jungles, hills, lands and looming in the air. There are several temples where they have installed their deities. The deities are sometimes a piece of wood, a stone slab and a tree.

Tribal God and Goddesses:

They worship several mother deities; among them Danteswari Mata is very important. She was one of the tutelary deities of Kakatiya king of this region. The main temple is located in Dantewada town, where she stays. Her main ritual is performed during Dussera festival held in the month of Aswina (sept-oct). Mauli Mata was deity of the kakatiya kings and her temple is situated at Jagdalpur, in front of kings’ palace. She is worshipped every day in the temple and also during the Dussera festival. The temple of Kankalini Mata is situated in Jagdalpur, behind the temple of Dateswari Mata and she is believed to give protection from cholera and other such diseases. Sitala Devi is often called by people as mata who gives protection from epidemics like pox, measles and so on and her temple is in Jagdalpur. Every day, she is worshipped in her temple. When a person suffers from such type of diseases, his or her family members come to the temple with the offerings of coconut, incense stick and they bring some neem twigs which are touched on the feet of the deity by priest and is returned to them. They keep the neem twigs with the patient as a protector from all the evils. Sometimes vows are kept that after recovery they will offer the deity a red sari, some ornament and a goat. Generally, the priest of the deity belongs to the dhokra community. Mahamai Devi is regarded as one of the greatest mother cult of Bastar. In her ritual, sometimes even buffalo is sacrificed but now government has banned buffalo sacrifice. These days, goats are sacrificed. The deity is found sitting on an elephant and the legs of the elephant are tied with an iron chain. Generally, a halba or bhatra priest preside the ritual.

Hinlagin Mata is worshipped in every household. She is frequently worshipped on Tuesday and Saturday. When the deity is worshipped in households, the male heads of the family celebrate the rituals and when it is performed at village level, a priest from halba community supervises the ritual. Pardesin Mata temples are also found in the villages of Bastar region. She is worshipped in the households or collectively by the villagers. A halba priest takes charge of her puja. It is told that Banjarin Mata is brought by the banjara from Rajastan when they migrated to Bastar region. It is believed that, she guards the ghats (hills) and protects the traveler from all types of dangers especially from accident. It is believed that Karitelgin Mata is very short tempered and she quickly gets displeased, so people find it is better to avoid her. She is worshiped in households mainly by the tribal on the new moon and full moon of the month. On the full moon they offer her liquor, peas, flowers, betel leaf etc. and on the new moon the priest pricks a tip of his fingers by the spike of sedabari tree and he offers his discharged blood to the deity mixed with some sun dried rice. They believe that, if the goddess is pleased with anybody she fulfills all his/her wises and gives plenty of wealth.

Lingo Pen is one of their most important deities who are regarded as the creator of the ghotul organization. He is the ghotul deity among the muria. Anga Deo and Pat Deo are two deities related with muria. But they are also worshipped by the other tribes of the Bastar region. Both deities stay in the sirhas house, where they are worshipped on every Tuesday and Saturday. They are invited and propagated in various rituals and festivals such as marai, diwari, deogudi bazar. Deven Dokra is commonly related to Anga Deo. He is supposed to be Anga Deo’s elder brother and his habitat is in Orcha village of abhuj marh areas. His wife’s name is Karmekola Devi and he is the clan God of the muria and the maria. Gondin Deo deity is worshiped by the tribals of Bastar and is regarded as the Maria deity. She is worshiped in every household on Tuesday and Saturday and the ritual is officiated by the male head of the family. Every year during chait (March-April) they used to sacrifice a goat or a black chicken as an offering.

Bhandarin Deo, Gobar Deo and Barasar Deo are worshiped when people usually leave for hunting and for success in hunting. Gobar Jharia is worshipped before plough. There is a belief among them is that, if they do not worship him they will not be able to plough and the bullocks would run away. The seat of Barasar Deo is at the boundary of a village. Mutta Lemma, Gaman, Kora, Ganganamma and Murpu are essential deities of the dorla tribes. Murpu is similar to the Sitala Mata. They worship the deity to get safety from pox. Ganganamma is recognized with the rain God Bhimul. He is worshipped during first seed sowing in vija pandum festival. Kora and Mattalem deities are generally established at the outskirt of the village and are regarded as the protector from the evils as they do not allow evil things to enter the village. These two deities are worshipped during all the important festivals.

Table-1: Hindu Festivals Celebrated by Tribals

Sl. No	Festival Name	Local Month	English Month	Importance/for Whom
01	Mati Man Teohar	Chait	March-April	Worship earth
02	Ama Khani	Chait	March-April	House deity
03	Akteyi	Vaisakha	April-May	Paddy grain to Earth
04	Bij Putni	Vaisakha	April-May	Paddy grain to Earth
05	Bali Marai	Vaisakha	April-May	Worship varuna
06	Deo Gudi Bazar	Asada	June-July	Mother deity of the village
07	Goncha	Asada	June-July	Lord Jagannath
08	Deo Seyani	Asada	June-July	New house
09	Hariali	Srabana	July-August	Worship their ancestors
10	Panisuna	Sravana	July	Matshyakanya
11	Naukhahani	Bhadrava	August-September	Marag dhan
12	Dushera	Aswina	October-November	Village gods and goddesses
13	Marai	Pusa	January-February	For the welfare of the village

Colonial Interference:

The main aim of the colonial rulers was to conquest with a strong military thrust into resistance areas including the forest depths, the hillsides and hill tops. In the name of good governance, tribal areas were opened up and contractors, civil and military officials, traders, alcohol vendors and timber merchants entered these areas and under the Nelson's eye of the rulers forced the tribal into indebtedness, alienated lands, looted the environment and pushed the tribal into slavery, while reservation of the forests made them intruders in their own home. It is not that the tribe took the intrusion quietly. Confrontation was the quintessence of the situation in tribal areas after the rise of 'state' as a formal political and administrative authority. While the people in the rest of the country living under the aegis of the erstwhile, feudal states quickly adjusted to the rule of the 'conquerors' and found their survival spaces under the new regime, the tribal, living in relative isolation from the rest, in a political economy and system of governance that was integrally and uniquely their own, rightly saw the imposition of the formal state an act of subjugation.⁴

The attempts of the colonial rulers to subjugate them met with formidable resistance. Right from 1798 to 1947 A.D., tribes fought the British valiantly; countless tribal groups never surrendered, but forced the British to reckon with their spirit of freedom. The edge of the confrontation was somewhat blunted, no doubt, but the seeds of discord remained as a slow and crafty intrusion in their habit continued and spirit of self rule was really not honored, in spite of endless pronouncements and regulations galore. The British were forced to opt for "Leave them alone (policy of exclusion) in the North-East and light administration by the Agent of the Crown (policy of partial exclusion) elsewhere. As early as 1874, the British administration promulgated the Scheduled Districts Act in 1919 and 1921 A.D., delineated the tribal areas as scheduled areas, which were also known as backward tracts, agency areas and the like. The practices of the colonial administration were subsequently formalized in the provisions of the Government of India Act 1935, which classified these areas in two categories. The North East was considered very backward and 'wholly excluded' from the scope of normal laws. The more accessible Central Indian tracts were classified as 'partly excluded' agency areas and the Governor was vested with power to enforce or restrain any law made by the Central or Provincial Legislatures.⁵

The above Act also provided for the establishment of Tribes Advisory Councils and empowered the Governor to modify laws applicable to the hill people, particularly in (a) social matters (b) occupation of land (c) village management. However the failure of the British to schedule several tribal majority areas in 1874 was not rectified by the Presidential Order on the Scheduled Areas in 1950 A.D. To rectify this irregularity, the Parliament amended the 5^th Schedule in 1976 to allow rescheduling of tribal majority areas. The states, who was instructed to send in their proposals remained were sadly inactive. Rescheduling never took place till date. After the elections of 1937 A.D., Congress governments, while urging the scrapping of 'Excluded Areas', commissioned a series of reports on the condition of the tribes, in belated recognition of a long neglect. Christian missionaries and university anthropologists also contributed to this spurt of interest, while in Bihar a militant movement to distinguish aboriginals from Hindus was taking shape under Jaipal Singh, a tribal who had been up at Oxford at the same time as Elwin. Here were many different points of view with regard to the tribes, and many different social agendas. It was a situation that lent itself to conflict and controversy, as Elwin was to find out.⁶

Changing Scenario:

Due to industrialization, most of the tribal are working in the factory as wage laborers. They have no time to spend looking for their aboriginal religious practices. The government education policy “Sarva Sikhya Aviyan” is in full flow in the tribal area.⁷ Their belief system is in erosion. The tribal also want to come to the mainstream of the civilization. Instead of practicing aboriginal rituals they celebrate only the feasts like the Hindus. The tribal children are going for higher education to nearest areas like Jagdalpur and Raipur. The parents of the children are trying to earn more money to send their children to educational institution. Hence, they are eager to earn money and come to town in search of employment. There is the strong influence of Hinduism on the tribal culture. Due to the liberal nature of the Hindu rituals, they are starting to believe in the Hindu way of life. The religion, like culture, has everywhere been undergoing a certain degree of change through a process of acculturation. One can distinguish two major type of acculturation: (i) incorporation (ii) directed change. On the other hand, the Christian missionaries have established their churches in the dense forests and are trying to modernize them. The tribal were migrating to town in large number due to Salva Judum, the anti maoist movement.

CONCLUSION:

One can observe the structural changes in religious practice amongst the Gond. These changes are demonstrating the change of human psychology and manifestation through the different phases of history. More or less they continue to practices the aboriginal knowledge and belief towards the superstitions, which are heady constructive to presume the sense of self or soul in tribal community. For the sake of continued existence in hilly and forest environment, even today they have not forgotten to practice their indigenous knowledge, where natural resources have great role. The deep-rooted belief on the survival of supernatural power also exists to influence each and every step of their life and this belief system gives them power to reveal fight the ravage of them. Its best suited for their existence. All tribes have their own way of doing almost everything, right from childbirth, rearing, marriage, death, etc. For instance, they are aware of a variety of herbal medication as remedies for certain ailments, which are specific to every particular tribe. They hardly share such information, which could possibly be recorded for further use.

REFERENCES:

1 Troisi. J. Tribal Religion: Religious Beliefs and Practices among the Santals. New Delhi. 2000. p. 113.

2 Ramachandra Guha. Savaging the Civilized: Elwin and the Tribal Question in Late Colonial India. Economic and Political Weekly. vol. 31. No. 35. 1996. pp. 2375-88.

3 Troisi, J. Tribal Religion: Religious Beliefs and Practices among the Santals. New Delhi. 2000. p. 115.

4 Prasad, Archana. Forest and Subsistence in Colonial India: A Study of Central Provinces 1830-1940. Ph. D., Thesis submitted to Center for Historical Studies. J.N.U. 1994. p, 249.

5 A Collection of the Acts of Indian Legislature and Governor General. Available from www.lawmin.nic.in/legislative/textofcentralacts/1920.pdf.

6 Haimendorf Von Furrer, Christoph. Tribal India: The Struggle for Survival. OUP. New Delhi. 1992. p. 39.

7 Bhoi, Tirtharaj. The Status of Education Scenario of the Maoist Influence Area. In Education Scenario of Tribes of India. Edited by Dr. S. Padhi. Mangalam Pub. New Delhi. 2011. pp. 132-35.

Received on 28.01.2018 Modified on 12.02.2018

Res. J. Humanities and Social Sciences. 2018; 9(2): 427-430.

DOI: 10.5958/2321-5828.2018.00073.6