Change
The people of the area have their versions of worshipping the deities. The respondents told that in early days, when people depended on hunting and gathering, they found it safe to live in groups; living in groups got rid of the fear of wild-animals, but not the fear of safety during hunting, or the unseen power of nature.
Failures were attributed to the unseen power governing the nature. However, they did not settle in one place. Living in one place in the group and learning agriculture subsequently led to formation of a village. Settled life began. But fear related to failure of crops and disease haunted them. The reasons were attributed to an unknown power. So they tried to appease and worship the unknown power of the nature and all the living and non-living beings of nature. Still their suffering was not over. It dawned on them that ancestors who looked after them when they were alive would also take care of them during sufferings and bad days. This belief was based on another belief that prosperity or calamity is the result of blessings or curses of ancestors who are present only around them in non-physical form. So, they started worshipping the souls of dead ancestors.The people further believed that there are two types of spirits or souls of ancestors like the supernatural powers in nature; these are malevolent (evil) and benevolent (good) spirits. To protect against malevolent power, people worshipped benevolent powers which included both the power of nature and that of the ancestors. Gradually, the power of ancestors was given primacy as it is believed that they can also negotiate with the power of nature to a greater extent. Thus, the tradition of animism and ancestor worship combined to characterise faith and beliefs of tribes, as was reported during the field study. This emerging tradition shows a change from belief in the power of nature to belief in the power of ancestors.
The people built devgudis for the ancestors to reside, though, as they reported, prior to it, no specific place was marked for appeasement or worship of the power of the nature. It can be further argued that the beginning of ancestor worship led to a shift of the presence of supernatural power from outside to inside, for ancestors also have no accommodation in the family as has been discussed earlier.As reported, the ancestor, who established a village or was the common ancestor of a clan became the main deity of that village or clan based village. They were installed in devgudis. Later on, other important persons and relatives of the first person were installed as other main and associate deities. Those who belonged to the in-law’s side are called Tadodev and his progeny are called Mandodev. It is worth mentioning that all the souls of ancestors are not included in associate deity category; they have got a place in individual families as discussed.
The tradition continues. Even today people have been following the rules made by the ancestors. Shri Maansai Nag ( 52 years old) of vilalge Chitalanka in Dantewada says that Gaon Dei (village deity) was installed in his village as the main deity followed by Panch Pandav Dharamraj as associate deity at the devgudi complex of the village. The customs and rules made for traditional devgudi are still maintained. Entry of women is strictly prohibited in devgudi; and they cannot partake prasad there. Women's entry is prohibited because women are considered impure during the menstrual cycle. Only priests enter devgudi. The tradition of annual thatching of the roof of devgudi is still strictly maintained.
In recent years, the devgudis of the Bastar region receive funds from the Government of Chhattisgarh for infrastructural development. Community maintenance is supported by government grants. Two things have been observed. First, it is observed that sian (knowledgeable persons of the village) in some villages have accepted modernisation efforts of the devgudi complex through government funds.
Compound walls and new devgudis have been constructed and deities shifted to the new shrines. In some villages, the deities are not shifted but remain in the traditional ones. Due to development induced displacement, the deities are rehabilitated in new villages with newly created infrastructure.Shifting of deities either to the newly constructed devgudi in the original village or in rehabilitated villages has created an emotional crisis. The traditional people oppose the shift and so in some villages deities remain in old devgudis within the newly constructed compound. In rehabilitated villages, it is reported, the deity even objects to the shift. The deity conveys her/his wishes through sirah, the person whom the deity possesses. Near Gangrel dam of Dhamtari District goddess Angarmotimata refused to move to the rehabilitated place and so she is worshiped on the bank of the dam only. The deities, it can be argued, refuse to leave their natural surroundings which are absent in rehabilitated villages. The mind that visualised the deity in natural surroundings feels distressed in its shift to an unfamiliar surrounding. This is evident when the deity is believed to speak through sirah, because sirah, the deity, the natural surroundings, deity’s communication through him, etc. represent a reality which is absent in a new a place. Nature-Man-Spirit Complex as conceptualised in the context of the Maler (see Vidyarthi 1963) still captures the imagination of many villagers and religious specialists even in our modern age.
Change and continuity in the study of devgudis in the Bastar region throws some questions whose answers have not been investigated in this chapter. There is no data to prove whether the ancestor who established the village was a male and female. The village deities are observed to be female in many cases. As the tribes follow patriarchal lineage it is obvious that the ancestors were male. But how the ancestors changed to female deities in many villages remains a mystery as the respondents have no clue of it.
Was it a possibility that both matrilineal and patrilineal traditions existed in the past? There is no answer, even in the folklore of the people. But whatever, information could be gathered, it can be argued that tutelary deity of a king became popular as the main deity with local versions. This is not always the case. In western Odisha, it is reported during one field study that the tribal female deities were adopted by the kings who later became Hinduised. Male and female division of deities in tribal areas in historical perspective demands in-depth study which in fact is beyond the scope of this chapter.There is another issue that relates to deities with Sanskritised names. There are few folk tales to throw light on it. But it can be safely inferred that this is a result of the Hinduisation process (co-existence of cultures) in historical time. Moreover, the link of devgudies, deities, etc. has a Telgu dimension, for devgudi is a Telgu word for ‘temple’ in English. Obviously, tribal religion shows a cross-tribe and cross-community dimension beyond the territorial boundary of a tribe. The study of devgudis poses a number of questions whose answers can help understand objectively of its past and present.
Acknowledgements
I would like to put on record my gratitude to Shri Rajat Kumar, IAS, former Director and to Shri K.C. Devasenapathi, IAS, present Director, Census Operations, Chhattisgarh, Raipur for their kind permission for the field work in Bastar which made this chapter possible.
Notes
1 Because of language contact, pujari is commonly used in the region by both tribes and non-tribes. However, in the dialects of the Bhatra, the Halbi, the Gondi, and the Muria priest is known as pujari.
2 It is believed that Kaudo along with his female counterpart Keina, lives in all permanent water sources/bodies located in the village territory or in the forests. If there is not any permanent water source/body in a village, it means Kauda does not exist in that village.
3 The seven sisters are Mawali Devi, Maa Danteswari, Sitala mata, Hinglajin mata, Pardesini mata, Katgudin mata, and Kategudin mata. In recent years it is interpreted that Goddess Danteswari has 32 names and is worshipped in different devgudis in one or the other name. Popular among them are Danteshwari, Kotgudin, Pendrawadin, Kankalin, Pardesin, Mawali, Bijilikarin, Sitala, Jalnibudi, Dayamule, Gangadayi, Kesarpalin, Hingalajin, Dabagosin, Dulardeyi, Rewagdin, Hirmadai, Kolakaamini, Ganganadai, Paatakadai, Peeladai, Ghaasbedindai, and Semariya.
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