Structure of Devgudi

The sacred shrines are very small patches of woodland where the place is in the control of its own community, and its area is less than one acre. Area of the shrines depends mostly upon the land control regime under which it is located.

In community-controlled or private land, the size/area of shrines/devgudis is very small, which in some cases is as small as ten by ten meters with one or two large mature trees as the abode of the presiding deity. The ruling deity of the grove is worshipped by the community in such shrines. Socio-religious and magico-religious rituals are performed by the pujari or gayata or sirha, who is considered to be a specialist in establishing connection with the presiding deity. Mature trees are normally found around the seat of the deity.

Sacred shrines which are found in the revenue land and in the chote jhadka jungle (small bush forest) and bade jhadka jungle (big bush forest^ normally have a small area, but the shrines which are found in the land under the control of the forest department are larger in area, and even the entire locale is sometimes called sacred grove/shrine which may be of a few hundred hectares in area. But, mostly the area of a sacred place is less than one hectare and has very sparsely populated trees.

Devgudi or the village shrine, as is mentioned, is a seat of deities in a tribal village of the Bastar region. It is rarely found in tribal settlements in urban areas, but none in non-tribal settlements. The name, however, varies from region to region. The shrine is a simple hut/ enclosure made of wood, mud walls on three sides, and open in the front. This is a common sight in both interior and semi-urban Bhatra villages. Some of the gudis are made of pucca structure. It is to be mentioned that most of the pucca gudis of the Bastar district have been built from village funds without any government assistance.

In these villages the deities have been shifted from old to new buildings. In Dantewada villages the tribal people are observed preserving their traditional shrines. Though they have been provided with financial assistance to develop devgudi, the village deities are kept in the traditional way (traditional way means the gudis are situated in traditional hut, thatched with wild grass and mud walls but with a regularly maintained compound). Anthropomorphic and Zoo-Morphic curvings are found on the poles of most of the devgudis showing symbolical respect for nature and their ancestors. In Dantewada, 143 villages have been given financial assistance to develop devgudi (Collectorate, DBD, Dantewada).

A tribal dominated village is different from a tribal village. In a tribal dominated village, non-tribes (caste people) also live there. The caste people are engaged in cleaning and supplying water as and when necessary in the devgudi.

Devgudi is a symbolic representation of faith, beliefs, and practices followed by the tribes only. It brings village people together on different occasions and acts as a binding chord, and maintains social solidarity. In the tribal society, the goddess is mainly established in devgudi and the faith is that the goddess protects the people from evil spirits, diseases, and from wild animals. Actually, it is the holy spirit of their ancestors which they started worshiping in reverence to their noble deeds. This is the reason that tribal societies worship their holy souls who are formless and mere apparitions. The chief priests of devgudi are their descendants, and therefore, the worship practice continues on a hereditary basis.

The chief priest is a descendant of the ancestor whose spirit is worshipped in devgudi. His descendants, but ancestors of the contemporary priest, are worshipped in a different mode at individual houses. After death, it is a custom to bring the soul of the deceased home and keep it in a pot. It is called aana kudma (aana - soul, kudma - pot).

Aana kudma is set up in the room of the eldest brother of the house. Only people of the Muria and Gond tribes worship aana kudma. People of other tribes celebrate pitri paksha (annual fortnight of the ancestors) according to Hindu religion.

The tribals consider their deities in devgudi as living entities. They share their joys and sorrows with them. In times of sorrow, they ask their presiding deity to solve the problem.

The god/goddess interacts with the villagers and the work of establishing this contact is done by a person from the village who is called sirha (person possessed by god/goddess). Sirah is a person whom the goddess herself chooses.

There are priests to perform the puja/ritual in devgudi. These priests are assisted by gayaita/perma, the assistants take care of the cleaning, maintenance, etc. of the devgudi site. On the occasion of special festivals the people of Raut caste of the village also help in cleaning and maintenance.

There is a presiding deity along with associate deity/deities in devgudi. The number of associate deities can be more or less. A list of presiding deities and associate deities is presented in Table 21.2.

It is evident from Table 21.2 that there may be one or more associate deities of a presiding deity. Even in some shrines, the presiding deity has no associate at all as is the case with Mawali Mata of Kukdajhor village or Bhandarin Mata of Nau Munjmeta village. Further, it is observed that associate deities can be male such as Dharamraj, Bavandei, Potraj, Girel Bhimsen, Gaja Bhimsen, Mungaraj, Bhumuttel, and Parraja as is the case of associates of Gaondevi of Chitalanka. But, mostly associates are female deities.

Apart from the above deities, the Bastar region is also abode of several other deities. These deities are invited to the Bastar Dussehra (the longest festival of 75 days) by the Dussehara Committee which is held in the Jagadalpur district of Bastar during September and October (Panigrahi 2011).The Dussehara Committee has been formed under the Chairmanship of a renowned person or Member of Parliament, and members being the local MLA, District Collector and District Magistrate, Municipal Commissioner, Local Superintendent of Police, and other old experienced persons.

Special invitation is made personally by the head of the royal family to Mawli Mata (goddess) residing in Dantewada Temple, Dantewada district of Dankshin Bastar Dantewada. The deities invited by the Dussehara Committee are presented in Table 21.3.

Table 21.2 Village-wise Distribution of Deities

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S.No.	Name of Village	Name of Presiding Deity	Name of Associate Deities
1	Garawand Kalan	Pardeshin Mata	Mahamai Mata, Mawali Mata, Dwarmundiya
Madpal	Patan-Patni	No associate deities.
3	Balikanta	Mauli Mata	Pardeshin Bawadi, Telginmata, Dand Pat
4	Gamawada	Angadev	Satbahini Devi, Shitla Mata, Ana-Manda Devi, Lele Devi
5	Chitalanka	Gaondei	Dharamraj, Bavandei, Potraj, Girel Bhimsen, Gaja Bhimsen, Mungaraj, Bhumuttel, Parraja
6	Samlur	Kolakamini Devi	Bavada Dev, Hiramraj, Mera-aama Telgin, Katakolin Mata
7	Gadhbengal	Sonkunwar	Pikri Budhin Matwari Dokri
8	Kukdajhor	Mawali Mata	No Asso.
9	Nau Munjmeta	Bhandarin Mata	No Asso.

Source: Author

Table 21.3 Invited Deities during Dussehara

1	Bade Mawali	2 Bethbudi Mata	3	GadhdalaMawali
4	Bhagdei Mata	5 BhangaramDev	6	GoupariMatabahigaon
7	Bhudhi Mata	8 BidaDhurwa (Odisha)	9	HathkariMawali
10	Budhai Mai (Odisha)	11 ChandelinBudhi Mata	12	Hinglajin Mata
13	Chaurasi Mata	14 Chhedoli Mata	15	HirindiMawali
16	Chikhla Mata	17 Chikhlahin Mata	18	Jakrin Mata
19	Dal Mawali	20 ChingdoMawali	21	Jamidarni Mata
22	Danteshwari Mai	23 Dhawandavir	24	Jarhi Mata (Odisha)
25	Dulardei	26 Durpata Mata	27	KamleshwariMawali
28	Fulmati	29 PilaBabu	30	Kankalin
31	Ganga Dei (Odisha)	32 Ratai Mata	33	Karibudin
34	Hameshwari Mawali	35 Semarmudin	36	Kenwara Budin
37	Hatiyarin Mata	38 Tapesi Mata	39	Khandi Mawali
40	Hira Kunwar	41 Utraan Mawali Mata	42	KunwariMawali (Odisha)
43	Jadibudin	44 Pahadin Mawali Mata	45	Limdarin
46	Jalni Mata	47 Ranbir	48	Lohjarin Mata
49	Janmigudi Mata	50 Rewagadin Mata	51	Mata Maay
52	Kala Kunwar	53 Suraj Kunwar (Odisha)	54	Murka Mawali
55	Kana Hurra	56 Tengahu Mawalihiri (Odisha)	57	Naik Mata
58	Kari Kankalin	59 Langoor Mata	60	Pahadbani
61	Karnakotin	62 Lingo Mawali	63	Mundara Mawali (Odisha)
64	Khanda Kankalin	65 Mandra Mawali	66	Murki Mawali
67	Khokhlin Dokri Mata	68 Nawaparin Mawali

Source: Author

Along with the physical and social dimensions of the devgudis of the area, the religious sphere bears greater significance. The worship system in shrines of the region is very similar.

In some places, coconut, agarbatti, bangles, chunari, etc. are offered to the deities, but in all others, domestic fowls, goats, and even buffaloes are sacrificed in the name of deities. Naveen Kashyap (39 years old) of Garawand Kalan village of the Bastar district reported that once in a year in the month of Baisakh (Apri--May) three goats, one duck, one rooster (black colour), nine eggs, bangles, and chunri (scarf) are offered to the village deity Pardeshin Mata. Rituals are performed on every Tuesday; coconut and banana are offered on the basis of availability; otherwise only agarbati is offered to the mother deity. A goat is sacrificed on the last day of Navratri (nine nights before Dussehra observed by the Hindus).

Devgudis also have annual/monthly festivals which are celebrated in the form of jatra, mandai, mela. Mandai is the native term synonymous with jatra and mela; mandai or jatra is a group worship performed in a pargana. However, people use these terms interchangeably. On behalf of the deity of the village where the jatra is organised, the deities of nearby villages are invited and group worship is performed. This is also called mela. There are three jatras organised by the tribes of Bastar.

1. Hesang jatra: The jatra is celebrated after the harvesting of paddy. When the paddy is ripe, the people of the village wrap some paddy in leaves and hang it in the saja (Terminalia tomentosa) tree down a rope and an oath is taken to the effect of harvesting paddy properly. After a few days, another jatra, called Hasang jatra is organised to take the wrapped paddy down.

2. Kakasad jatra.· It is a jatra organised for clan deity. The jatra of clan (gotra) deity is celebrated in the month of Paush (December-January).

3. Devi jatra: This is a jatra celebrated after Kakasad jatra to conduct mass worship.

During these occasions, devotees sacrifice goats/chickens, etc. to fulfil their wishes.

21.2

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Source: Behera Maguni C. (ed.). The Routledge Handbook of Contemporary Readings on Tribe and Religions in India: Emerging Negotiations. Routledge,2024. — 502 p.. 2024

Structure of Devgudi

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