Category Archives: Bastar

“The greater part of Bastar is a tilted peninsular plateau, varying in elevation between 284 and 1,200 m. […] The principal rivers of the region are Indravati and Sabari, both tributaries of the Godavari in the south, the largest of the rivers flowing from west to east in the region. Winter nights can be extremely cold and most Adivasi homes get by with a fire to sleep beside. Summer is hot, sometimes sufficiently so to cause stands of sal trees to dry up and die. […] Most agriculture is rain-fed, depending upon the south-west monsoon.” – Madhu Ramnath, Preface for Woodsmoke and Leafcups (HarperCollins India, 2015), pp. xviii
https://indiantribalheritage.org/?p=20305

“Bastar, a part of Dandakaranya inancient time, is both a district as also a division in Chhattisgarh. Till 1997, it was a single district division in Madhya Pradesh. Bastar today is a division with five districts namely Bastar, Kanker, Dantewada, Narayanpur and Bijapur Tribal population This is a heavily forested, tribal-dominated area. The entire division is a notified scheduled area.” – Uma Ram (Professor & Head Department of English, Kakatiya PG College, Chhattisgarh) in “Issues in Tribal Education in Bastar, Chhattisgarh” (Folklore Foundation, Lokaratna, Volume IV 2011)
https://indiantribalheritage.org/?p=14683

“Bastar, the land of tribes and about 70% of the total population of Bastar comprises tribals, which is 26.76% of the total tribal population of Chhattisgarh. […] The tribes of Bastar region are known for their unique and distinctive tribal culture and heritage in all over the world. Each tribal group in Bastar has their own distinct culture and enjoys their own unique traditional living styles.” – Visitors information, Chhattishgarh State Government (District-Bastar, 2017)
https://indiantribalheritage.org/?p=25751

“People are poor and are rapidly losing control of natural resources like forests that they have depended upon for generations. This exacerbates the poor status of health in that area.” – Healthcare worker Sulakshana Nandi quoted by Rajni George in “Lord of the jungle and the magic potion” (OPEN Magazine, Profile, 25 July 2014)
https://openthemagazine.com/features/india/lord-of-the-jungle-and-the-magic-potion/#all
https://indiantribalheritage.org/?p=20340

“The homeland of the Muria, Muria Gond, Hill Maria, Bison-horn Maria, Halba, Dhurwa, Bhatra and Dorla tribes, it differs from other tribal enclaves in that there were, concurrently, other diverse traditions from surrounding civilisations and those who ruled the area. For Bastar has a history as varied as that of the rest of India. […] Unlike other tribes who lived in splendid isolation, those of the Bastar region had constant interaction with the ruling powers.” – Bastar Folk Art – Shrines, Figurines And Memorials by Michel Postel and Zarine Cooper; reviewed by Nanditha Krishnan in “When tribes co-exist with kingdoms” (The Hindu, 6 February 2000) 
https://www.thehindu.com/thehindu/2000/02/06/stories/1306032k.htm
https://indiantribalheritage.org/?p=16409

“A quick survey of edible plant foods in some villages in Bastar yielded a list of more than 300 species. However, those that were regularly eaten were far fewer, many species having slipped out of traditional diets as ‘there was not enough time’'”. – Madhu Ramnath in “Within the world of food collection” (india-seminar.com, Contested Cultures, February 2018)
www.india-seminar.com/2018/702/702_madhu_ramnath.htm
https://indiantribalheritage.org/?p=24941

“[Brahma Dev Sharma] realised it was best to ask the tribals what they needed and make plans accordingly rather than thrust one’s own ideas upon them.” – Vijay Lapalikar in an obituary titled “Mahatma of the tribals”, describing B.D. Sharma’s contribution to the emancipation of the tribals, his “dogged fight against the usurpation of tribal resources by the government and private entities.” (The Indian Express, 28 December 2015)
https://indianexpress.com/article/opinion/columns/mahatma-of-the-tribals/
https://indiantribalheritage.org/?p=22132

“Bastar bronze is unique because of the casting technique and because each craftsman brought his own vision and desires to the figure unlike say, the Chola bronzes which followed an established model [Yet] their ‘living tradition’ is slowly moving to the realm of ‘folklore’.” – Cornelia Mallebrein, Guest-Curator of the exhibition titled “Street Parade of the Gods”), interviewed in “Tribal tryst” (The Telegraph, 22 July 2012)
https://indiantribalheritage.org/?p=16409