Irula communities: Spread over the three southern States with a language marked by unique features – Tamil Nadu, Karnataka & Kerala

3.10. Cultural Forms of the Irula People The life cycle rituals of the Irulas are markedly different from that of the other Hindu or Christian communities. They perform the life cycle ceremonies with the help of their women by well-established cultural patterns and do not depend on outside intervention to keep itself going. They celebrate … Read more

“You take us to be poor, but we’re not”: Proud Not Primitive, a campaign on communities that can take care of themselves

The Jarawa of the Andaman Islands enjoy a time of opulence. Their forests gives them more than they need. ANVITA ABBI, PROFESSOR OF LINGUISTICS, JAWAHARLAL NEHRU UNIVERSITY The Dongria Kondh grow over 100 crops and harvest almost 200 different wild foods, which provide them with year-round, rich nutrition even in times of drought. Over generations, … Read more

Bastar art and the Hindu-isation of the tribal myth – Chhattisgarh

Niranjan Mahawar, 75 [in 2012], is a self-taught ethnologist of Chhattisgarh. He spent almost five decades in southern Chhattisgarh to study the life and art of the Bastar tribes. […] Today, Mahawar — who was made famous in a series of interviews by the writer Dom Moraes — is considered an authoritative voice on central … Read more

Interview | Daricha Foundation traces the roots of folk and tribal arts – West Bengal

Interview with Daricha Foundation’s founder Ratnaboli Bose If one of the scenes that you remember from Satyajit Ray’s Agantuk is where Mamata Shankar serves goyna bodi to Utpal Dutt, then you could be a friend of Daricha, a one-stop knowledge portal aimed at documenting, promoting and disseminating Bengal’s folk and tribal culture. Conceived by Ratnaboli … Read more