Music & dance

“Within villages around Dang [Gujarat], traditional instruments and artists are waning. Cultural music and dance forms among the adivasis have evolved over centuries. Beautified by elements and nuances of their surroundings, these forms depict their very lifestyles. Played for hours together in the same tempo, music is an integral part of celebrations and mourning. […] Each instrument has a purpose and belief related to it.” – Ashleshaa Khurana in “The ailing art of adivasi music” (Times of India, 30 January 2014)
https://indiantribalheritage.org/?p=13780

Role models for members of “hill-tribes” forcibly brought down to the plains: Irulas in pursuit of higher education – Tamil Nadu

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How Tamil Nadu’s Irula students are struggling to pursue higher education | To read the full story in the New Indian Express, click here >> As [the correspondent] travels across the northern districts of Villupuram, Kallakurichi, Vellore, and Tiruvannamalai, it becomes clear that hundreds of Irula students, like Dhanalakshmi, have been struggling without a community … Read more

Member of Siddi community nominated to the Karnataka Legislative Council: A community with African ancestry – Karnataka

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Shantharam Budna Siddi, from the Siddi [Sidhi] community of Karnataka which traces its roots to Africa, has been nominated to the Karnataka Legislative Council by Governor Vajubhai Vala. This is the first time that the community will be represented in the legislature. […] According to him, the Siddi community traces its roots to Africa, somewhere … Read more

Members of the Kaani (Kani) community “guardian angels” of the Karamana river (Western Ghats) – Kerala

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Achuthsankar S. Nair | To read the full story, click here >> Unlike city residents who pollute the water, tribal communities upstream revere the river History is often the story of kings, ministers, chieftains and landlords. The story of ordinary human beings who also lived around them at the same time is very often not … Read more

Creativity based on tribal tradition, “one of the pillars of Indian culture”: Tribal sammelan at Hampi Kannada University – Karnataka

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Writer and former Vice-Chancellor of Hampi Kannada University Chandrashekhar Kambar said on Saturday that the Government should take help from sympathetic scholars belonging to tribal communities in understanding the needs and problems of tribal people. He was presiding over the inauguration of the two-day second tribal sammelan, organised by the Hampi Kannada University, District Administration … Read more

Gond dance – Madhya Pradesh

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Villagers at Sawra have decided to revive their traditional dances in an effort to preserve and showcase their rich culture. Satpuda Foundation (a wildlife conservation NGO working in central India) is encouraging this and other community initiatives. | Learn more >> From the inspiring love legends of Mandu to the formidable regality of Gwalior, from the … Read more