State Tribal Welfare Department is set to document Adivasi festivals of 12 states in the country. Collecting photographs of 12 such fests the department has made a calendar which will soon be published by the Ministry of Tribal Affairs.
The Ministry asked the department to compile details and photographs of adivasi festivals two months ago. Work on the calender which will have one festival each dedicated to each of the months in 2018 is nearing completion, officials of said.
Festivals featured in the calender will include Sammakka-Sarakka jatara of Telangana, Modakondamma jatara of Andhra Pradesh, Baneshwar festival of Rajasthan, Madai of Chhattisgarh, Patkhanda of Odisha, Rottihabba of Karnataka, Divaso of Gujarat and Karam of Jharkhand. A common tribal festival of 36 tribes of Tamil Nadu will also feature in the calender.
Three festivals of tribes in North-East India, including Wangala of Meghalaya, Yemshe of Nagaland and Tawalkut of Mizoram, will feature in the calendar.
Each leaf of the calender will feature a photograph and description of the festival. The department also plans to give the dates on which each festival is celebrated. Ministry of Tribal Affairs is yet to approve the calender.
The department collected material from 15 states to finally feature 12 festivals. Tribal research institutes of 18 states were contacted for the same.
“Once the Ministry approves, it will be available for buyers in all States in India,” Director of Tribal Cultural Research and Training Institute Sarveswar Reddy said.
