The important tribal religious-cum-cultural event, the Nagoba jatara, got underway on Sunday with hundreds of Gonds of Mesram clan flocking the vast surroundings of the Nagoba temple at Keslapur village in Adilabad district. The Gonds have assembled from Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh besides locals for a nearly week long jamboori which will have the Mesrams worship the serpent god and other gods in his symbolic presence. The Gond families which had assembled under the sacred banyan tree near the village moved into the circular Govad and in its surroundings during the day. Women performed the temple purification ceremony before the customary puja got performed at around 11 p.m.
The jatara or the fair ground looked rather open by evening as shopkeepers and businessmen arrived only towards the night. The fair is usually a big draw among the Gonds as they make purchases for the marriage season ahead.
A new addition to the event this year is the photo exhibition organised by the Utnoor Integrated Tribal Development Agency on the temple premises. Gond pilgrims were seen flocking to exhibition to see the pictures which showed events from last year's jatara.
Organisational skills
Being the most important religious-cum-cultural event of the Raj Gond tribal clan of Adilabad district, the month-long Jangubai pilgrimage which ended on Sunday and the week-long Nagoba jatara which began tonight threw up certain fascinating aspects from the life of the aboriginal tribe.
One of the striking features on display throughout the festivals is the organisational skills of Gondis which sadly seem to have been lost in other resourceful tribes. The most important part is logistics as the Raj Gonds invariably make pilgrimages in groups, on foot and bullock carts to both the events.
Their journey lasts a minimum of a week and could stretch up to a month even depending upon the distance from which they arrive at the Jangubai cave temple in Kota-Parandoli gram panchayat in Kerameri mandal or Keslapur in Indervelli mandal.
The village Mahajan leads in organising jaunts for respective group of pilgrims comprising of 10 to 15 families from the same village and the caravan which will have the same number of bullock carts or a few more. The tribal people are very astute in calculating the quantum of fodder they require for the bullocks as well as the quantum of food grains required to last them for the duration.
For centuries, the Raj Gond pilgrims have been tracing the same routes through forests and habitations and have predestined night halts near sources of water. The caravans avoid villages and rest outside in fields which do not give scope to be complacent in terms of needs.
“Nothing is out of place despite the severe handicap posed by lack of facilities,” states Kala Ratna award winner and founder of Adilabad’s Kala Ashram, Guruji Ravinder Sharma. “The community of Raj Gonds continues to be organisationally successful as it still functions as small and handy units,” added the acknowledged expert in village economy.
