The Adivasis of Adilabad never let go of a chance to seek divine protection from diseases with health being the most troublesome of their problems since ages. Even Holi revelry does not stop Gonds and Kolams from finding an answer to the concerns of their communities.
While the mainstream festival starts with Kamudu dahanam on the eve of Holi, the Gonds also light a bonfire of dried up grass. Two bamboos are fixed within the bonfire with free ends bearing a bunch of vegetables which are burnt eventually.
“We believe that the sacred ash from the bonfire will protect us from evil spirits and diseases in the season ahead,” says Patel or headman of the Gond community at Samaka village in Indervelli mandal. “To ward off evil, the sacred ash is sprinkled on every house in the village,” he adds.
“The bonfire itself symbolises burning of all that is evil,” says Korenga Yashwant Rao, an elder from the village. “The entire village gathers at the venue of the bonfire to celebrate Holi,” he reveals.
The Gonds and Kolams celebrate Holi by playing with colours at community level. The revellers dance to the music of their traditional dhol, the percussion drum, while visiting houses, but colours are sprinkled on householders only after sprinkling the sacred ash.
The group of revellers start from the house of the Patel though this house itself is sprinkled with the ash in the end. The Patel and his family join the celebrations at the end.
The tribal people do not seem to be worried about the synthetic colours used in festivities. “Natural colours from flowers like modugu are not being made any more,” he says.
