On the occasion of World Photography Day, here are a series of photographs documenting the lives of the Kayitha Lambadas. The series fetched our photographer Ch. Vijaya Bhaskar the prestigious The Humanity Photo Awards (HPA)-2017 .
The Kayitha Lambadas, also known as the Mathura Lambadas, are a tribal group numbering a few thousands. They are scattered in Gandhari, Lingampet, Bichkunda and Jukkal mandals in Telangana. They live around hills for greener pastures as they are predominantly cattle grazers.
The Kayitha Lambadas, also known as the Mathura Lambadas, are a rare tribal group numbering a few thousands.
They are scattered in Gandhari, Lingampet, Bichkunda and Jukkal mandals in Telangana.
Confined to Nizamabad and Adilabad districts they live around hills for greener pastures as they are predominantly cattle grazers.
Lambadas basically vegetarians and shun liquor. They celebrate festivals relating to Lord Krishna in a grand way as they feel as they are his descendants.
The literacy percentage among them is just 10 to 15 per cent, which is far below the literacy level of Lambadas, while the government employment is almost dismal.
They were recently inducted into the ‘Scheduled Tribe’ category, after being classified under the ‘Backward Caste’ category since the 60s.
Interestingly, there is no demographic data of this community either with tribal welfare or BC welfare department.
Among 1.89 lakh tribal population in the district as per the 2011 census the Kayitha Lambadas are hardly 4,000 in number.