The religious festival season of the Adivasi Raj Gonds and Pardhans gets underway on Wednesday when the holy month of ‘poos’ or pushya masam starts. The month-long events will see thousands of aboriginal people traversing the hilly interiors of Adilabad and Kumram Bheem Asifabad districts visiting temples of their gods and goddesses.
This season however, will be different from any in the past centuries as it comes at a time when the tribal areas are in a state of turmoil owing to the Adivasi-Lambada divide. As the travel of the ethnic people involves passing through isolated spots in the hilly areas the pilgrimages can throw open opportunities for miscreants and trouble-mongers.
“It will be better if police secures the route and ensures safe passage for our people,” suggested Here Kumre Rama Rao, one of the eight Katoda priests of the Jangubai cave temple. The Jangubai pilgrimage is one of the two most significant religious events in the Adivasi calendar, the other being the Keslapur-Nagoba jatara.
The Jangubai pilgrimage will have the Raj Gonds and Pardhans reaching the Jangubai cave temple located on the border of Telangana with Maharashtra in Kota-Parandoli gram panchayat of Kerameri mandal of K.B. Asifabad district. There are two routes, one via Lokari in Gadiguda mandal and the other via Umri in Narnoor mandal, to gain access to the cave temple.
The Keslapur Nagoba jatara is celebrated by families of the Buiguita branch of the Mesram clan of Raj Gonds and Pardhans which also involves movement of a few thousand of ethnic people through the remote areas to the temple of their clan god Nagoba in the second week of January.
According to Adivasi customs, the pilgrims, irrespective of the distance involved, travel either on foot or in bullock carts for both the festivals. A typical caravan may consist of about 50 pilgrims and about 10 bullock carts which carry food, fodder and accommodate women and children.
If the travel involves covering over 30 km to reach the temples, the pilgrims camp for the night under trees. This makes them even more vulnerable.
