The Jangubai Deeksha and social media are used by the Raj Gonds of Adilabad to protect and propagate their culture and traditions

Devotees shun footwear and do not eat food in hotels or eateries. They visit their holy pilgrimages within this area as well as in neighbouring states and worship their gods as per their ancient traditions

The Deeksha, started by Kumram Bhagwanth Rao Patel, is in the name of the most revered Raitad Jangubai who is believed to have helped the Gond hero Pahandi Kupar Lingo in rescuing the Gond gods from the yadi, the cave where they were imprisoned by Sri Shembu

S. Harpal Singh

ADILABAD: The month-long Jangubai Deeksha observed by the Raj Gonds of erstwhile unified Adilabad district will come to an end on January 23, its climax being the visit of the local devotees to Amarkantak in Madhya Pradesh, a famous pilgrim centre of the Adivasis in Central India. The Deeksha is now two decades old and is growing in popularity among the aboriginal people here who have used it to protect and propagate their culture and traditions via social media.

This year about 2,000 Raj Gonds, including women, have taken the Deeksha at its centre at the famous temple of the four sagas or groupings of the Gonds in Jamgaon in Jainoor mandal of Kumram Bheem Asifabad district. A 21-day-long Deeksha was also taken by many at the sub-centres in Vasantwadi near Kinwat in the Nanded district of Maharashtra and in Soyamguda of Gudihatnoor mandal in Adilabad.

During the Deeksha period which starts at the beginning of the holy ‘poos’ month of the tribals and ends with it and in ‘Bhavai’ month corresponding with May and June, the devotees shun footwear and do not eat food in hotels or eateries. They visit their holy pilgrimages within this area as well as in neighbouring states and worship their gods as per their ancient traditions.

The Deeksha, started by Kumram Bhagwanth Rao Patel, is in the name of the most revered Raitad Jangubai who is believed to have helped the Gond hero Pahandi Kupar Lingo in rescuing the Gond gods from the yadi, the cave where they were imprisoned by Sri Shembu. The yadi is believed to be the caves of Amarkantak.

“This year too we divided ourselves into groups and visited our holy places mostly the cave temples like Jangubai Mahal on the Telangana-Maharashtra border, the Kaplai and Siddikasa caves, Lingun Bhuyari at Mahur, the Sungapur avval temple and Debmala among others,” revealed Madavi Rajeshwar, a painter by profession. Other groups visited other places including Amarkantak and Narmada river origin place,” he added.

Among the devotees and pilgrims are three persons who took upon themselves the task of creating a footprint of their tours through social media including Facebook and Whatsapp. The three persons are artist Rajeshwar of Rasimetta in Jainoor mandal, Mangam Visham Rao, former assistant curator of the tribal museum at Jodeghat and belonging to Shambhuguda in Utnoor mandal and Arka Santhosh Kumar of Utnoor headquarter.

The three Raj Gond youngsters have learnt the nuances of social media and have been using these platforms for the last few years to popularise their work which includes showcasing their ancient culture and traditions. “This way it is easy to reach out to people living even in remote areas but connected with the internet in order to subject them to awareness about their own culture and traditions,” observed Mr Visham Rao.

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S Harpal Singh

Independent Journalist

Former Sr. Asst. Editor, The Hindu

ADILABAD-504001, TELANGANA

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