Cultural Practices of Indian Indigenous Communities

India is a diverse country where people with different believes, different races, different religions, different economic background and different thoughts live together following the principle of ‘Unity in diversity'. This way of living based on unity in diversity has been very helpful for all Indians, earlier in the British rule and now in COVID-19 present scenario.

People like to sit among people who are like them, whose thoughts are similar. Thus, just because of this, several communities are formed. One such community is formed by Indian indigenous people.
Before knowing more about such communities, it is crucial to know who form indigenous communities or who are indigenous people. Indigenous people are ‘native’ or ‘aboriginal’ people, widely known as ‘tribes’ or ‘Adivasi’ in India. Such communities live in a specific ancestral land. They are not connected to the modern world, their traditions, their culture and their habits.
So, now after, we briefly knowing about some Indian indigenous communities, let us know about some cultural practices followed by them. Most of us don’t know about these practices as they are completely different from modern practice we follow. Some of these practices include:

Gond tribes: Very common in Madhya Pradesh, these tribes do not follow any as such cultural uniformity. These tribes follow folk religion and do ancestral worship. Keslapur Jathra and Madai are important festivals celebrated by these communities. In these festivals, they sacrifice goats and other animals. They are a type of hunter-gatherers and gave a forest-dwelling lifestyle and culture.

Santhal tribes: Found in the Indian state of Jharkhand and also in Bihar, these tribes follow Sarna religion. Most of these tribes grow ‘Karam’ tree outside their houses for purification. Some of these tribes also work in coal mines and work for rice cultivation.

Garo tribes: Second largest tribes found in Meghalaya; these tribes are named after Garo Hills in Meghalaya. These people have traditional names but their culture and their cultural practices are based on Christianity. ‘Wangala’ is the most popular and most important festival celebrated by them.

Thus, as said earlier, our country is unique and diverse.

Toshani Mehra 

Delhi public school, Greater Noida