Virtual tour of the Gadaba house and Bhottada tribe at Odisha State Tribal Museum

Bhubaneswar, Nov 7: The videos on Gadaba house and Bhottada community will be featured during the virtual tour of the State Tribal Museum on Sunday. Videos organized by ST&SC Development Department during Covid-19 pandemic will be available in virtual mode by opening pages in facebook and twitter @stscdev, @scstrti. The Gadaba Tribe lives in Koraput, Malkangiri, Nawarangapur districts. They speak Gutob and Ollari (Austro-Asiatic and Dravidian) language. Their major occupations are shifting and settled cultivation, forest collection, wage etc. They observed mainly 'Bandapana Parab', 'Dusserha Parab', 'Puss Parab', 'Chait Parab'. They are divided into four broad sections, such as Bado Gadaba, Parenga, Olaro and Sano Gadaba. The Gadaba built their houses in two rows facing each other with a broad gap left between them. In Gadaba villages three types of houses are found. These are Mahad Dien, the Dondul Dien and the Chhendi Dien. The first two are rectangular and the third one is circular with a conical roof. {"align":"center","id":79678,"sizeSlug":"large"} Thakurani is their supreme village deity. Thakurani is represented by a stone and is offered sacrifices by Disari. The shrine is called hundi. The Gadaba women are fond of wearing brass, aluminum and gold ornaments to adorn themselves. The women wear hand woven striped cloth called Kerang. The men wear loin cloth, the end flag hanging down in front. They are famous for their characteristic Dhemsa dance. The Gadaba prefer adult marriage and have the custom of bride price. In every Gadaba village the traditional council is headed by Naik. The headman is assisted by a Challan and a messenger called Barik. The village priest, Disari performs all religious rites. Bhottada tribes mostly live in Nawarangapur, Koraput and Malkangiri districts. The tribe is divided into two endogamous divisions called Bodo and Sano. They have a number of exogamous totemistic clans or gotras named after some animal species like tortoise, tiger, snake, monkey, dog, lizard, goat etc. The clan names are of the animal world and the animals are respected by the members of the respective clans. They worship Hindu Deities and their own pantheon includes Budhi Thakurani, Bhairabi Budhi, Pardesi, Basumati, Banadurga etc. At the village level the traditional chief is the Naik assisted by Challan, Pujari and Gonda handle the community affairs. The Bhottada craft a variety of figurines and decorative articles from rice grains and paddy to supplement their income.