Virtual Tour of Tribal Museum: A Visual Feast to The Eyes

Bhubaneswar: Due to Corona pandemic, ST&SC Development Department has initiated virtual tour to State Tribal Museum at SCSTRTI from 1st August. The visitors can visit the Paudi Bhuyan and Pahadi Kharia by opening facebook and twitter pages @stscdev, @scstrti.

Paudi Bhuyan community mostly lives in the plateaus and hills of Sundargarh, Keonjhar, Mayurbhanj, Sambalpur and Angul districts. The Paudis speak local Odia with different accent. Their occupation includes broom stick making, mat making, basketry, litchi cultivation, tussar rearing. The Paudi Bhuyan are agriculturists, growing paddy in the valleys and participating shifting cultivation in the hill slopes.

The Paudis consider Dharam Devta as supreme being and Basukimata as supreme deity who look after people in all respects. The other deities are Boram, Birda, Pats, Galsiri and Thakurani. They also worship Hindu Gods and Goddesses. Dehuri is the sacerdotal head who perform all religious rituals. They observe Am Nua, Kath Jatra, Akhani Paridhi, Asadh etc.

The Paudis keep their houses neat and clean-plastered with cow-dung and red earth. Mostly 5 to 20 families constitute a village. The youth dormitory ‘Darbarghar’ is built at the centre of the village. Each family maintains a kitchen garden. The house is divided into three sections with the inner section being used to store grains, middle for cooking and sleeping.

Paudi Bhuyans mainly use earthen vessels, palm leaf mats and bamboo baskets. The livestock of Paudi Bhuyan consists of cow, buffalo, goat, sheep, fowl etc. The patch under shifting cultivation is known as Biringa. They grow pulses, millets also. They exchange their agricultural and forest produce for their daily necessities.

In another video the visitors can visit the Hill-Kharia. The Hill Kharia or Pahari Kharia are forest dwelling group who live mainly in Jashipur and Karanjia Blocks of Mayurbhanj district.

Claiming Visavasu Sabara, the first worshipper of Lord Jagannath, as their ancestor, the Hill Kharias are expert collectors of honey, resin and arrowroot. They depend on food gathering and hunting. They also practice cultivation. Women usually weave mats from date palm. They make leaf plate and cups for their personal use.

They regard Badam as the presiding deity of Similipal. Sal Trees are considered sacred. They worship forest and Jharia, a patch of Sal groves. They believe in Dharam (Sun God). At village level Thakurani is the main deity.