Konda Reddis of Papi Hills
- Anil Kumar Pulipati
INTRODUCTION:
The Konda Reddi are one of the most primitive tribes of Andhrapradesh. They are mainly found in the picturesque Papi hill ranges (part of Eastern Ghats) on either side of the Godavari gorge, in West Godavari and East Godavari, besides the hilly tracts of Khammam district. They are also found scattered in the districts of Vishakhapatnam and Warangal of Andhrapradesh. About 95% of Konda Reddi in Andhrapradesh are concentrated in East Godavari, West Godavari and Khammam districts.
On the basis of physical features the Konda Reddi habitat can be divided into three distinct zones: (1) the hill settlements, (2) the riverside settlements, and (3) the settlements of the lower Agency Tract and plains. The hill settlements, as the name suggests, are mainly in mountainous country, and even to this day a large number of these settlements are inaccessible by road. Only during the last ten years have the Konda Reddi of these settlements come in contact with the outside world, mainly due to the penetration of the agents of paper mills, who are organizing the extraction of bamboos as raw material for their factories. For all practical purposes the normal administrative machinery of government was absent in the past, except for the activities of forest guards. Contact with the outside world is only peripheral, and the Reddis of these settlements have remained foodgatherers and shifting-cultivators.
Riverside settlements are situated on both banks of the Godavari. They are found between the confluence of the Sabari and the Godavari at Kunavaram and in the area around Devipatnam. The Reddis of these settlements are plough cultivators, tilling the narrow strips of alluvial, flat lands found between the hills and the riverbank. Because of the communications afforded by the river traffic, these settlements have for long been in contact with the outside world, and this contact with non-tribal populations increased with the introduction of motorboats in the late 1920s.
The third zone, the smallest of the three in terms of population and number of settlements, consists of the lower agency of East Godavari District and the scattered settlements of Reddis in the plains adjoining the hills in West Godavari and Khammam districts. These settlements came in touch with outsiders much earlier than the hill settlements, and these contacts have increased in the last two decades due to the migration of non-tribal into tribal areas. The Reddis of these settlements cultivate flat land with ploughs, like the Reddis of the riverside settlements.
Etymologically, Konda means hill and Reddi means headman in Telugu. They call themselves Pandava Reddi after the five pandava brothers, the great heroes of the epic Mahabharata, from which they trace their descent. They number 83,096 as per 2001 census.
In the past, the Konda Reddi have mainly depended on shifting cultivation. According to Haeimendorf (1945) they are still at the Neolithic stage with pre-agricultural techniques. After India’s independence, the National forest policy has restricted shifting cultivation to certain gradients of hills. At present, a majority of Konda Reddis are settled cultivators and agricultural labourers. The absence of road communication resulted in the isolation of the area from plain for a long time.
The Konda Reddi habitat is characterized by hilly tracks and cleared forest areas of the Eastern Ghats. Konda Reddi, a Dravidian group of people do not know their historic or ethnographic account. They speak a dialect of Telugu unlike other tribes in the Eastern Ghats.
Konda Reddi occupy more remote and mountainous areas and are characterized by small close-knit communities. Most of them live in multi-ethnic villages, where there is very little social stratification. In the foothill areas, they live in symbiosis with another tribe called the Koya. But their area of habitation is clearly demarcated whoever they live with. Their houses are situated separately from the Koya houses as they consider the Koya a little inferior in social status.
Till 80’s there was no transportation facility or roads and only in the recent decades, due to development of road transport, implementation of tribal development schemes, schools and government offices were established. Several plains people migrated to agency tracts for business, employment and other means. Then, local tribals came into contact with non-tribal people bringing some socio-cultural change among Konda Reddi. Non-tribal contact can be considered as one of the important determinant of change in the cultural, social and economic life of Konda Reddi. Here, the term social is referred to mean network of social relations, roles and interaction of people in a society. While culture applies to the artifacts, mentifacts, institutions, values, ideas, technology and other symbolic systems that direct the human behavior in the patterned society of Konda Reddi.
Culture change is the process by which the existing order of the society is transformed from one type into another. The change occurs due to endogamous independent inventions, conflicts and reconciliations between incompatible points within the system. Firth (1951) states that interaction with other cultures introduce exogamous change. Outsiders, accidentally or spontaneously communicate new ideas resulting in the diffusion of selected ideas. Structural change occurs if new procedures alter or influence the basic relationship between the members of the society. Usually, change is brought first in technology, economy and slowly in non-material objects. The primitive tribal societies like Konda Reddi are relatively stable and integrated. However, they may disintegrate followed by reintegration in the process of social evolution by the disappearance of simple system in favour of complex system.
Malinowski (1954) in his book ‘The Dynamics of Culture Change’ clearly explained the impact of contact on culture. Srinivas (1972) discussed the process of cultural change in India and introduced the concept of Sankritization referring to the process of adoption of customs, rituals and ideology of higher castes by the lower ones. Redfield used the concept of ‘Great and Little Traditions’ in the study of great traditional elements (Parochialization) and upward movement of little traditional elements (Universalization) occur due to interaction of cultures.
In the present ethnographic study of Konda Reddi change in cultural practices and organizational setup is definitely observed in Konda Reddi society and the impact is more on people living in Kondrukota, Vadapalli, Mulagalagudem, Tekuru, Chiduru, Koruturu and Tellavaram villages than Udathapalli, Sarugudu and Metthavaram villages of Polavaram mandal due to more exposure and contact with alien culture in the former villages.
AREA AND CLIMATE:
The habitat is both hilly terrain and river plain. The average altitude of hilly terrain is around 800 ft above mean sea level. Climate is temperate to warm, low humidity, thin to medium forest cover and medium to above mean rainfall. The plain Konda Reddi live in close proximity to river Godavari. During rainy season villages near the banks of Godavari are flooded with the waters of this mighty river. The climate where Konda Reddi are living has its influence on the food habits, dressing, housing and cropping pattern. Climate plays a very significant role in the lives of Konda Reddi. Whenever there are changes in climate i.e., scanty rainfall or heavy rainfall it would directly affect the economy of the Konda Reddi due to low agricultural yield.
SUB-DIVISIONS:
The Konda Reddis are divided into three divisions viz., Pandava Reddi, Raja Reddi and Suryavamsa Reddi. Majority of the Pandava Reddi are living along the stretches of Godavari river. Though three divisions are reported to exist among Konda Reddi, they are all separate endogamous groups. The Pandava Reddi claim that they are superior to other divisions. In these divisions Raja Reddi and Suryavamsa Reddi are outnumbered by Pandava Reddi. Pandava Reddi are mostly concentrated in East and West Godavari districts of Andhrapradesh. The most frequently observed clans (gotram) among the Konda Reddi are Ganga gotram and Pasupuleti gotram. The social organization of the Konda Reddi is based on exogamous surnames (intiperlu). Each Konda Reddi family has a surname and follows strict exogamy at surname level. Some of the surnames of Konda Reddi are Chintala, Ketchala, Sankuru, Kulla, Vetla, kondla, Valla, Araganta, Kopala, Pamileti etc., The surnames are associated to patri-clan .
RELATION WITH OTHER TRIBES:
Due to contact with Hindu culture and heterogeneous village structure, the concept of social hierarchy among tribes emerged gradually. The Konda Reddi perceive that they are superior to other tribes. In East Godavari and West Godavari district Konda Reddi are living in symbiosis with another tribe called Koya and other migrant occupational castes like fisherman, potters etc., in addition to scheduled castes.
Even though Konda Reddi claim the higher position in social hierarchy, they do not enjoy the political, social superiority in the villages where they are outnumbered by Koya. Konda Reddi accept uncooked raw food such as fruits, vegetables etc., from the hierarchically inferior Koya but they do not accept cooked food and water from the Koya. In marriage ceremonies and feasts conducted by Koya, Konda Reddi do not eat food unless the food was cooked by Konda Reddi indicating that there are no commensal relations between Konda Reddi and Koya. However in certain larger and developed villages, commensal relations are gradually ignored and Konda Reddi as well as other tribes are not very particular in their commensal relationship. The co-existence of multiple tribal groups in the area has given rise to a broad cultural mosaic with a social, linguistic, occupational and cultural diversity.
LANGUAGE:
Telugu is the mother tongue of the Konda Reddi, which they speak with an unique accent. Every tribe has its own dialect/language to speak, but the Konda Reddi speak pure/chaste Telugu.
VILLAGE AND HOUSE:
The villages where Konda Reddi live are usually at the foothills by the side of river Godavari and on the hill slopes or top of the hill. The villages are relatively small with ten to hundred families. Few villages are homogenous, exclusively inhabited by Konda Reddi and some are heterogenous with other tribe (exclusively Koya tribe) and occupational caste people living together. The streets are demarcated and only specific tribesmen live in it and there was no conglomeration of houses belonging to different tribes in any villages. Of late, in some villages families from Koya tribe as well as other castes live side by side, which is a recent phenomenon.
A Typical Konda Reddi Village
A typical house is square or rectangular single room with mud plastered walls supported with bamboos. The roof is thatched and covered by locally available palm leaves. All other supporting structure is made of bamboo, collected from adjacent forest. The roof slopes down to all four sides. Usually the roof is further extended on one side of house to form a small verandah. The room has no windows except one entrance door. It appears that the low roofs without any ventilation are for protecting themselves from cold winds during winter season and to avoid damage to mud walls due to rains. They cook food outside the house i.e., in verandah. They divide the verandah into two portions and use corner place for cooking and other portion to accommodate/entertain guests. Some Konda Reddi houses have separate kitchen away from the main house. They decorate walls by applying red coloured mud and they also apply cow dung on floors and on mud walls to keep house clean. They believe that this type of arrangement keeps the insects, terminates, flies etc., away from the house.
In some villages, the NGOs with the help of charity or government have constructed double room concrete houses with windows for ventilation and lot of open space, as colonies under the supervision of VRO (Village Reconstruction Organisation) with foreign aid. Majority of villages have safe drinking water facilities i.e., bore wells, community water tanks etc., Even the most remote village called Udathapalli, on the top of Papi hills is with the provision of drinking water(bore well). But the Konda Reddi who live along the banks of river Godavari prefer river water rather than bore well water for drinking purpose. They use bore well water for other household purposes. But during rainy season, while the Godavari river flooded with mud water they use bore well water for drinking purpose.
Except for the villages located on the hill tops, the villages along the foot of the hills and river Godavari are well connected with the all weathered metal and cement roadways. Some villages on the hills could be reached only by foot trails. Apart from roadways they also use river Godavari as waterway. They use country boats and steam boats to reach some villages along the Godavari river bank.
Konda Reddi follow a unique habit of construction of cattle pens. Every Konda Reddi village has separate cattle pens. They maintain cattle pens outside the village or away from the houses at village level/community level/family level/street level. This shows their interest towards cleanliness and hygiene. They lack toilet facilities. Even though some Konda Reddi houses have toilets they prefer open defecation.
DRESS PATTERN:
The Konda Reddi woman’s dress consists generally of a sari, a small loin cloth and in some areas also a bodice. In the hills, the women wear short and narrow pieces of saris which they wrap round the hips. In the plains, the women conform more to the style of dress common among the telugu cultivating communities.
Most of the Konda Reddi men wear a loin cloth (gochi), i.e., a narrow strip of cloth drawn in between the legs and looped over a twined cord made of Adda fibre ( bauhinia vahili) is wound several times round the waist forming the waistband. Into this waistband, a knife or bill-hook, handle upwards and blade against the skin is tucked. In chill weather, they wrap plain cotton cloth round the shoulders, and some men possess turbans. Dhoti, pants and shirt have now become common with some of the Konda Reddi youth.
Women wear ear rings at more than one place i.e., ear lobes and helix. Women also wear coloured glass or artificial bangles, anklets and necklets made of silver, brass or aluminium which they buy from regular weekly shandies. Married women wear toe rings on second toes. However, few old men wearing ear rings on lobes also are observed.
FOOD HABITS:
They are non-vegetarians and eat fish, fowl, pork, goat, forest animals (wild boar, wild sheep, rabbit etc.,) and birds, but they strictly avoid beef meat. They also consume tubers of potato like savadi dhumpa, donda dhumpa, adavi dhumpa etc., Bamboo shoots are powdered and cooked as curry. They also use the powder of bamboo shoots as an add on flavour in curries. Wild mushroom gravy is the delicacy of Konda Reddi.
The staple food is rice, jowar and millets. A change in their food habits is observed. They used to consume millets in the past, but now they take rice due to subsidized supply of rice through public distribution system. They also consume varieties of pulses, green leaves, edible wild fruits, roots/tubers etc., In the last fifteen years major shifts in dietary habits have taken place, and now Reddis rarely dig for wild tubers. For all practical purposes, they have given up eating wild roots, caryota pith, and mango kernels.
Usually breakfast includes gruel made of millets or left over rice of earlier night, while lunch contains rice and curries. During night they prefer more rice with curries and little amount of gruel. Consumption of dairy products is marginal. They drink country liquor and bottled alcohol. They are fond of fermented juice (Kallu) extracted from borasus palm, sago palm, phoenix palm etc., Men, women and children take alcoholic drinks. Men and women smoke tobacco and chew loose tobacco.
HOUSEHOLD UTENSILS AND AGRICULTURAL IMPLEMENTS:
Konda Reddi use a dried shell of bottle gourd to draw water from the pot and also to carry drinking water to fields. They also use this dried shell to collect juice from palm trees. Earthen pots are used to store water. Nowadays, metallic utensils made up of aluminium, copper, bronze are also used to store water and cook food.
They use sickle (kodavali) and axe (goddali) for cutting grass and wood, and big knives to cut the bamboo. They also use sickle shaped tholika for removing weeds and plough in daily agricultural activities. For hunting Konda Reddi use bow and arrow (baanam,villu). Other important implements used by Konda Reddi include shovel, digging stick, spade, crowbar etc.,
Apart from traditional implements Konda Reddi also use mechanical tractors to plough the soil and guns in hunting, to hunt wild boar, wild sheep, bison etc.,
FAMILY:
Family is a primary social group, universally recognized to be basis of all human endeavour and activities. The concept of family has been found to exist since time immemorial and at all the levels of culture. In Konda Reddi society father is the head of the family. Descent is patrilineal or agnatic descent. Inheritance of property is also through father line.
The rule of residence is patrilocal. However, when a man acquires his mate through marriage by service (illitam), the son-in-law agrees to stay either forever or for a fixed period in his father-in-law’s house after marriage looking after his assets. Usually, this practice is confined to families having no male children.
Traditionally, joint families were common, but nowadays the nuclear families are predominant among the Konda Reddi. Neolocal residence is common after marriage. All sons share the father’s property equally i.e., male equigeniture. If a man dies without a male heir, his property goes to his brothers or their sons. The daughters do not have any right to inherit the parental property.
Monogamy is a rule but polygyny is also observed occasionally. So one can notice polygynous family along with monogamous families in the Konda Reddi societies.
The father or eldest male member enjoys the authority. Full authority vests in the hands of male. Women have no decision-making power, but she is consulted by men while taking certain important decisions. Every decision regarding household either it is economical, social, religious or ceremonial, the decision making power is vested with man. Even though women contribute to family income they have little or no control over family expenditure. Thus decisions regarding family affairs are taken by father or eldest male member of the family in consultation with family members.
Though the family, as an institution is permanent and universal in all human societies, it has undergone certain changes within itself as an association. Thus, compositional and structural changes sometimes take place within a family organization. The modern type of family found among Konda Reddi, is a typical example of this kind of change. The traditional joint family has changed over to the small joint family or nuclear family in the recent decades of this century, but this change has been basically structural. The functions of the family, however, have not been much disturbed in spite of the structural changes in the family. Under the impact of acculturation and increase in contact with caste population and other processes of change, the concept of family has undergone drastic transformations not only in Konda Reddi but all over the tribes of India. But in spite of the changes in the form and structure of the family, family as an institution continues in one way or the other.
KINSHIP:
Konda Reddi have both affinal and consanguineal relationships. Kinship relations among Konda Reddi are broad based and hence it is called broad range kinship. Cognates are traced in male line and referred to as agnates.
The Konda Reddis maintain cordial relations with their kins and use specific terms to refer the relationship between the individuals and address them accordingly. There are differences between the addressing of people, younger and elder to the person involved. The Konda Reddis kinship terms are same or similar to those used by telugu caste communities.
They use the terms peddha, nadipi and chinna as a prefix to address the eldest, middle or intermediate and youngest person respectively, while addressing their parent’s brother or sister or other kinds depending on the birth order of referred individual.
Radcliff brown (1952) was of the opinion that the unit of structure from which a kinship system is built up is the group called ‘elementary family’, ‘consisting of a man and his wife and their child or children, whether they are living together or not’. Within the elementary family he saw three kinds of relationship, that between parent and child, that between children of the same parents (siblings) and that between husband and wife as parents of the same child or children.
In this perspective, Konda Reddi society can be viewed as an ensemble of elementary family units. The Konda Reddi family is a social unit comprising of the immediate kinsfolk like mother, father and children. Demographic and ecological factors have their role in shaping of the Konda Reddi society as every member in the Konda Reddi society is directly or indirectly linked to each other in the social network. Institutionalized relations within the social web are reflected in their kinship terminology.
Some of the usages, which have social sanction and convention are considered necessary for keeping order and decorum in society. Those usages which are related to behaviours between kin relations are called as kinship behavior. In the society, there are different types of families and various degrees of kin groups that exhibit different types of behavior by cutting joke with each other or perform avoidance relationship, and such usages, verbal or non-verbal, constitute kinship behaviour, some of kinship behaviour which is universal in many societies such as avoidance and joking relationship is also found in Konda Reddi.
Konda Reddi observe avoidance relation towards daughter-in-law, mother-in-law, father-in-law, younger brother’s wife etc., and clear cut distance is maintained between younger sister-in-law and elder brother-in-law (husband’s elder brother) and elder brother-in-law and younger sister-in-law (wife’s younger sister). Similarly, avoidance is observed between son-in-law and his mother-in-law.
An extreme degree of familiarity expressed through joking relationship between certain kin relations by way of cracking a satire, taunt, exchange of abuse, obscene and vulgar references to sex, etc. Konda Reddi observe joking relationship between consanguineal groups such as grand children and grand parents, younger brother-in-law and elder sister-in-law (elder brother’s wife) and, wife and husband. A joking relationship, when not reciprocal, exercises a social control as it exercises correction through ridicule. Radcliffe brown regards the joking relationship as having a symbolic meaning. Joking relations may be only a kind of friendliness expressed by a show of hostility.
In Konda Reddi kinship can be based on unilateral descent i.e., to patrilineal. The Konda Reddis may have found that in the male, work solidarity is more important for them. This is, clearly seen in their control of allocation of goods and their role in offence and defense, that are most critical to the maintenance and protection of their ways of life. This seems to be directly reflected in the high incidence of the virilocal residence rule which, ultimately produces the patrilocal family among Konda Reddi.
Konda Reddi have extensive kinship networks. They have kins in more than five villages. The kinship relations between villages are established through affinal relations i.e., marriage links. Marriage plays a very important role in kinship networks of Konda Reddi. Some Konda Reddi families in several villages such as Mulagalagudem, Koruturu, Cheeduru etc., have kins in more than ten villages.
MARRIAGE:
Marriage, a publicly recognized and culturally sanctioned union between a male and female, which is intended to be enduring, to give primary (but not necessarily exclusive) sexual rights in each other to the couple, and to fulfill further social functions.
The Konda Reddi follow strict endogamy at community level. One do not marry outside the community. The community endogamy is commonly approved and sanctioned by the Konda Reddi society, the breach of which is considered the breach of law. The sanctions may range from excommunication from tribe or from village, if the village is homogenous Konda Reddi village. The tribal council or tribal head impose sanctions and order tribesmen not to talk, exchange things, maintain relations etc., with the excommunicators, breach of which face several sanctions.
In marriage, endogamy is allowed at village and community level but not at lineage/gotra/surname level. Exogamy is allowed at village level, gotra level, clan level and surname level but exogamy is strictly restricted at community level. Any breach of the above marriage rules may lead to sanctions by society head.
Serial monogamy is practiced by Konda Reddi and limit themselves to one wife at a place. In case of divorce or death of wife, a Konda Reddi marries again and again, and remains to be monogamous. Polygyny exists in two specialized variations, sororal polygyny and non-sororal polygyny. In sororal polygyny the multiple wives of Konda Reddi are sisters. In non-sororal polygyny the multiple wives of a Konda Reddi are not sisters.
In the sororal polygyny form of marriage the wife of Konda Reddi encourages him to marry her sister(s) in order to avoid the division of parental property. This arrangement is to avoid unnecessary clashes between sisters regarding the property. But this happens only when all the siblings are females without a single male to inherit the property. But this is not the universal case in Konda Reddi society. Consanguineous marriages between parallel cousins i.e., among brothers children or among sisters children are prohibited. Cross cousin marriages (FSD and MBD) are more common and occasionally maternal uncle-niece marriages are also observed. Sororate is socially approved in Konda Reddi society. Levirate is in vogue.
The preferencial method of acquiring a mate among the Konda Reddi is by negotiation which involves long procedure depending upon the talks of either party. The boy’s parents put forward the proposal and start negotiations. After the successful negotiation, marriage is usually performed in the house of the bridegroom. The other methods of acquiring mate among the Konda Reddi are by capture, mutual love and elopement and by exchange. Except for marriage by negotiation, for other methods there seems no ceremonial attachment.
Marriage by capture is quite common in Konda Reddi society. The women whom the Konda Reddi captured by force from other village is called thepalle. There seems inter village clashes in the case of marriage by capture. Then the heads of two villages meet and solve the problem through negotiations. Till then one cannot marry thepalle. After successful resolution between two villages then one can marry thepalle. Sometimes negotiations may subject to fail.
There exists both bride-price and dowry in Konda Reddi society. Bride-price i.e., oli is paid to the parents of the bride. Bride-price may be in terms of cash and kind. But nowadays due to constant interaction with caste people and cultural change, dowry become common and overrides the traditional bride-price concept. Dowry is in both cash and kind. Cultivable land cattle include major part in the list of dowry in kind. In several cases neither bride-price nor dowry is noticed.
Child marriages are not observed. Usually leader of a village or a relatively rich and land owning man marries more than one girl. Generally the first wife is choosen and formally married by the man while the second and other wives are the sisters of the first wife or those whom he eloped. Thus unlike first marriage, second marriage and third marriage requires no ceremonial activity or attachment.
LIFE CYCLE CEREMONIES:
PREGNANCY –
There is no specific pre-delivery ritual in Konda Reddi. The pregnant woman continues with her ordinary work almost till the sixth month. From sixth month she will be given rest. She has very few privileges or duties during the months of pregnancy. The pregnant lady is not allowed to go out of the house or move on the day of solar or lunar eclipse. She is supposed to observe some simple rules of diet; she should avoid mangoes, papaya, the jack fruit which might make the child dribble. Later on, the brinjal, which will give it itch.
DELIVERY –
The Konda Reddi conduct delivery at home. As soon as a child is born, the woman in attendance called dhayi cuts the umbilical cord, either with a knife or a sharpened bamboo. Only on the next morning, she washes the child with warm water, rub the child with oil and dry the child before the fire.
The mother and baby are given bath every day but confined to their house till umbilical cord falls, which is usually till tenth day. Two or three days after confinement, a woman is given the bark of the jalbu tree to chew which is believed to prevent fever or pain. At the end of the period of impurity, whether it has lasted four or five days, a domestic ceremony is performed; first the mother replasters the floor of the house with cow dung, bathes in a stream, washes her clothes and then cooks food for the first time after the confinement.
NAMING –
An important in the development of a Konda Reddi couple towards complete domesticity is the giving of a name to their child. This is done sometimes on the very day of birth, sometimes after five days, sometimes when the umbilical stump falls off. The date depends on economic rather than ceremonial considerations depending on availability of rice/maize, supply of beer or wine at hand, a fowl or pig and some cash for organizing a feast.
The actual business of naming is done by a maternal relative, the mother’s brother or sister and her brother’s son or daughter usually takes part. Actually the names include of dead ancestors, gods and goddess. For male children they use the suffix Reddi and there is no suffix for female children. Nowadays there is a lot of change in naming, due to the process of acculturation. Of late the young couples name their children with modern names especially those of film stars. Even though the young couples are happy with the names, the old generation people who are still following the traditions are in a state of confusion and dilemma, and they are feeling sad that the names of the newly born are not of their ancestors. The old people expressed problems in calling and remembering the names.
There is no thread wearing and circumcision among Konda Reddis but mundane (removal of hair) ceremony for both male and female is performed at home during third year after the child’s birth.
PUBERTY –
After attaining first menarche, girl is confined in a separate hut called samartha gudise. She has to sleep and sit on palm leaves brought by her maternal uncle. He has to bring seven palm leaves (thatiakulu) representing seven days in a week. She is not allowed to touch utensils and has to eat only boiled ragi in a leaf plate. Gents are not allowed into samartha gudise. Girls are allowed into hut but they are not allowed to touch the girl. Konda Reddis strictly observe the pollution.
On the seventh or ninth day she throws away leaf plates used for taking food during the pollution period in the stream, takes bath and offers gifts and prays the village deity. Her maternal uncle presents new clothes and priest sprinkles turmeric water on the girl to remove pollution. After the purificatory bath, the hut is burnt.
MARRIAGE –
Among the Konda Reddi, there seems to be little ceremonial attachment to the marriage negotiations. Usually marriage takes place at bridegroom’s house. Initially the boy along with parents and village elders go to girl’s house and propose the match and negotiate bride-price or dowry with her parents. If the girl’s parents accept the proposal they fix another day for formal engagement. If girl’s parents reject the proposal then the bridegroom’s or boy’s parents return to their home without taking any meal at girl’s house. On the day of formal engagement, boy’s parents and elders visit girl’s house and present few litres of liquor and new clothes to girl. The elders of girl’s village assemble and the decision is informed to everyone in the village.
On the day of marriage, the bride’s party arrives at the groom’s house and after greeting the inmates and having their feet washed; they sit down over a pipe of tobacco. As a rule, the bridegroom’s party presents the girl’s parents with some beads, turmeric and vermilion. The barber trims finger and toe nails of the bridal couple, anoints their hair after cold water has been poured over the couple. Priest/barber fills their hands with grain, which they throw at each other. Boy then takes the pusthe (a small gold or silver locket, strung on a saffron coloured thread) and ties it around the neck of the bride. After the tying of the pusthe, the couple is considered husband and wife. Early next morning, the bridegroom and bride are given a ceremonial bath.
On that night groom’s party provide a non-vegetarian dinner to all relatives and tribesmen in the village and serve liquor also. All of them drink and dance to the tune of drums till late night. Then, bride and groom are sent into the house for a formal nuptial ceremony. Usually, the marriage ceremony is conducted by a priest from the local telugu caste people. Nowadays they arrange drums and in few cases hired music party is arranged during marriage ceremony. This change is brought due to culture-contact or acculturation.
But this is a very elaborate process and only few Konda Reddi people who are economically sound afford this. In the remote villages (villages on hill tops) the marriage ceremony is not elaborate and conducted by a barber or by a washer man, because priests refuse to walk long stretches of hilly terrain.
DIVORCE –
Divorce is permitted and either wife or husband can demand divorce. The causes for divorce are maladjustment between wife and husband, elopement of wife with some other person, suspected adultery and impotency or barrenness of wife. Usually the elders of the village or headman of the tribe solve problems such as divorce, theft, rape, elopement etc., In case of divorce children are liability of father.
Usually, divorce or separation is announced by headman after approval of elders. Initially headman tries to resolve the quarrels between wife and husband, and asks them to live together for six months to one year, to resolve their disputes. Even then if the couple incest for divorce, the headman announces their separation. There is no concept of compensation after divorce in Konda Reddi society.
Widow, widower and divorcee remarriage is permitted and one can remarry any number of times. It is observed in several cases that two or three sisters are married to same man. Of late, due to contact with non-tribal the practice of polygyny and child marriages are declining. An increase in divorce rate with judicial approval is also observed.
DEATH –
Konda Reddis observe pollution for three to nine days after death of an individual in a family and do not go to other villages during this period. Usually, the dead are buried and in few cases cremation is observed. They carry corpse on a stretcher made of bamboo poles and all relatives participate in death ceremony. Women also participate in the funeral at the burial ground.
The eldest son of the deceased throws the first clod of earth into the grave and when it has been filled up, some millet (sama) is scattered over the top. Four or five days afterwards, a little food is brought to the place by the relatives and hastily thrown away. Three weeks later, the final rights are performed and the funeral feast is hosted. The vejju (magico-religious priest) will conduct the death rituals. The vejju sits and speaks to the spirit of the dead asking the cause of the death. Afterwards, the women of the deceased family take the food to the jungle and place it under a large pala tree.
Old people and those who attained natural death are cremated while children, pregnant women and those died due to chronic diseases and infections are buried. For deaths occurring due to animal bite, accident or infectious diseases, death rituals are not followed.
Konda Reddi believe in the immortality of soul and it leaves the body only after it is offered food on ninth day. Eating non-vegetarian food during pollution period is forbidden, widow would not dress her hair and family do not celebrate any festival.
It is not compulsory to host the feast. Rich people host the feast to relatives and villagers on tenth day but others who cannot afford can host the feast whenever they accumulate sufficient resources. Two or more people who have not hosted the feasts on their kins death may combinely host a feast, later as per convenience. The date depends on economic rather than ceremonial considerations such as availability of rice, millets, liquor, pig etc., Nowadays as the ceremonies are becoming expensive some of the practices are curtailed or limited and simplicity is observed in rituals.
ECONOMY:
Agriculture, especially podu or shifting cultivation is the mainstay of the Konda Reddi. Settled cultivation is mainly practiced by those living along the foothill areas of Papi hills or near the plains of river Godavari. Hunting and gathering, forest labour, collection and sale of minor forest produce are other important sources of livelihood. Many of them are engaged in weaving bamboo baskets and making ropes which are sold in weekly markets as supplementary income sources.
Their economy is still largely subsistence oriented and production is for self-consumption rather than for the market. Their method of agriculture is known as podu (slash and burn or swidden cultivation), which is supplemented by hunting and gathering. The technology is still simpler, as swiddening does not need any sophisticated technological input. In villages with plain land, the Konda Reddi practice non-irrigated settled agriculture.
Settled Fields near the foot hills of Papi ranges
The major crops raised by Konda Reddi are paddy, maize, tubers; millets like panicum miliare (samalu), setaria italic (korralu), eleusine coracana (chodi), guizotia sp. (adusulu); pulses like red gram (kandhulu), green gram (pesalu); vegetables like brinjal (vanga), chillies (mirupa) etc., Although there is hunting and gathering in Konda Reddi society, the bulk of their diet comes from foods that are cultivated. Perhaps 90% or more of the diet consists of domesticated rather than wild foods. Paddy, maize are by far the most important food in the diet.
The Konda Reddi are constantly looking for potential podu sites. Most new podu sites are, in fact, discovered by hunters. The land for a new site should not be heavily covered with bushes, which is difficult to remove. The larger trees should not be too numerous either, as it takes a good deal of work to chop them down. Ideally, the new site should have very light jungle cover, should be well drained, near a source of drinking water, and relatively free of thorny underbrush. The Konda Reddi call a settled cultivable field as baadava and shifting hill plot as podu.
Podu Plots on the Hill slopes of Papi hills
The first operation in making a podu site is to cut the smaller trees and bush, the bigger trees like gummadi and vedhuru are left standing while the underbrush is removed, then the big trees are felled with axes and left lying on the ground to dry out in the sun, but bamboo is transported to houses to built fences, weave baskets etc.,
The Konda Reddi usually fell the big trees toward the end of the wet season. In general, the clearing of the land tends to be an activity of the wet season while the burning is done during the dry season, but this schedule is by no means rigorous. An adequate burning can be achieved at the peak of the rainy season, provided that there are two days of sunshine in succession. The dead bush and the leaves of the large trees dry out rather quickly in the sun, provided that they have been lying on the ground for a sufficiently long period of time. The trunks of the trees which are never burned are serve as boundaries between individual podu plots. After the bush has dried out and the larger trees felled, the portable timber and bush is gathered up into piles and burned. The ashes are not scattered to improve soil fertility. Each man clears his own land. Brothers will usually clear adjacent portions of land and, if their father is still living, his garden will be among theirs.
Thus there requires a lot of pain to raise and maintain a podu plot. Hence shifting cultivation become less important and tendency towards podu is decreasing day by day in Konda Reddi society. The main problem of shifting cultivation is its irrigation. It is not possible to irrigate the podu plots; hence one has to depend on rainfall to raise the successful crops. Failure in rainfall results in failure of crops. So Konda Reddis prefer settled cultivable land near river Godavari than podu cultivation.
Konda Reddi raise maize, pulses and grams in podu land, and paddy, maize, pulses, vegetables, chilies etc., in settled cultivable land. The settled cultivable plots near river Godavari gets water from it. Thus irrigated stretches of cultivable land increases the crop yield per season than podu cultivation.
As Godavari river is flowing through hills and gorges, nowadays Konda Reddi use motor pumps to lift the water to fields from the gorges of river Godavari. Government is also providing loans for purchasing motor pumps and free electrical power to the Konda Reddis. Apart from this, government is also taking steps to curb shifting cultivation by restricting human activity through National forest policy and by declaring areas of the hill forests as reserve forests.
Apart from cultivation, hunting and gathering plays an important role in Konda Reddi society by supplementing them with meat protein. Konda Reddi hunt wild sheep, wild goat, wild boar, rabbits, fowls, birds etc., in the nearby hilly forests. Of late due to deforestation and restrictions on human activities in reserve forest areas the game of hunting is gradually discouraged. Only on festive occasions men practice ceremonial communal hunting and catch rabbits, wild sheep, wild boar etc.,
Traditionally, Konda Reddi use common bow and arrow to hunt animals. Nowadays they are using guns, pistols etc., to hunt the speed game. Usually during summer months i.e., between April and June, Konda Reddi spent most of their time in collecting forest produce and food gathering. The main forest produce include wild bamboo. They use bamboo to built fences, houses, weaving baskets, making crafts and toys, and chop the bamboos into small tiny thin sticks and sell them to the small scale industries, who use them for manufacturing scented sticks. Thus bamboo become an inseparable part in Konda Reddi life. Konda Reddi also use young bamboo shoots as flavour and delicacy in their dishes.
The minor forest produce gathered include adda leaves for leaf plates; yams like adavi vaimu, savadi dhumpa, donda dhumpa; and other produce such as sheekai, soapnuts, hill brooms, tamarind and honey. They also collect mango, jack fruit, citrus fruits, cashew fruits, etc., from the forest.
ECONOMIC ORGANISATION:
“Economic organization, a type of social action involves the combination of various kinds of human services with one another and with goods in such a way that serve the given ends.” (Raymond firth, 1952). In brief, it can be said that the concept and meaning of economic system with special reference to the tribal may be defined that economic system may have two important things, viz., the mode and structure of production and its relations, and the process of distribution existing and operating in a given socio-political setup.
The mode of production implies technique and organization of economic activities relating to production. The structure of production means social-relations in the performance of production activities and in the process of distribution between different social groups of the tribal societies.
The mode of production in Konda Reddi economy is traditional, indigenous and culturally predominant. The Konda Reddi work hard to get their livelihood to meet the basic needs of life as well as the social needs like the materials for rites-de-passage (life cycle ceremonies), through their economic performances. Herskovits has rightly said that an individual operating as a member of his society in terms of the culture of his group is the economic unit.
There is an absence of technological aids in a Konda Reddi economy which results in inefficient, inadequate or even wasteful exploitation of nature. Consequently, the bare minimum necessary for sustenance is raised with great difficulty. An economic surplus is rare in Konda Reddi community. Even though they get surplus yields they never sell it to the money market but they store it for future purpose except for maize. However Konda Reddi sell all the surplus maize (not even surplus but even the entire produce) for cash.
The economic relations among the Konda Reddi are mostly based on exchange. Money as a store and measurement of value and medium of exchange is not used widely. Institutions like banking and credit are used only in dealing with non-tribal groups which depends upon the nature and frequency of contacts with them. They take loans from non-tribal and banks in order to raise their crops. They repay the loan amount after the successful harvest of the yield. Nowadays the private money lenders or non-tribal are investing the money on crops and taking shares from the yield.
The profit motive in economic dealings is generally absent. The role of an incentive is fulfilled by a sense of mutual obligation, sharing and solidarity. Co-operative and collective endeavour is a strongly developed feature of Konda Reddi economy. The rate of innovation, internal or induced, is very low and consequently they are stables and make hardly any progress.
The regular market as an institution along with its conditions of market like perfect competition and monopoly is absent. What comes nearest to it is the weekly market (shandy/santha) or festival and seasonal meets.
Specialization based on specially acquired specific technical abilities is absent. However, division of labour based on factors other than specialization, like sex, is widely present. Male ploughs the field, sow the seeds (except maize) and collects the harvested crop. Female sow the seeds (only maize), remove the weeds and harvest the yield. Children has limited role in agricultural activities. They help their parents in field. This is the mechanism to make the children learn about the agricultural activities. In general, children help their mother’s in weeding the crops.
The notion of property is closely related to display and expenditure of wealth rather than to its accumulation. Material goods, movable and immovable may be referred to as property and this entails the existence of some rules of inheritance. Both types of ownership, collective and individual are known to Konda Reddi.
The structure of the Konda Reddi economy is generally based on forest and river i.e., on Eastern Ghats forest and river Godavari. The simple technology and absence of technological aids is the other structural feature of the Konda Reddi economy. At the socio-economic and cultural level the family is a unit of both production and consumption. The community itself acts like a co-operative unit and the Konda Reddis are economically independent. The Konda Reddi economy has the close relationship between their economic life and the natural environment or habitat which is usually the forest. Besides the forest, the existing natural environment had molded their economy to a great extent.
Production, Consumption and Distribution –
The family in the Konda Reddi economy is the unit of production. Thus, the mode of production of Konda Reddi people is styled ‘familial’ or ‘domestic’. All the members of the family whether husband or wife, parents or children, together form the production unit. The allocation of labour, and decisions for food quests are taken at the family level. They usually produce what they actually need. Yet, it never means that the familial group is self-sufficient. They get the co-operation of individuals of other households too.
The family is constituted for production by possession of the necessary tools such as axe, weed remover, knives, sickle, plough etc., which are made indigenously. The children go out in the jungle with their cattle herd and some of them accompany their mother and sister to help in weeding the crops or collection of fire wood. Thus, besides the elderly persons the youth form the axis of domestic production. They also take part in their agricultural production i.e., preparing the fields, sowing, harvesting or in forest operation like collection of minor forest produce, hunting etc.
The pattern of labour in the Konda Reddi society is also based on family level. However, some Konda Reddi who are comparatively rich and have large fields, the labour is borrowed from their village or from adjacent villages. They are paid with daily wages. However, the division of labour is usually sex-wise as women are considered physically weak by the men folk. So women are paid less wage then men i.e., approximately Rs.70 per day per woman and Rs.140 per day per man. Men are paid with double the amount than women.
So far the consumption is concerned, the Konda Reddi economy reveals the nature of democratic system at the family level. The forest produce like the roots and fruits, or the hunting games if the animals have been hunted jointly by the clansmen or by the villagers together, those are shared equally. However, the main hunters or the village-chief are given sometimes more shares. But, usually the democratic pattern of consumption is reflected in the Konda Reddi economy.
In distribution, they follow market economy (not a true market economy) i.e., they sell their product for cash. Except for maize Konda Reddi never sell any product. They store the surplus paddy, pulses, grams etc., for future purpose in order to overcome the shortage periods. They treat maize as commercial crop and sell the entire produce in the money markets. There is no sign of prevalence of barter system in Konda Reddi.
The concept of generalized reciprocity is well developed in Konda Reddi. General reciprocity includes in itself the assistance given and taken or returns, sharing hospitality, gifts-taken, mutual aid and generosity. The expectation of reciprocity is left in-definite, unspecified as to qualities, quantity and time. Values of return depend on the donor and the recipient.
Tribal market and Trade –
In addition to the system of exchange and reciprocity, the Konda Reddi people have their tribal market in their respective areas. Among Konda Reddi inhabited area no permanent markets exist except for weekly markets locally known as santha (Shandies). The Konda Reddi villages falling in a radius of 5-10 km have separate weekly markets which play an important role in the life of Konda Reddi people.
The tribal market brings together people from different ethnic groups not only for economic transaction but also for secular and religious activities in the tribal region. The impact of weekly market on the traditional life of Konda Reddi too has shown an attitude of accepting innovations. The market is the most powerful channel of communication in the tribal region. In Konda Reddi society, monetary economy has now percolated through the market only. Also the weekly market has obtained a place in the social organization of the Konda Reddi. It has proved that the weekly market is the best place of meeting and interacting together.
Weekly markets in Konda Reddi society also function as an agent of culture change. The weekly market is a centre which brings together a number of communities like the agriculturist Koya, the hunters and the food gatherers, occupational caste people such as potters, black smith, fishermen and many other non-tribals together. Tribal markets are also places where disputes of tribal villages are discussed and settled. Marriage negotiations are also done in the periodical tribal/weekly markets.
Of late, the government development agencies have also started to exhibit their development programmes such as posters of NREGS, Sarva Siksha Abhiyan, Pulse Polio Immunization, advantages of Polavaram project etc., during weekly markets.
POLITICAL ORGANISATION:
A headman called pedda kapu (the chief) is the chief of the Konda Reddi village. However, this monolithic leadership structure is quite democratic in practice. His decisions are governed by the majority opinion of the family heads in the village.
The office of the pedda kapu is hereditary. Pedda kapu is succeeded by his son or the opportunity goes to pedda kapu’s brother’s son, if he has no male children. The pedda kapu is assisted by a pina kapu (little chief), who is usually the younger brother or close relative. Cases of adultery, incest, elopement, divorce, land disputes, theft etc., are dealt with by the village council. Pina kapu assists the pedda kapu and implements the orders of pedda kapu. On the absence of pedda kapu, pina kapu temporarily acts as pedda kapu.
Kula pedda is the highest institution of social control in the Konda Reddi society. Disputes between two Konda Reddi villages or those that cannot be amicably settled at the village level are referred to the kula pedda, whose decision is final.
Konda Reddi law is based on clan’s organization. It has territorial limitation. One pedda kapu cannot interfere in the matters of other village, but he is refereed by pedda kapu of other village, when the later has experience in dealing those types of disputes. Konda Reddi’s law is based on customary law and usages. A strong sense of collectivism prevails in their law. The oath and ordeal are main mode of evidence. Punishment is awarded in the shape of fine, compensation to the aggrieved party, communal feasts etc., depending upon the seriousness of the crime and the capability of the person concerned.
The collected fine is usually spent in giving a communal feast or as an offering to the supernatural power for appeasing them. The most serious punishment among the Konda Reddi is excommunication from tribe or village.
The concept behind punishment among the Konda Reddi society is also remarkable. They believe that the punishments are to compensate the aggrieved, to purify the offenders and to re-admit the guilty person after paying a fine or after hosting a feast. Konda Reddi believe that a breach of norm is likely to affect the whole society. It is also believed that the punishment, awarded to the accused by the village council, is actually by the supernatural power.
In few villages, succession practice to the office of pedda kapu is not followed strictly and an educated man is chosen which is a recent change in the political organization.
The government of Andhrapradesh has clubbed few villages together and formed a statutory village panchayat, the president and members of which are elected by all the tribal in these villages through secret ballot. The panchayat looks after general administration and the developmental works of the village.
The post of village panchayat president, mandal president, member of the legislative assembly, zilla praja parishad president in this area are reserved for scheduled tribes. Few Konda Reddis are elected as village panchayat presidents. Even though there is a well established statutory political establishment in Konda Reddi villages, kula pedda and pedda kapu enjoys the whole authority and sometimes both pedda kapu and village panchayat president take collective decisions.
Regular village councils or council meetings which are locally called as gotti are organized to settle the disputes between people and to discuss about several development programmes of the village. Pedda kapu mainly confines to settle the disputes and the village panchayat president looks after the developmental programmes, implementation of government schemes etc., Other government officials namely Village development officer (VDO), Agriculture officer (AO), Health officer (HO), Mandal revenue officer (MRO) and others supervise the tribal development programmes.
RELIGION:
Konda Reddi are primarily animists. They worship many deities, which are considered superior to nature, for obtaining their blessings for a peaceful and comfortable life, and for a bumper harvest. Every activity begins only after the worship and celebrating a festival of the concerned deity.
During the festivals, animal sacrifices are common. Ancestor worship is a major component of the Konda Reddi religion. All the dead, irrespective of their age and sex, are considered as ancestral spirits. Konda Reddi do elaborate rituals to get boons from the gods. They celebrate local festivals with great importance other than the Hindu telugu festivals. Every Konda Reddi village has their local/village deity. The hills and forests are believed to be inhabited by a host of anthropomorphically conceived divinities, many of whom have their seats on mountain tops, and are hence referred to as konda devata, i.e. "hill deities." Ordinary people cannot see them, but there are magicians and shamans who can communicate with supernatural forces in dreams as well as in a state of trance.
Local Village Deity - Pothuraju
The Konda Reddi perform seasonal festivals, many of which are offering of newly harvested grains, fruits etc., to god and eating them for the first time in the season associated with deity and economic activity such as Bhoomi pandaga, Mamidi pandaga, Sama kotha pandaga.
Bhoomi pandaga – is the important festival of Konda Reddi. This festival will be celebrated after the successful harvest of the crops usually once in every three years. Village headman or pedda kapu collects money (kutuva) from every house of the village. Apart from kutuva, money collected through sanctions and fines is also used in celebrating this bhoomi pandaga.
Bhoomi pandaga is celebrated to commemorate for successful yields on land. Konda Reddi sacrifice a pig or sheep and fowl to the land and pray the land to continue to provide good yield without any crop failures. The meat of sacrificed pig or sheep is distributed equally to every household in the village. Headman acts as religious head in celebrating this ceremony. On this day every member in the village eats, drink and dance with all joy.
Mamidi pandaga – is another important festival of Konda Reddi. Actually mamidi pandaga is celebrated on the day of ugadi festival, which is celebrated by caste population as telugu new year during March-April. On this day they conduct village deity festival also.
On this day the headman offers cooked rice mixed with cereals and pulses as naidham (sacred food) to village deity, then only other members of the village are allowed to offer naidham to village deity. Breach of this rule will lead to serious sanctions on the violator. After this festival only, Konda Reddi start eating mangoes. Till then they are not supposed to eat mangoes. Animal sacrifices are common.
Sama kotha pandaga – is a festival at village level, generally celebrated in the month of August. After this festival only they begin eating some leafy vegetables as curries such as gongura and thota kura.
Apart from the above festivals, Konda Reddi also celebrate the festivals of hindu caste people such as sankranthi, dasara, sri rama navami etc., Of late, due to escalation in the cost of animal stock, they are offering only fowls for sacrifice to deities.
The Konda Reddi believe in and fear the existence of many supernatural powers. To ensure their protection and success of operations, various deities are propitiated. These deities and supernatural powers are classified into two forms namely Benevolent and Malevolent. Benevolent deities are revered and propitiated to secure their sustained blessings. Malevolent deities are feared and offered bloody sacrifices to escape their wrath.
Sickness, ill luck and other difficulties are attributed to the work of angered malevolent deities. Diagnosis and treatment of sickness involve a series of magico-religious practices besides administering herbal medicine. The native doctor is known as vejju.
Konda Reddi firmly believe that planetary ill effects and witchcraft cause diseases and death. Whenever a person falls ill a physician or a magician is summoned, the reason for the illness is elicited, and remedial measures are taken.
ETHNO MEDICINE:
Konda Reddi are great believers of folk medicine (little traditional medicine). In Konda Reddi society various types of plants and leaves are used to get rid of diseases, wounds etc., and those who are specialized in this treatment are accorded high status.
Various types of diseases are cured by applying the extract of roots, latex, milk, leaves etc., of the different available plants in the forest. For each type of illness there are indigenous treatments which are very helpful in the health care system of Konda Reddi. Ayurveda has a very closed continuum with the folk medicines as being practiced by the Konda Reddi people.
The Papi hills forest around the Konda Reddi habitat preserve a wide variety of floral and faunal life, which are the sources of life for dozens of tribal communities living within the forest areas. Konda Reddi inhabiting these agency tracts, have considerable knowledge on uses of plants and animals for their livelihood, healthcare and other purposes due to their close proximity with the forest.
They have gathered an intimate knowledge of the applicability of various local flora and fauna, which are of immense medical use. Most characteristically, they always scrupulously guard this knowledge from the aliens with the belief that this knowledge loses it worth, if disclosed to others. The raw material they are getting which they use for ethno-medicine is from the nearby forests.
In addition to ethno medicines, as practiced by the Konda Reddi people, there are various socio-cultural factors which influence the mode of treatment. In the Konda Reddi society, the socio-cultural activities revolve around gods and spirits. The supernatural powers are identified with a group of powerful forces and deities which control and influence the happenings in the society. Thus, they have specific spirits specialized in the treatment of particular diseases. Similarly for the protection of cattle, calamities etc., they have the specialized spirit-doctor called vejju to treat the diseases.
PERCEPTION ABOUT THE ENVIRONMENT:
Konda Reddi carry both kinds of feelings, of reverence and fear towards the forest. Adavi devata / adavi thalli, are the terms used for forest which means forests are like their gods, mother which takes care of them and provide everything for their survival. For Konda Reddi, forest is also the personification of evil, it is foreboding, uncontrollable and dangerous. People think that it is the habitat of demons, and ghosts who prey on people. Moreover, they carry mixed emotions of fear, respect, and wonder for mountains. The hills and mountains are considered to be the symbols of power and the nature is considered to be majestic and mysterious, uncontrollable and threatening and yet life giving. They are considered to be abode of gods, places of infinite beauty yet have an element of wilderness, desolation and terror. Mountains also play an important role in the religious life of Konda Reddi. Streams and Rivers too are revered as they are the source of life. Streams are considered to be village deity and worshipped as their goddess Gangalamma. Land too is perceived as mother goddess, who ceaselessly blesses them and provide them with grains.
It is interesting to know that during the period of pollution caused due to the life cycle occasions such as birth, puberty and death, they cleanse themselves in the stream water which is believed to make them pure. But a menstruating woman is forbidden to enter into the farms, as it is considered to be a sin against the goddess for polluting it. Konda Reddi perform Gangalamma festival to propitiate the goddess of water to have sufficient rains for them to cultivate. Since they are totally at the mercy of the powerful and uncompromising nature, they propitiate the land and water gods with sacrifices and rituals so as to gain their good will. All the religious beliefs, practices and ceremonies are associated with the physical environment. They believe in supernatural powers, deities and benevolent and malevolent spirits which are responsible for ecological happenings. They worship the ancestral spirits on every important life cycle occasions and festivals of the village. The villagers believe that their lives are ordained by certain spirits and deities and are thus engaged in organizing regular offerings toward the supernatural powers they believe in.
Thus, Konda Reddi worships their ecosystem whether it is land where podu is practiced, forest, hill or grass. They even worship the path through which they move into the interior forest. They also perform certain festivals which are associated with the different stages of agricultural activities. It is a kind of expressing gratitude anticipating good harvests in the succeeding harvest seasons. These festivals also indicate the precautions that they take to overcome natural calamities and scarcity of products. It can be summed up that their economic, social, religious, spiritual life revolves around their ecosystem and their beliefs and practices help in leading a harmonious life and adapting their life with scarce resources. It is imperative to understand how they preserve and conserve their ecosystem.
EDUCATION:
Due to lack of education and requisite skill, Konda Reddi are not able to take advantage of the new economic opportunities which have been grabbed by the plain people migrated to the tribal areas where the Konda Reddi are concentrated. Their attitude towards formal education is partly favourable.
Education of their children is a luxury which they can hardly afford. Their children assist their parents in earning their livelihood. Dropout rate is more among the school going children of Konda Reddi and the main cause of slow progress in education and high dropout rate among the Konda Reddi is poverty.
The government has recognized the Konda Reddi as primitive tribe and has provided a number of educational facilities like ashram schools, ITDA single teacher schools, tribal welfare hostels and PTG residential schools. With the above government initiatives, nowadays Konda Reddi parents are sending their children to the schools with a positive attitude. Today, even many a Konda Reddi youth are completing their graduation and working in different government and private organizations. During the last two decades the literacy rate has also increased considerably in Konda Reddi people. Their literacy rate increased to 34.18% (Census, 2001) from 7.75% (Census, 1981). Currently male literacy rate is 40.23% and female literacy rate is 28.15% (Census,2001).
DEVELOPMENTAL PROGRAMMES:
The government has established the Girijan Cooperative Corporation (GCC) to empower and to improve the economic conditions of the Konda Reddi people. The GCC buys minor forest produce collected by Konda Reddi and sell rice, sugar and other provisions necessary for house holds through public distribution system.
Several development projects such as lift irrigation schemes; distribution of subsidized seeds of improved and high yielding varieties, agricultural implements, chemical fertilizers and pesticides; National malaria eradication programme, establishment of primary health care centers, primary and secondary schools, co-operative societies to provide financial assistance and loans, empowerment of women through DWCRA groups, distribution of sewing machines to manufacture leaf plates, etc., have been taken up in recent times.
Compared to other tribes namely Koya Dora, Konda Reddi are favourable and some what interested towards welfare and developmental schemes.
CONCLUSION:
The profile of Konda Reddis and their complete dependence on the immediate environment shows their age old adaptation and harmonious life with their ecosystem. It is in recent years that they are now being exposed to outside world and their adaptability is being challenged. Due to the interference of outside non-tribal and forest policies and programmes they are being exploited, alienated and losing control over their environment and thereby struggling to survive. The loss of forests is posing great problems especially for women who take the responsibility to feed themselves and their family. They are now struggling much more to collect fuel, fodder and forest produce. The repeated podu cultivation is again leading to the loss of quality and quantity of produce. Further, the Konda Reddi are losing command over their resources on account of pressure from the non-tribal. They face displacement by some development projects of the state.
The tribal sub-plan and special component plans for the scheduled tribes (within the national Five Year Plan) do provide substantial financial outlays but in the absence of a holistic frame and coordinated implementation, results have been far less than expected. The tribes who live in symbiotic relationship with the nature are the protectors of nature and any change in the ecosystems affects adversely on their living.
REFERENCES:
Haimendorf 1945: The Reddis of the Bison Hills. Macmillan, London.
Makan Jha 1994: An introduction to social anthropology, New Delhi, Vikas Publications.
Malinowski 1954: The Dynamics of Culture Change.
Srinivas.M.N. 1972: Social change in India.
Radcliff brown 1952: Structure and Function in Primitive Society, Essays and Addresses.
Raymond firth 1952: Essays on social organization and values.
TCRTI 2008: Basic statistics on scheduled tribes of Andhrapradesh.
