The Religions Book

32

See also: The Dreaming 34–35 ■ A lifelong bond with the gods 39

■ Renewing life through ritual 51

T

he Baiga are one of the

indigenous tribal peoples

of central India, collectively

known as the Adivasis. The Baigas,

who call themselves the sons and

daughters of Dharti Mata, Mother

Earth, believe that they were

created to be the guardians of

the forest—a task they have carried

out since the beginning of time.

In their belief, Bhagavan, the

creator, spread the world out flat

like a chapati, but it flapped about

and would not stay still. The first

man, Nanga Baiga, and the first

woman, Nanga Baigin, who were

born in the forest from Mother

Earth, took four great nails and

drove them into the four corners of

the earth to steady it. Bhagavan

told them that they should take

care of the earth to keep the nails

in place, promising them a simple

but contented life in return.

The Baiga followed the example

of Nanga Baiga, hunting freely

in the forest and considering

themselves lords of the animals.

Believing it wrong to tear the body

of Mother Earth with a plow,

they practiced a form of slash-and-

burn agriculture known as bewar

(although always leaving the stump

of a saj tree for the gods to dwell

in), moving every three years to

a new patch of forest. However,

19th-century British officials

opposed the Baiga’s methods,

forcing them to abandon their

traditional axe-and-hoe cultivation

and take up the hated plow. They

were permitted to practice bewar

only in the reservation of Baiga

Chak in the Mandla Hills. ■

IN CONTEXT

KEY BELIEVERS

Baiga

WHEN AND WHERE

From 3000 BCE, Mandla

Hills, southeastern Madhya

Pradesh, central India

BEFORE

From prehistory The Baiga

are thought to share a

common ancestry with the

Australian Aborigines.

AFTER

Mid-19th century British

forest officials restrict sacred

bewar agriculture. Food

shortages follow; the Baigas

say that the Kali Yuga, the

age of darkness, has begun.

1890 A reserve that

surrounds eight Baiga

villages is demarcated

where bewar is permitted.

1978 A Baiga development

agency is established.

1990s More than 300,000

Baiga live in central India.

You are made of the

earth and are lord of the earth,

and shall never forsake it.

You must guard the earth.

Bhagavan the Creator

WHY ARE

WE HERE?

CREATED FOR A PURPOSE