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periods. Nowadays, council members are still shown the required amount of def-
erence at festivals and other formal occasions, but their temporal power seems to
have been somewhat eroded.
1.7.4 Religion
Modern Solega religion is a comfortable mix of animist and Shaivite Hindu tradi-
tions, and includes practices ranging from the making of offerings to placate natural
forces and entities to the worship of mainstream Hindu gods in a manner that would
be recognisable to the average resident of Bangalore. The holiest site in the religion
is an ancient Michelia champaca tree, known to the Solega as doḍḍa sampage , and
situated near the settlements of Keredimba and Gombegallu , which lie well within
a large expanse of evergreen rainforest. While the tree itself is revered as a sacred
being, current Solega tradition attributes a great part of the signifi cance of this site
to a visit by Shiva and Parvati during the satyada ka:la or ‘time of truth’ back in the
ancient past. Accordingly, the base of the tree is adorned with numerous stone lin-
gam (the symbol of Shiva), and it is said that a much larger lingam is hidden deep
below the tree’s roots as well. Many Solega also celebrate Kannada festivals such
as yuga:di ‘the new year’, a:yudha pu:je ‘ navara:tri festival , or dashera in northern
India’ and gaṇe:sh chaturthi ‘Ganesh’s birthday’.
The Solega worship fi ve kula de:varu , one for each clan , and hold a major festi-
val for each deity every single year. At the start of the agricultural season, Solega
farmers make offerings to the elephant god, asking him to spare their lives and their
fi elds. Similarly, a festival called roṭṭi habba is held at the time of the ra:gi ‘millet’
harvest, to thank various deities for a good crop. Other forest animals are also
revered by the Solega, for their association with various gods—these include ka:ṭi
(Indian bison or gaur, Bos gaurus ), karaḍi (sloth bear, Melursus ursinus ) and huli
( tiger , Panthera tigris ). In addition, several birds and animals named in the song-
cycle ha: ḍuke , which is sung from dusk till dawn in festivals , are said to be de:varu
‘gods’—these include to:ḷiyakki ‘bats’, soreyakki ‘ pigeon /dove’, muḷḷandi ‘porcu-
pine’, and so on.
1.7.5 Division of Labour
Domestic tasks, including childrearing, cooking and cleaning are performed almost
exclusively by Solega women, whereas most tasks that take place outside the home
are shared by the entire family. Examples of the latter include collecting fi rewood,
collecting yams and other edible forest products, preparing land for agriculture and
tending to crops. Honey harvesting is carried out by men, either in groups, or singly,
while women are usually in charge of grazing livestock, such as goats or cattle,
1 Introduction