Tiriya
| Author:Laxman Burdak, IFS (R) |
Tiriya (तिरिया) is a village in Jagdalpur tahsil of Bastar district in Chhattisgarh.
Variants
Origin
Location
It is situated 39km away from Jagdalpur in south east direction. Tiriya is a small Village/hamlet in Jagdalpur Tehsil in Bastar District of Chattisgarh State, India. It comes under Tiriya Panchayath. Hatpadmur ( 16 KM ) , Bamhani ( 17 KM ) are the nearby Villages to Tiriya. Tiriya is surrounded by Jagdalpur Tehsil towards North , Kotpad Tehsil towards North , Boipariguda Tehsil towards South , Darbha Tehsil towards west . Jagdalpur , Jeypur , Nabarangapur , Koraput are the near by Cities to Tiriya.[1]
According to Census 2011 information the location code or village code of Tiriya village is 449150. Tiriya village is located in Jagdalpur tehsil of Bastar district in Chhattisgarh, India. It is situated 39km away from Jagdalpur, which is both district & sub-district headquarter of Tiriya village. As per 2009 stats, Kawapal is the gram panchayat of Tiriya village. The total geographical area of village is 265.64 hectares. [2]
Tiriya has a total population of 429 peoples, out of which male population is 235 while female population is 194. Literacy rate of tiriya village is 40.33% out of which 55.32% males and 22.16% females are literate. There are about 82 houses in tiriya village. Pincode of tiriya village locality is 494001. [3]
Jat Gotras Namesake
History
Author (Laxman Burdak) visited Tiriya various times from 18.02.1983-28.02.1983 and 09.03.1983, while undergoing training as IFS Probationer. Here are comments from official diary of that period:
18.02.1983: Jagdalpur (10hrs) to Tiriya, Forest and back at 22 hrs by govt jeep with RO Machkot 40 km Accompanied Rangers class from Coimbatore which came for the study of cultural operations in compartment-43 and regeneration in compartment-48 under PB-I area. Night halt Tiria.
19.02.1983: Tiriya – Jagdalpur 15.30-16.30 hrs 35 km by truck.
21.02.1983: Jagdalpur – Tiriya, Stayed at Tiriya FRH upto 28.02.1983 along with wife Gomati Burdak and daughter Sunita. Objective to stay was to feel the forest life, learn about forestry operations, tribal life and their culture. CF Jagdalpur PM Rajware has instructed to lay out sample plots and conduct exercise to revise marking rules and fix norms for some forestry operations.
Tiriya – Forest and back (11.30 -18 hrs), 61 km govt veh 5 km foot in forest. Visited the Forest, went up to Gumalwada PF (गुमलवाडा) where there is a cave, inside which you can see stalactite and stalagmite formations. Villagers worship the Shivalinga inside the cave. One can see the outcrops of dolomite rocks in the dense forests. Forest is mainly miscellaneous forest including Sal, Saja, Dhawada, Sisam, Teak, Haldu, etc. Some Sal trees are dry, reason is unknown. There was a single large size teak tree fit for reservation. Semal trees are leafless and in flowering (pink and large flowers). Woodfordia floribunda is also in orange flowers and in plenty. Similarly, Indigofera paschela is also in plenty in young plantations in violet flowering. The new came coppery red leaves of Kusum trees look beautiful. Indigofera plants have come up as weed in areas where there was clear felling of sal trees in regular coupes.
22.02.1983: Tiriya to Forest 10-13 hrs on foot and came back. Carried out cultural operations in compartment-43 part xi area 70 acres. Got work in field done standing there. Sal is in flowering. The areas in which cultural operations have been carried out look like plantations.
Tiriya to Forest and back 15-18 hrs 14 km on bike. Demarked the marking to be done according to the instructions of CF Jagdalpur PM Rajware in compartment-48 part v. showing :1. The trees to be reserved,
- 2. Cleaning in established sal saplings < 20 cm where congestion,
- 3. Putting bands on trees reserved on section lines.
Observed a wild bore, quite big, right on the forest road 2 kms away from Tiria FRH in compartment-44. Encounter with wild bore in forest can be dangerous.
23.02.1983: Tiriya to Forest and back 11-16 hrs, 16 km on bike, 10 km on foot. Demonstrated to forest guard and mazdoors the marking and cleaning in compartment-48 section-ii as per CF instructions. Checked marking in compartment-48 section-v. instructed staff and mazdoors about putting proper blazes and to reserve the trees as per new instructions by CF.
24.02.1983: Tiriya to Forest and back 11-16 hrs, 12 km on truck, 12 km on foot. Checked marking in compartment-48 sec-v. doing marking satisfactorily, except the blazes not made properly. Instructed to make square blazes. Checked the reserving of more trees<120 cm, straightboled and growing trees in compartment-48 sec iii. The crop is quite dense approaching the middle age. To put this into PB-I and prescribing clear felling seems to be a mistake. From the abstract of marking record book interesting statistics can be prepared!
Accompanied the forester class from Betul to show them PB-I area and regeneration of sal. Observed a few sal trees currently felled for collecting kosa kokuns. I thought if stopping collection of Kosa Kokuns is not in the interest of forest conservation? But Kosa Kokun collection in forest areas and making Kosa Sari is a big industry and may effect their employment and livelihood.
25.02.1983: Study tribal life and culture - Mazdoors were made payment yesterday so no mazdoor found working in forestry cultural operations where I went to see. So I decided to study tribal life and culture. I was told that they are busy today enjoying the ‘Mand’. They do not work immediately after payment. ‘Mand’ or ‘Landa’ is a fermented recipe made of rice like ‘rabri’ in Rajasthan. In addition to ‘Landa’ tribals also drink ‘salphi’ (सल्फी). Salphi, derived from the sap of the Salphi tree, holds a sacred place in the hearts and traditions of the tribes inhabiting the Bijapur and Dantewada regions of Bastar. Salphi is a juice extracted from the shoots of the flowers of sulphi tree botanically known as Caryota urens. The Tribal Culture is unique in Bastar district.
Tiriya is a forest village with a population of 201. Forest villages were community established in a reserved or protected forest for the purpose of maintaining a supply of local labour during colonial rule. There are about 25 families mostly Dhurva (Praja) tribals who are relatively advanced among the tribals and piece loving. Along with my wife Gomati and daughter we took a round of the village. Villagers are very poor living in small hamlets, their houses made of clay covered with bamboo or poles with earthen tiles called ‘kavelu’. Houses are very neat and clean. Though houses are made of clay but bear very sharp corners.
The Ghotul custom of the Muria and Madia Tribes of Bastar:
I did not find Ghotul in Tiriya village but is prevalent in Bastar among Muria and Madia Tribes. Ghotul is an institution where unmarried boys (called Chellik) and girls (Motiari) spend nights together in an earthen and wooden hut at the outskirt of the village. This regulates prenuptial interest of the tribal youth. It is central to the social and religious life of the Murias. They believe their supreme deity, Lingo, created the first Ghotul.
School: There is a school constructed under tribal sub-plan but neither there is a teacher nor students. I was told that there was one teacher who died in last rains. So far no teacher has come here. Well for drinking water is constructed by Forest Deptt.
In the evening along with wife Gomati and daughter went upto the Kolab River which forms border with Orissa state. There is good scenery all around and green lush vegetation and a stretch of sand along the river. The forest guards with us suggested that the area we were wandering is not safe as this forest along Kolab River is having good tiger population. We could see fresh pug marks of tiger on the sand of river bad.
26.02.1983: Tiriya to Forest and back 11-15 hrs, 12 km on truck, 12 km on foot. Checking marking in compartment-48 sec. ii ,iii, iv and v.
27.02.1983: Tiriya to Forest and back 11-16 hrs, 12 km on truck, 10 km on foot. I Did the following exercise of
- 1. Counting the no of trees reserved per ha in Machkote Range PB-I compartment-48. Laid out sample plots each of 0.5 ha (100x50 sqmt) in compartment-48 sections ii, iii, iv, v and vi. Average 148 trees/ha are reserved in marking done as per instructions of CF Jagdalpur.
- 2. Cultural operations: compartment-43, area 40 ha. Man-days 1600. Average 40 man-days/ha = Rs 330/- per ha, includes fire line cutting and burning. 3. Reserving trees in area already marked. 10 mazdoors reserved 260 trees = 0.30 Rs/tree.
28.02.1983: Tiriya to Forest and back 11-15 hrs, 12 km on truck, 10 km on foot. Checked marking in compartment-48 sec v. marking is being done satisfactorily. Accompanied the forester class from Betul in PBI areas. Visited compartment-47 felled areas. The saplings have been very badly damaged. The worked area should be immediately handed over so that the first year cultural operations can be carried out otherwise the regeneration will suffer badly.
After carrying out works assigned by CF Jagdalpur we returned from Tiriya to Jagdalpur via Machkot and Dhanpunji 15.45-18 hrs.
09.03.1983: Jagdalpur to Tiriya – Forest and back 11-19 hrs 100 km govt veh Accompanied DFO C/B PS Panickar 1. Visited Gulchi fruit bearing tree plantation in 25 ha year 1980. Species Kaju , Jamun, Imali etc. Kaju and Jamun surviving well. Sal coppices have left asw a safety meaure in case the plantation fails, very good sal coppice. If left on its own it will become a mix forest. 2. Neganar plantation 15 ha. Soil murram, Sp. Aonla, karanj, Babul tc. Aonla growth excellent. Checked marking in comp 48 section-i
17.03.1983: Jagdalpur-Tiriya Forest and back 7.30 – 17.30 hrs 100 km govt veh. Visited comp 49 of Machkot Range. Marking got done by AA Boaz IFS. Visited Gupteshvara Cave.
In Mahabharata
- Tiryaka (तिर्यक) in Mahabharata (III.170.24)
Vana Parva, Mahabharata/Book III Chapter 170 mentions in Mahabharata (III.170.24-25).... And now (the city) entered unto the earth and now it rose upwards; and at one time it went in a crooked way and at another time it submerged into water. At this, O represser of foes, I assailed that mighty city, going anywhere at will, and resembling Amaravati.[4]
Tourism
Tiriya jungle is recently getting famous for its fountain located in between this jungle which offer great picnic spot.
The Salphi Tree
Scientifically known as Caryota urens, the Salphi tree is a remarkable native plant found in countries like Sri Lanka, India, Myanmar, and Malaysia. Its striking appearance features a solitary trunk that can reach heights of 18 meters and widths of 30 centimetres. The grey trunk is adorned with distinct leaf-scar rings, culminating in a magnificent leaf crown spanning 6 meters in both width and height. Vibrant green, triangular bipinnate leaves can grow up to 3.5 meters in length, attached to 60-centimeter-long petioles with pointed and jagged edges.
The Ghotul custom of the Muria and Madia Tribes of Bastar
I did not find Ghotul in Tiriya village but is prevalent in Bastar among Muria and Maria Tribes. There is a very special tribal custom that is often misunderstood, the ghotul, a place of learning for the youth of the Murias tribes. It has long been described as a place of debauchery by the ‘external morality’.
Ghotul is an institution where unmarried boys (called Chellik) and girls (Motiari) spend nights together in an earthen and wooden hut at the outskirt of the village.This regulates prenuptial interest of the tribal youth. It is central to the social and religious life of the Murias. They believe their supreme deity, Lingo, created the first ghotul.
Young “apprentices” are given genuine teaching about the different tribal customs and social responsibilities and are advised to solve some of the social and psychological problems. They are also taught about sexuality.
Lingo, the supreme deity, the heroic ancestor of the tribe and founder of the first Ghotul is at the centre of Ghotul’s conduct. It has an elder facilitator with young, unmarried boys and girls as its members. Girl members of the Ghotul are called as ‘Motiaris’ with a leader ‘Belosa’ and boy members are called ‘Cheliks’ with a leader ‘Siredar’. At this place full of life and happiness, the members were taught lessons of cleanliness, discipline and hard work that remain with them throughout their lives. They were taught to take pride in their appearance, to respect themselves and their elders; above all, they were taught the spirit of service and working hard for the public good.
The Ghotul’s social sanction makes it one of most important social institution in Madia society –no major social activity could happen without participation of Ghotul members. The boys act as acolytes at festivals, the girls as bridesmaids at weddings. This participation continues until death ceremonies in the society. With boys telling stories, asking riddles, reporting daily affairs, planning expeditions and allotment of duties Ghotul is a very much organic place embedded in and nurtured by larger socio-religious landscape of Gond world –a sacred place where no ‘sin’ could be committed. It is of valuable learning for ‘modern civilised’ world to understand how all values practised in Ghotul aimed at deepening the sense of communal property and action. The Madia Gond Ghotuls are different from the Bastar Ghotuls in that boys and girls return to their homes to sleep.
Source - https://www.tribaltoursinindia.com/bastar-the-ghotul-system/
Population
External links
Gallery
Gumalwada cave, Bastar
Tiriya Forest Fountain
Caryota urens or Salphi tree
Salphi beer
Bastar Tribal Home
Bastar Tribal Home
Gond Tribes constructing new House
Muria Tribe House
Muria Tribe Ghotul in South Bastar
The Ghotul custom of the Muria Tribes of Bastar
Wood fencing of a Muria Tribe Home
References
- ↑ https://www.onefivenine.com/india/villages/Bastar/Jagdalpur/Tiriya
- ↑ https://villageinfo.in/chhattisgarh/bastar/jagdalpur/tiriya.html
- ↑ https://villageinfo.in/chhattisgarh/bastar/jagdalpur/tiriya.html
- ↑ अन्तर्भूमौ निपतितं पुनर ऊर्ध्वं परतिष्ठते, पुनस तिर्यक परयात्य आशु पुनर अप्सु निमज्जति (III.170.24); अमरावतिसंकाशं पुरं कामगमं तु तत, अहम अस्त्रैर बहुविधैः परत्यगृह्णं नराधिप (III.170.25)
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