Research

Tales from the Forests of Gadchiroli

Gadchiroli district of Maharashtra is a treasure trove of tribal culture. Here, one finds communities that have co-existed with their natural contexts for centuries. The project, “Tribal Tales of Gadchiroli District” was a step towards documenting the rich heritage of the Madia, Halbi, Gond, and Pardhaan tribes of the Etaplli and Bhamragad talukas of this district. This project was funded and initiated by the Integrated Tribal Development Project Office of Bhamragad, chaired by IAS Shubham Gupta.

A set of three books (One for the Madias, one for the Gonds and Pardhaan, and one for the Halbis) was published as a part of the project by the Project Office. The first step of distribution to various Government offices of the country has already taken place, we now await for a second and more private phase of publication. We hope to make these books available to everyone. The stories shared in the books have changed our ways of looking at the tribal culture as well as our contemporary lifestyle. The district has a lot to teach the rest of the country and we hope that these books will be one of the many steps in that direction.

Madia Tribe

The Madias are declared as one of the Particularly Vulnerable Tribes of the State by the Government of Maharashtra. They have stuck to their core tribal lifestyle for generations and have strong faith in it. They inhabit the dense forests of the districts and have a deep religious, spiritual, economic, and cultural connection with them. The first book of our series celebrates the Madia tribe in their current contexts. Through the twelve stories, we have documented their lifestyle, aspirations, conflicts, challenges, and traditions.

Gond and Pardhan Tribe

The Gonds have been the ruling tribe of Central India. They built formidable forts, devised complex economic and socio-cultural practices, and along the way developed a distinct language, culture, and religion. To date, Gond kings are the spiritual leaders of all the people of Gondwana. The Gond ethos was preserved for generations through the art of Pardhaans. Pardhaans were the advisors to the Gond. through their visual and performed arts, they passed Gond values, knowledge, folklore, and governance systems from one generation to another.

The second book of the series focuses on the routine, politics, and culture of both these tribes.

Halbi Tribe

Halbis, though not residing in large numbers in the Gadchiroli district, are a major tribe of central India, right from Orissa to East Gujarat. Halbis are a unique Indo-Aryan tribe living alongside the Gond and Madias, who are predominantly Dravidian. They have managed their vast communities and geographies through the highly sophisticated political organization system of the Halbi Mahasabhas. The last book of the series focuses on the lives of the Bastariya Halbis of Gadchiroli. The book highlights their connections with the forests around them, as well as their cultural nuclei of Bastar.

Indira Awas Yojana

The Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana called initially as the Indira Awas Yojana, is one of the longest-running policies of the Central Government. It provides subsidized, disaster-resilient, and maintenance-friendly homes to the needy population of the country. The framework of the policy is highly empowering and democratic. It allows the beneficiary to use their own choice of materials, it bans contractor lobbies and it leaves the design to the individual beneficiary, thus expecting to incorporate local architectural features in the homes built.

However, the on-ground translation of the policy is highly flawed. This is due to the lower-tier government officials trying to enforce the use of certain materials (cement in particular) over the more traditional ones. Insufficient budgeting, lack of awareness of the potential of local natural materials of construction, an approach that is target-driven rather than need-based, a certain kind of design being enforced by the implementation officers, and corruption have resulted in massive flaws in the process of the Yojana. This in turn has resulted in the mass destruction of the once diverse and context-sensitive architectural typologies of the country.

It was when the government started seeing the gaps in the Yojana, that it decided to seek help in the betterment of the implementation process. Research partners like the UNDP were appointed as the head of this investigation, along with local partners in five target states. In Maharashtra, the local investigator was Ar. Urmila Rajadhyaksha. We partnered with her to come up with a report that suggested a participatory, environment-sensitive, and structurally sound implementation process to match the spirit of the written Yojana. Around 70 villages were documented throughout the state of Maharashtra in various districts to understand the traditional construction processes and the status of the PMAY houses. Following are the key learnings from the documentation process

Palghar, Thane

Being a coastal district, Palghar sees drastic changes in landscapes as one goes away from the coast. With the slightest change in landscape, there are corresponding changes in the architecture. Palghar sees mostly wattle and daub and timber-framed houses on the coast, while adobe houses on the river plains and stone houses on the hills.

Vidharbha

The Easternmost frontier of Maharashtra comprising of Gondia, Nagpur, Chandrapur, Bhandara, and Gadhiroli districts. This region is known for its dense forests and alluvial soils, which have resulted in some of the best cob houses we have seen. The form of the houses, techniques of making cob, planning and aesthetics, changes according to regional variations. The core values of cob buildings are very much alive here

Varahad

This is the agrarian, black cotton soil belt of Eastern Maharashtra. Once a prosperous region, its now infamous for farmer suicides. A similar disparity is seen in the construction of houses here. The region has lost its traditional identity as villages are becoming desolate. Incomplete, badly cured, and crumbling cement houses dot the region. However, there are traces of the once flourishing cob Wada houses which can serve as a lesson for future policy

Jalgaon

The fertile district of Jalgaon has beautiful adobe houses still standing tall among the newer cement houses in villages. The mud flat roof technique of “Dhaba” is the nostalgic binding factor in all the traditional houses here. The fertile sand loam soil of the region makes it possible to have these roofs over the otherwise adobe walls.

Pune

One sees a large diversity of techniques used in the districts of Pune and Ahmednagar, due to the diversity of landscapes. On the Sahyadri slopes, dominated by the Western Ghats rainforests, people used a range of timber in the sophisticated Wadas built. As we move to the plains, the technology shifts to adobe. We also see some extravagant brickwork here

Nanded

The district is known for its elaborate courtyard homes called wadas. As we move to the Kinwat hills, stone homes dominate villages. The plains have more brick masonry in lime typologies.

Latur, Osmanabad

The earthquake-stricken region of Marathwada has seen waves of experiments with earthquake-resilient rehabilitation homes. However, the traditional and technologically sound basalt stone buildings still stand proof of the ability of the vernacular architecture to resist earthquakes. Badly made stone homes have collapsed, but some of the very old Wadas of the region are still standing.

Aurangabad

Extensive use of random rubble stone masonry and lime is characteristic of the region. The region is characterized by both flat and sloping roofs, depending on the context of the village. Densely arranged villages of the region are a measure to conserve buildable land in an otherwise black cotton-dominant landscape.

Jalna

The district is characterized by deep black cotton soils. As a counter to this, people have been building with timber frames. This technology is still active today as it provides a viable and cost-effective alternative to concrete piles.

Beed

The Multistory Wadas of brick and ashlar stone, stand as a testimony to the once prosperous Beed district. Large mansions made of thin Lakholi bricks are present in every village. Villages also boast a 'Gadhi' or a mud fort, which belonged to the Zamindaar. However, the district has now lost its architectural identity because of loss of skill and resources

Hingoli, Parbani

The large and prosperous agrarian regions of Hingoli and Parbhani have vastly eradicated their traditional building fabrics from their villages. Rarely one sees traditional houses of random rubble stone masonry and the local Pandhri Mati.

Ratnagiri

The district shows wide-ranged uses of Latertic soils and Laterite stone in the construction of local houses. Lateritic soil is used to make adobe and cob homes. It is also used to make amazing mud plasters and mortars. Sloping roofs with sophisticated wood joineries are an identity of the region.

Umbilical Connections

The Umbilical connection workshop was responsible for the crystallization of Design Jatra’s philosophy. Before we decided to work intensively with the tribals of the Palghar district, it was essential for us to understand the tribal society at large. We needed to understand the tribal way of thinking, their core values, their aspirations, ways of livelihood, ways of building, relationships with their context and ideas of philosophy.

A group of around 20 students from various schools of architecture would visit the village of Veti Murbad, in May for three consecutive years to document various aspects of tribal life for three years. The first year was dedicated to the documentation of the village, the second year was dedicated to the documentation of the context and the forests, and the third year was reserved for the documentation of rural economics and livelihood.

Learnings from these documentations helped pave the way for future actions like the formation of self-help groups, the establishment of the Tokar Bamboo eco-art initiative, and the mobilization of village youth against the corruption in the village panchayat.

The documentation is soon to be published as a set of small documentaries focussing on Jal, Jungle, Jameen, Janvar, Jan, and Ghar, the six key aspects of tribal life.

Jal

The most important aspect of tribal rural life is water. Villages have been managing water for irrigation, domestic use, and transportation generations and the wisdom of water still governs rural landscape planning.

Jungle

Tribal without forests is an unimaginable scenario. The deep relationship tribals share with the forest around them is the single most valuable takeaway from the tribal culture. Tribes have rituals not just for the extraction of resources from the forest but also for their conservation. Our postmodern society can benefit from learning a bit from these relationships.

Jameen

Tribals of Dahanu taluka, have recently (around four to five generations ago) accepted farming as their way of life. Hence their idea of ownership of land is still very open and socialistic. Tribals see land as a part of a larger ecosystem rather than something that belongs to a particular person. It is through this understanding, that they farm on it. Hence, tribal farms tend to be very different than those of the more agrarian communities.

Janvar

With the forests come animals. Not just wild but domesticated ones also. Tribals have something called “semi-domesticated” livestock. In this case, they leave the animal on their own, once they are done with their function in the household. Cows are left in the forest post monsoons, dogs are never leashed, and cats are not even seen as pets. Tribals consider the leopard as their ultimate protector and other wild animals too have a place in their myths.

Jan

Tribal communities work on strong bonds that they share with every individual. They have a strong gift economy within themselves, which ensures the survival of their community as a whole. Tribal economics, philosophy, and livelihood are seen through these communities. Though now fractured, the essence of the tribal community is still seen in the village of Veti Murbad.

Ghar

Tribal houses are made completely of natural materials. They are cyclic and are completely biodegradable. The workshop also documented the local wattle and daub technology in detail to understand its details.