![]() ![]() Also, a list of firsts in the community will be compiled for future records.” Founder of the academy Manjai V Mohan said, “ The academy will collect data about the community and its important personalities. On May 15, 1989, the Badagas gathered in large numbers and took out a rally in Ooty town to show their solidarity. The Badagas, a predominant community in the Nilgiris, have been celebrating May 15 as ‘Badaga Day’ since 1989. UDHAGAMANDALAM: To mark the 25th ‘Badaga Day’, the community members launched on Tuesday the ‘ Academy for Badaga Culture‘ (ABC), a trust which will focus on many things including setting up of a museum for the community’s archives. Source: Badagas take fight for scheduled tribe status to Madras high court – The Times of Indiaĭate Visited: Sun 20:56:00 GMT+0100 (CET) In 1931, they were classified as important primitive tribals of southern India. The 1901 census classified them as tribals and the 1911 census denoted Badagas as Hindu animist tribals having a tribal mother tongue. ![]() The Badagas are classified as Backward Class in Tamil Nadu through constitutional orders. ![]() UDHAGAMANDALAM: They’ve been fighting to regain their lost status as tribals from the 1970s, and on Tuesday the Badagas, an indigenous community in the Nilgiris, filed a petition in the Madras High court to demand that they be included in the list of scheduled tribes. In fact, even the proverbs of the Badagas evoke this ethos – for e.g : “Hennogiri, mannogiri” (A daughter’s / sister’s curse will turn the soil barren). Since the Badagas have been mainly agriculturists, the Badaga women’s ethos is closely connected to the soil. They till the soil, harvest the produce, collect fire – wood and water, and tend the cows, in addition to looking after their families. Traditional Badaga women are very hardworking, and are the mainstay of the family and the community. Also, there is the practice of ‘hengava nadathodu” – a tradition of giving a daughter / sister material, emotional and moral support throughout her life. There is no stigma attached to widows in fact they are part of the mainstream community, and in the fore – front of auspicious functions like engagement and wedding coremonies. The high status of Badaga women perhaps derives from three main factors – the absence of a dowry – system, divorce by mutual consent, and widow-re-marriage. It is significant that though the Badagas are a patriarchal society, their women are held in high esteem. In fact, the chief festival of the Badagas, Hethai Habba, is centred around ‘Hethai’, a woman imbued with divine powers, and who was subsequently deified. The Badaga woman is the epitome of ‘Shakthi’, and many of their festivals, legends, ballads and folk – tales are centred around women. The title is only a rough translation of Badaga woman-hood, for there is no exact English translation for Sathiya – the nearest words are blessed or divine. ![]()
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