Madhya Pradesh: View the aesthetic side of Dewar, Rabari nomads, which Bhopal museum has showcased for you

Madhya Pradesh: View the aesthetic side of Dewar, Rabari nomads, which Bhopal museum has showcased for you

Rabari women are known for their skillful mirror work embroidery, painting, and clay relief work. Dewar men are proficient in singing. Their women are skilled in marking tattoos.

Staff ReporterUpdated: Friday, January 22, 2021, 12:44 PM IST
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Exhibits on display at Indira Gandhi Rashtriya Manav Sangrahalaya, Bhopal |

BHOPAL: Indira Gandhi Rashtriya Manav Sangrahalaya here has showcased an exhibit on nomadic life of Dewar and Rabari communities with basic information and photographs and videos on its official website and social media pages.

It is part of 32 series of its online exhibition, which began on Thursday. The nomadic life of Dewar community from Chhattisgarh and Rabari from Gujarat has been showcased in museum’s indoor gallery number 2 of Veethi Sankul.

Museum director Praveen Kumar Mishra said collections include traditional household items, ornaments, textiles, and musical instruments. The Rabari households are aesthetically presented with life-size bhunga (a traditional house) laid in a sectional view. The collections from nomadic Dewar are presented with their temporary shelter.

Dewars are found mainly in Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh and known to have moved from their original place Garha Mandla after the fall of Gond state near Jabalpur. Dewar men are proficient in singing and work as minstrels for other communities. “Women are skilled in marking tattoos,” Mishra said. Dewar exhibit also presents abode of their principal deities namely Hinglaj Devi, Budhi Mai, Chaura Devi, and Kasturi Devi. In Navratri, offerings are made to Goddesses for appeasement.

Museum assistant keeper Rajendra Kumar Jhariya said Rabaris are pastoral nomads found in desert plains of Rajasthan and Gujarat. The nomadic life of Rabari is deeply associated with animals they rear. They travel long distances, searching for pastures to feed their animals, and this seasonal movement takes a long course to return to their native place. “Many tribesmen have taken to agriculture along with traditional occupation of animal husbandry,” Jhariya said.

The Rabari women are known for their skilful mirror work embroidery, painting, and clay relief work. Visitors may find a first-hand experience to explore the nomadic life of Rabari tribe through exhibition.

“Dewars prefer to camp by setting tents near rivers, ponds, wells, and under the dense trees outside the village or city and provide minstrel services to people of nearby villages and move to a new place after some time,” Jhariya added. Dewars have started to engage their work of tattooing by visiting the weekly markets.

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