GOTUL

Gotul







In Baster, among the Gond and Muriya tribes, the adolescent boys and girls spent their nights in one house where they chose their friends for each other. These friends can be changed regularly or once in a while till they are not married. When they get married they leave the house. This house is known as Gotul. This house use to be in the middle of the village and built by the young people only. Those who live in Gotul, all of them don’t get married with the members of the same Gotul, but they marry from other villages most of the time. According to their religious traditions their Lingo god started Gotul. The purpose of the Gotul was to teach their children social norms and manners and customs. In the families whenever there was any problem they use to go to the Lingo, so Lingo was tired of solving their problems. They thought how long we would be able to solve their family problems. They were fed up with solving their problems, so they started Gotul, and told their children to stay there and learn ways and customs and thus the tradition of Gotul came into being.






In Gotul young boys and girls of 13 to 16 years of age from village could get admission they use to meet in Gotul after having their dinner. Gotul is ancient tradition and culture of the Adivasi of Baster. It was a center of education for the young people. In Gotul these young men and women learn to live a disciplined life. They also learn to maintain unity in community, cooperation in farming, collecting forest produces and hunting. To maintain the discipline, there were rules and regulation in Gotul. Their use to be a committee of 13 members, the chief of the Gotul is known as Manjhi or Sirdar. The boy members were known as Chelik and girl members were known as Motiyarin. All the members have different responsibilities. Gotul is still going on in some of the areas in Baster. The modernization and interference of non-tribal people have destroyed the tradition of Gotul. It has to be saved. The Adivasi ancient traditional system Gotul is going to be vanished due to modernization and educational system. The young Adivasis have to work hard to save these traditional practices because it is the part of their culture.






Gotul is a place of Adivasi unity and discipline .On the border of Chhattisgarh in Maharastra, there is a village known as Kachhargarh, the Lingo Deo started the Gotul and it spread all over the world among the tribal. In the Gotul young people dance, play and sing at the same time they discuss about their social life and its growth. All of them had to maintain discipline; if some one breaks the discipline then they are punished at Gotul only. Gotul gives a chance to the boys and girls to chose their life partners in a traditional ways. Here you can find musical instruments, which they learn to play. Gotul tradition has been wrongly presented by some of the educated people, but Gotul is a way of life and good for development of Adivasi young generation.