Chenchu Tribe

Chenchu Tribe Latest News

The Telangana government recently decided to sanction 10,000 Indiramma houses to Chenchu tribal families.

About Chenchu Tribe

• The Chenchus are a food-gathering tribe primarily residing in the Nallamalai forests of Andhra Pradesh.
• They are one of the Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups (PVTGs) in Andhra Pradesh.
• They are also found in Telangana, Karnataka, and Odisha.
• Language: Their native language (also called Chenchu) belongs to the Dravidian language family.Many also speak Telugu. 
• A Chenchu village is known as “Penta“. Each penta consists of a few huts that are spaced apart and are grouped together based on kinship patterns. 
  • The close relatives live nearby and the distant ones farther away. 
  • Their homes consist of few belongings and are generally sparse and spartan in appearance.
• Small conjugal families predominate, women taking equal rank with men and marrying only upon maturity.
• “Peddamanishi” or the village elder, is generally the authority to maintain social harmony in a family or a village. 
• Their rituals are few and simple; religious and political specializations are slight. 
• Livelihood: 
  • The Chenchu live life with exemplary simplicity. Most of them still gather food from the forest and roam in it to find things to meet their needs.
  • The bow and arrow and a small knife are all the Chenchus possess to hunt and live.
  • The Chenchus collect forest products like roots, fruits, tubers, beedi leaf, mohua flower, honey, gum, tamarind and green leaves and make a meagre income from it by selling these to traders and government cooperatives.
  • Though at times they work as forest labourers, they mostly prefer to fall back on their native skills to hunt and gather food.
• Religion: Chenchus worship a number of deities. Chenchus have also adopted certain religious practices from Hindus.
• For ages, the Chenchus have been associated with the famous Srisailam temple (dedicated to Lord Shiva and Devi Brahmaramba) in Andhra Pradesh, situated at the heart of Chenchu land. 
  • The Chenchus enjoy special privileges at Srisailam temple.

Chenchu Tribe FAQs

Q1: Which state Chenchu tribe belongs to?

Ans: They primarily reside in the Nallamalai forests of Andhra Pradesh.

Q2: The Chenchus primarily reside in which forest region?

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Ans: Nallamalai Forests

Q3: The Chenchus are historically associated with which famous temple?

Ans: Srisailam Temple

Source: TOI