Chenchu Tribe

Chenchu Tribe Latest News

Recently, Chenchu tribals in Amrabad Tiger Reserve opposed relocation from forest areas, citing livelihood concerns. 

About Chenchu Tribe

• The Chenchus primarily reside 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.
• The Chenchus have been classified as the Proto Australoid group.
• Language: They speak variants of Telugu, the Dravidian language of the region.
• Society 
  • 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. 
  • 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. 
• 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 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.
• Religion and Belief

• • Chenchus worship a number of deities. Chenchus have also adopted certain religious practices from Hindus.
  • They mainly believe in Bhagaban Taru who resides in the sky and Garelamai Sama, who is the Goddess of forest.
  • 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.

Source: TT

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