Jangam: An Indigenous And Nomadic Community Of Andhra Pradesh

Abstract

Jangamas are the people who propagate the Shaivaite cult and act as priests for performing religious rites. They also propagate the miracles and powers of Lord Shiva to the lay people. These people are spread in both the states of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana of Indian union. The people of the community move in small bands from place to place by putting up typical tents on the outskirts of the villages and at the inns constructed by the village panchayats. In most of the cases they beg food from the households in the villages. Hunting and making of palm leaf mats was the main avocation.  Decreasing of forest cover, urbanization and invention of plastic goods led some of the community people to shift to hawking plastic pitchers. Along with the hunting and mat making they also go for the foretelling in different ways. Some go for foretelling with parrot, some with palm grandas (taLLA patra grandas), some for alms collecting and some for blowing the coanch in front of every house of the rested village. The street vending was a recent phenomenon. Since they had experience to sell leaf mats on the streets, they could easily adopt to vending plastic utensils. Recently they also adopted the profession of selling balloons for money and for hairs. The community practices its own set of rules for marriages, divorce and settlement of marital disputes.