Dhodia are an

Adivasi The Adivasi (also transliterated as Adibasi) are heterogeneous tribal groups across the Indian subcontinent. The term is a recent invention from the 20th century and is now widely used as a self-designation by groups classified as Scheduled Tr ...

people who have been placed in the Indian communities recognition, under Schedule Tribes. The majority of the Dhodia

tribe The term tribe is used in many different contexts to refer to a category of human social group. The predominant worldwide use of the term in English is in the discipline of anthropology. The definition is contested, in part due to conflict ...

s are located in the southern part of

Gujarat Gujarat () is a States of India, state along the Western India, western coast of India. Its coastline of about is the longest in the country, most of which lies on the Kathiawar peninsula. Gujarat is the List of states and union territories ...

(

Navsari Navsari is the ninth biggest city in the state of Gujarat in India. It is the administrative headquarters of Navsari District. Navsari is between Surat and Mumbai. It is a twin city of Surat, 37 km to the north. At the 2011 Census of Ind ...

Surat Surat (Gujarati Language, Gujarati: ) is a city in the western Indian States and territories of India, state of Gujarat. The word Surat directly translates to ''face'' in Urdu, Gujarati language, Gujarati and Hindi. Located on the banks of t ...

and

Valsad Valsad (Pronunciation: �alsɑɖ, historically known as Bulsar, is a town and a municipality in Valsad district of the Indian state of Gujarat. It is the district headquarters of Valsad district. Valsad is located north of Vapi and shares bor ...

districts),

Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu is a union territory in India. The territory was constituted through the merger of the former territories of Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu. Plans for the proposed merger were announced by th ...

Madhya Pradesh Madhya Pradesh (; ; ) is a state in central India. Its capital is Bhopal and the largest city is Indore, Indore. Other major cities includes Gwalior, Jabalpur, and Sagar, Madhya Pradesh, Sagar. Madhya Pradesh is the List of states and union te ...

Maharashtra Maharashtra () is a state in the western peninsular region of India occupying a substantial portion of the Deccan Plateau. It is bordered by the Arabian Sea to the west, the Indian states of Karnataka and Goa to the south, Telangana to th ...

Karnataka Karnataka ( ) is a States and union territories of India, state in the southwestern region of India. It was Unification of Karnataka, formed as Mysore State on 1 November 1956, with the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, 1956, States Re ...

and

Rajasthan Rajasthan (; Literal translation, lit. 'Land of Kings') is a States and union territories of India, state in northwestern India. It covers or 10.4 per cent of India's total geographical area. It is the List of states and union territories of ...

. In

, they are found mainly in the district of

Thane Thane (; previously known as Thana, List of renamed Indian cities and states#Maharashtra, the official name until 1996) is a metropolitan city located on the northwestern side of the list of Indian states, state of Maharashtra in India and on ...

. They speak

Dhodia language Dhodia are an Adivasi people who have been placed in the Indian communities recognition, under Schedule Tribes. The majority of the Dhodia tribes are located in the southern part of Gujarat (Navsari, Surat and Valsad districts), Dadra and Nagar H ...

, which has some unique words, as well as some words influenced by

Gujarati Gujarati may refer to: * something of, from, or related to Gujarat, a state of India * Gujarati people, the major ethnic group of Gujarat * Gujarati language, the Indo-Aryan language spoken by them * Gujarati languages, the Western Indo-Aryan sub- ...

and

Marathi Marathi may refer to: *Marathi people, an Indo-Aryan ethnolinguistic group of Maharashtra, India **Marathi people (Uttar Pradesh), the Marathi people in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh *Marathi language, the Indo-Aryan language spoken by the Mar ...

.People of India Maharshtra Volume XXX Part One edited by B.V Bhanu, B.R Bhatnagar, D.K Bose, V.S Kulkarni and J Sreenath pages 529-535

Religion and customs

Most of the dhodia believe in traditional religious practice

The majority of Dhodia people worship Khatra and Nature, while some follow Hinduism. The Dhodia community also has several subcastes or 'Kul' within it. Dhodiya clan have clan deity bhavani mata and kul dev bharam dev.they have yearly worship on clan temple. Dhodiya also worship chosath jogini and bagla brahmchari.. Baliya dev.. Dhodiya have death ritual called parjan every two years in which all clan gathers for ancestors rituals. Dhodia Females traditionally wear 'Kachhedo' or it called 'Dhadku' type of saree which mostly gives resembles of Marathi saree.

Festivals

They celebrate festivals that other Hindus do. Diwali, Holi are some examples. The majority of Dhodia believe in and are devoted to "Kanasari" or "Kanseri" (Goddess of food). They celebrate the "Kanseri" festival annually at harvest. The "Kanseri" Goddess is otherwise known as Goddess "Annapurna" by many Hindus. The Dhodia also celebrate "Divaso". Vagh baras is also celebrated in a unique fashion in some Dhodia villages where men colour themselves in stripes representing the Vagh( tiger) and others as plain white or other colours denoting cattle. The tiger chases the cattle. Finally at the end of the sport the village inhabitants eat together and celebrate. During five days of Diwali they celebrate their folk dance called Gheria. Also they make Bhakhras for pooja rituals to their Kuldev on this day. Bhakhra

References

External links

*
Dhodia Website

Dhodia FaceBook PageDhodia FaceBook GroupDhodia CommunityRDGDhodia MatrimonyDhodia Blog
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20150227123952/https://0de6a58964b2b3c6e429c65b6c9cc7851deeac5e.googledrive.com/host/0BzQepCWvI7qxflo1VDZQdVBnMTBncXhmWV9SRHNldm1PTEtNNnc5eS0zak5LdkpUcVVhUFU/Default.html Dhodia Book 2:ઢોડિયા જાતી: બોલી,સાહિત્ય અને સંસકૃતિ - સ્વ.શ્રી મંછારામભાઈ નારણદાસ પટેલ]
Dhodia Book 3:વડલો
{{DEFAULTSORT:Adivasi, Dhodia Social groups of Gujarat Social groups of Maharashtra Scheduled Tribes of Dadra and Nagar Haveli Tribal communities of Gujarat Tribal communities of Maharashtra Scheduled Tribes of Gujarat Scheduled Tribes of Daman and Diu Scheduled Tribes of Goa

Religion and customs

Festivals

See also

References

External links