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Deva Sholigas

Coorg, India

Children of the forest Goddess

Umesh is a charismatic young man from the Deva Sholiga community that resides in the village of Avaragunde close to the border of the Dubare forest and wildlife sanctuary near Sidapura in Kodagu. He is a man who wears many hats with equal pride and capacity – a farmer, autorickshaw driver, community spokesperson and community shaman.

It is the last one (priest, medicine man, healer) that he cherishes the most. The mantle of a priest is a unique social station among this group, one that is hereditary in nature. It is a very demanding role requiring the knowledge and practice of rituals along with adhering to strict dietary and purificatory requirements as occasions demand. Umesh is also a trained exponent of a vocal style called Sobana, peculiar to the Deva Sholigas and a long-standing part of their tradition. It is performed at important community functions. Additionally, he is well versed in native healing practices, possessing a deep knowledge of various plants and herbs used to cure a variety of maladies. He reveals that this knowledge is quite common among almost all members of his community having been passed on over the years their ancestors roamed the forests of Mysore trying to understand its vast and deep secrets.

The Deva Sholiga community of Avaragunde where Umesh lives is a small one with just 49 families. They live and make a living on land given them by the Government (2-4 acres depending on the size of family) over which they enjoy user rights though not ownership through titles or deeds. Most adults of the community work in agriculture (their own farms) and as casual wage earners in the various coffee plantations in Coorg.
They are called Deva Sholigas because they are worshippers of Sholigamma, a female deity associated with forest dwellers who is also their patron Goddess.

Umesh is an 8th generation member of his community descended from a long line of Deva Sholigas who originally hail from the forested hill regions of Chamarajanagar district (BR Hills and Male Maheswara Hills) in southern Karnataka and the adjoining parts of Tamil Nadu. The majority of Deva Sholigas still live in Chamarajanagar district near Mysore, which is close to their original forest homes. Apart from his community in Avaragunde there are a few small groups of Deva Sholigas scattered around Coorg and found mostly in the areas in and around Kushalnagara.

Archeologists think that the Deva Sholigas are an indigenous group who are quite ancient, having discovered gravesites going back to 3000 years. They have been living in the forests for millennia and developed a rather singular way of life and built traditions that revolve around and respect nature. However, Umesh thinks that this glorious legacy is at the cusp of a slow but sure decline with the rapid changes brought on by time and the new mores adopted by their younger generation whose sense of meaning and purpose, hitherto anchored in strong and definable beliefs and practices, is shifting in new directions.