Bhubaneswar: The ST & SC Development Department has taken up a virtual tour to Odisha State Tribal Museum on every Sunday. This Sunday i.e. on 19th December the visitors can visit the life and culture of the Didayi Community of Malkangiri by opening the Facebook and Twitter pages @stscdev, @scstrti, said Director SCSTRTI Prof. (Dr.) A. B. Ota.
The Didayi Community is found only in Odisha. The Didayi belongs to Proto-Australoid racial stock and speak a language that is included in the Austroasiatic language family. They were known by themselves as Gnatre in the recent past and are called Didayi by their neighbours, at present. They have a numerically small population residing in the lap of the Eastern Ghats, in the Kondakamberu hills in Malkangiri district of Odisha. They are mostly shifting and wetland cultivators but supplement their income through forest produce collection and horticulture.
Their myths and legends recall their relationship with their neighbouring community, the Bonda, Didayis are polytheists and their theological pantheon includes a number of supernatural beings. They belive in mother Earth and her consort Ant-hill. They believe in a number of Gods and Goddess like Buno Bhairo and Nanagiri. A number of festivals are celebrated by the Didayi throughout the year for different purposes. Some of the important festivals are Lendi Pande, Ghia Pande, Siboloya Hia etc.
