Printed Poster | Gaddi Tribe (33x43cm)

Gaddi | Himachal Pradesh | Tribal Poster

The word ‘Gaddi’ has been derived from ‘Gadar’ a Sanskrit word ‘gadhern’ where Gaddis are inhabited and a term in hindi use for shepherds. Some views are commonly held among these folks like Kailash is the throne (gadi) of the Lord Shiva. Therefore,those people who took refuge and settled in Brahmaur came to be referred as Gaddis. They also believe in supernatural powers of soil spirits, mountain spirits, forest spirits and tree worship, and water spirits. The Naag and Devi cults still have a powerful hold among Gaddis.

Their ancient language is ‘tankani’ which was verbal while the present language is ‘gadiali’- a member of pahari language family and is a mixture of Sanskrit, Punjabi, Hindi, Urdu, and English.

The community is famous for colorful woven handicrafts originally made to protect themselves from freezing conditions. Sheep and goat are considered as property of the Gaddi; ( The flock of 300- 400 heads is referred to as ‘dhan’ while that consisting of 800-1200 heads is called ‘kand’). Sheep wool is used for making various woolen articles; and skin is used for making kharchi and other useful products. The shawls made for males are of one colour and in black and white check, whereas shawls of females are woven in multi-coloured designs.

On the occasion of marriage the red coloured ‘Luancha’ and a colorful printed ‘Luanchadi’ are put on by the groom and the bride respectively, as per the belief that they symbolize Lord Shiva and Goddess Parvati, who are believed to have put on these at the time of their marriage

The shepherding Gaddi tribe have a huge bank of indigenous knowledge systems of ethnobotanical medicines which they often use during their travels like they wash the blankets with the black round fruit known as ‘Ritha’ in hindi and ‘goon’ or ‘rethe’ in gaddi language or crushed Batola leaves which is applied on external wounds to speed up the healing process.

The Gaddhis have coexisted with the ecology around them for generations but this valuable knowledge bank is getting erased as shepherding as a profession is dying.