Explained: Who are the Tharu tribals of the UP terai whose home and land the govt wants to open to tourists?
Description
Context: The Uttar Pradesh government has recently embarked upon a scheme to take the unique culture of its ethnic Tharu tribe across the world.
The intention is to put Tharu villages on the tourism map, and to create jobs and bring economic independence to the tribal population.
About tharus:
The Tharus live in both India and Nepal.
In the Indian terai, they live mostly in Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, and Bihar.
The community belongs to the Terai lowlands, amid the Shivaliks or lower Himalayas.
Most of them are forest dwellers, and some practice agriculture.
The word tharu is believed to be derived from sthavir, meaning followers of Theravada Buddhism.
Members of the tribe survive on wheat, corn and vegetables grown close to their homes.
According to the 2011 census, the Scheduled Tribe population in Uttar Pradesh was more than 11 lakh; this number is estimated to have crossed 20 lakh now.
They speak various dialects of Tharu, a language of the Indo-Aryan subgroup, and variants of Hindi, Urdu, and Awadhi. In central Nepal, they speak a variant of Bhojpuri, while in eastern Nepal, they speak a variant of Maithili.
Tharus worship Lord Shiva as Mahadev, and call their supreme being “Narayan”, who they believe is the provider of sunshine, rain, and harvests.
Tharu women have stronger property rights than is allowed to women in mainstream North Indian Hindu custom.
Standard items on the Tharu plate are bagiya or dhikri.
