The Original Tribal Religion
The original Dhodia had their
own form of religion wherein
they prayed to their gods and kul
devta individually. Usually a tree
is a kind of temple of residence
for the "gaam devta". The
individual pieces of stones
represent the various gods and
spirits of the village. Shown on
the right side is the Gaam devta
of one such Dhodia village.
Offerings are made at the abode
of the gaam devta especially at
the times of harvest and other
important festive days. The local
Bhagat ( priest ) is sometimes
invited to perform the pooja.
However often just the head of
the family/elders in the family
perform the pooja.
Bhutdada or Khatra is also
another prominent diety.
Another Dhodia diety who is
must visit is the Kul Devta or
Bramhdev. Every family has their
own kuldevta.
A majority of the Dhodia believe
in and are devoted to "Kanasari"
or "Kanseri" (Goddess of food).
They celebrate the "Kanseri"
annually at harvest. The
"Kaneseri" Goddess means the
Goddess "Annapurna and also as
umiya mata". The stones are the
external representation of these
spiritual powers and are found
in all Dhodia ancestral homes.
Dhodia also pray to a diety called
mavli.
Newly weds in the family seek
the blessings of the Gaam devta,
Kuldevta, Kanseri and also mavli.
Hinduism
Later in the time under the
influence of the surrounding
mostly Hindu communities, many
Dhodia gradually accepted the
Hindu gods and slowly adjusted
to called themselves Hindus. Most
of the modern day Dhodia follow
Hinduism and celebrate many of
the Hindu festivals with fervour.
These include: diwali, holi,
rakshabandhan and navratri.
Under the growing influence of
various Hindu sects, many Dhodia
have adopted various faiths
including Mokshmargi, Sanatan
Dharma, Swaminarayan, Asharam
Bapu and neumerous others.
These sects have had a
considerable influence and have
changed the Dhodia lifestyle in
many ways and many of the old
cultural practices are being
changed. The traditional trible
culture is rapidly disintegrating
to create followers of Hinduism.
Hinduism still puts the tribals
under no category (Brahmin,
Kshatriya, Vaishya and Shurda).
While a majority of Hindu would
find it good that the Tribals call
themselves Hindu's, when it
comes to social integration in the
terms of accepting the Tribal Girls
and Boys for marriage etc. the
tribals are still put as outcaste
and are not accepted (even
among many of the educated
section that are open to
intercaste marriages).
Christianity
Under the influence of the
christian missionaries, some
Dhodia have adopted christianity,
however the number of Dhodia
christians is miniscule and largely
everyone follows hinduism.
'આજ જ ભવિશ્યના જગત ને બદલવાનો દિવસ છે' આ વેબસાઇટ નો ઉદ્દેશ્ય, જે લોકો ગુજરાતની અવગણેલી આદિવસી પ્રજામા શિક્ષણ માટે મદદ કરવા ઇચ્છે છે તેમને એકત્રિત કરવાનો છે . આ વેબનો બીજો ઉદ્દેશ્ય ધોડિયા સમાજની ભવ્યતા બતાવવાનો છે. મે ધોડિયા ભાષા, ઇતિહાસ, માન્યતા, સાન્સ્ક્રુતિક જિવનનો ઓનલાઇન દસ્તાવેજ બનાવ્યો છ