Kolam tribe

Kolam
(Southern Region)
The tribe of Kolam is living in the Adilabad district of Andhra Pradesh with a population
of 4,409 (1991 census) and their sex ratio is 1:1.
Their physical features are Dravidian (black skin color, medium stature, black eye and
hair).
Kolam in the eastern part of the Adilabad district speak Telugu and the rest of tem speak
Marathi. Both the languages are of Dravidian language family. In the variety of spoken
language, Kolam living in adjoining regions cannot communicate with each other.
It is a patriarchal society (society headed by a male member).
Birth Ceremony
No special ceremony is performed. They worship Ayak (the main god of the tribe) at the
time of the child’s birth.
Marriage Ceremony
Kolam is an exogamous group (all those who belong to the same gotra are considered as
brothers and sisters). Service marriage is prevalent, but elopement marriage (due to the
inability to pay bride wealth) and consent marriages also exist. Paiya (bride wealth) is the
locus of the settlement of the marriage. Ayak is worshipped and after the completion of
the marriage (lasting four days), khe dinner is given to the community. The social
organization of the Kolams is bound to a system of exogamous patrilineal descent group,
each of which is associated with an ancestral territory and a common cult culture.
Death Ceremony
They burn the dead body. Khe (dinner) is offered to Ayak and on the third day Che ritual
(departure of the soul from this materialistic world) is celebrated with khe.
Religion
Intimately linked with the system of localized patrilineal clan is cult of a deity known in
Kolami as Ayak (in Gond, Ayak is known as Bhimal and in Telugu as Bhimana). Within
a territory of the Ayak, there is a shrine of Ayak. In the chaos created by the expulsion of
the Kolams from the areas of reserved forest, these Ayak shrines (every clan has its
Ayak) remain the only focal points of clan unity. For all Kolams, unless totally
detribalized, return to the ancestral Ayak shrine for the performance of important rites,
when the living members of the clan are united in worship and the dead of the clan are
propitiated with offering. The care of each Ayak shrine is the responsibility of the clan
priest, whose office is hereditary in the male line. Once every three or four years the
symbols of Ayak may be taken on a circuit and visit all the Kolam villages within a
radius of twenty or more miles. Ayak is considered as a benevolent god.
Pujari (a member of the Gond tribe) does all sacred duties of Kolams. Kolams are very
far from Hindu deities, yet they worship Sun (a Hindu god).
Economy
Kolams still practice slash and burn cultivation and their agricultural methods are
primitive. They still use a small hoe with an iron spike affixed by the means of a socket
to a knee-shaped shaft. They also use the hoe for digging up edible roots (a good source
of earning). Their economy is a victim of poverty, due to their primitive life style.
Property is inherited from father to son.
Education
1.9% of Kolams are taking primary education, 0.7% are taking junior education. One
primary and two junior high schools are in their locality. Poverty is the main cause of the
unawareness for education.
Kolams living in Adilabad district and Gond (an advanced tribe) are living near to each
other. So a mixture culture is visible among them. They have started a settled and
equipment based agriculture with the help from Panchayati raj system and the
cooperative societies of the government. Due to living in the highlands of Adilabad,
modernity is at a very low profile.