Traditional ironsmiths always on the move. The Gadulia Lohars from Rajasthan live in close-knit communities that travel from village to village.Gadulia Lohras, a nomadic tribe of Rajasthan, have been moving around North India in their beautifully carved wooden carts sporting traditional Rajasthani robes since the 16th century! These are a closely knit community and prefer to live in isolation. Their seclusion had helped them keep their identity relatively uninfluenced by urban technological culture. Since the distant past, their caravans have been wayfaring from village to village and city to city to earn them their livelihood. Today, at the outskirts of the cities, cart-wheels stop where they singularly champion their traditional profession of ironsmithy (loha) which is why they are known as lohars down the ages. According to hearsay, these lohars are the descendants of weapon-makers from the 16th century who used to shape the valiant Rajput swords.
Gadulia Lohars claim that their ancestral home was in Chittorgarh. During the Mughals days, Maharaja Udai Singh used to rule Chittor. Udai Singh was defeated in the wave of Mughal expansion and in 1568 Chittor fell into the hands of the Mughals. Thus people abandoned the fort and fled to the Aravali hills. Maharana Pratap, son of Udai Singh, continued the valiant resistance to the Mughals and recovered some of the lost land of kingdom. Gadulia Lohars were the soldiers of Maharana Pratap’s army who fought the war. Before his death, Maharana Pratap took a pledge from his chiefs that Chittor would not be abandoned to the enemy. But fate had in store otherwise for the Rajputs. They had to give away Chittor to the vast Mughal army. After losing the battle, these Gadulia Lohars vowed to follow five principles till they could liberate the fortress of Chittorgarh. Today, when you visit the fortress, you will find a tablet bearing an inscription in Hindi proclaiming the five principles: Gadulia Lohars vowed that they would not go up to the fort of Chittor until the quila was liberated. They would love a nomadic life and would not live in houses. Furthermore, they pledged not to sleep on cots (charpais) or to light lamps and also not to keep ropes for drawing water from the well.
These Lohars are considered highest among all other nomadic groups of Rajasthan.The male members of the community wear jhavi or angarkhi (jacket) which is collarless. They sport a headgear called Potia which is colourful and designed with dots and flower motifs from the Rajasthani school of art. And they wear the dhoti as a lower garment. All Gadulia Lohars wear nagra jooti or hand-stitched shoes.The dressing of Gadulia Lohar woman are brighter and with bigger motifs. They wear a ghagra (skirt), kanchili (bodice) lugra (mantle) and a pair of nagra shoes.Gadulia Lohar women are especially fond of tattooing.Generally, at the time of birth itself, matches are made amongst the community. On maturity of the bride and bridegroom their marriage is performed and the dates are fixed with the help of a Brahmin who finds out the fright muhurat (auspicious time). The girl’s father demands bride price from the bridegroom which is generally decided upon by the elders of the community. When everything gets settled, nine knots are tied on a thread and one single knot is opened every day from the ninth day prior to the date of marriage. Gadulia Lohars refer to the bridegroom as lada and the bride as ladi.
It has been observed that when the son attains maturity at the age of sixteen, his parents present him a cart and blacksmith’s tools to enable him to lead an independent life. Generally the son’s cart is placed next to his parent’s cart.Gadulia Lohars make plough blades and axe blades of different sizes and dimensions. They also make cooking utensils, hammer and different types of cutting, boring and leveling equipment. To make all these, Gadulia Lohars use a bellow to inflame the oven, levers, anvils etc. they prefer to work with the furnace specially in the winter season when the heat is not hazardous for them. In summer the demand for iron goods is considerably lower too.
Gadulia Lohars have been leading a nomadic life for more than a hundred years. Their nomadic life goes on. Often the wheels of a carvan stop for a longer time in urban settings but always toe ventually move on. Although amidst cultural amalgamation they might have lost some of their traditions and cultural values, their blackish wooden carved carts and bellowing furnances are still to be seen all over the northern parts of India. They have not altogether lost their cultural ethos as this secluded community enjoys the prime Hindu festivals like Holi and Diwali with traditional gaiety. They can be seen encamped on the roadside of big metropolises where, even though the electronic culture looms large, they exist upholding their cultural ethos and live in their cramped carts. Symbolic nomadic nuances!
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