SHANTARAM CHINTYA TUMBADA-WARLI ART-Maharashtra India acohol, festivities, God, Goddesses (SRT 162)

In the Warli tribe tadi is extracted from palm trees, it is the tadi-tapper’s job to collect the sap from the trees. In the tribal villages, it is a morning ritual for tadi-tappers in non-rainy seasons to climb 30–50-foot-high palm trees and fill up their small earthen pots that are fastened to the sliced tip of an unopened palm flower. They climb the tree twice a day, in the morning and afternoon. Songs of intoxication in chorus that invoke all the Gods and Goddesses of their tribe to attend their family wedding and other rituals to bless and protect the tribals from the evil spirits. The lyrics that include the God of nature and God of toddy, in a way, sums up the Warlis’ life in their native environment. Any documentation of the tribe is incomplete without taking into account the complex role alcohol plays in their daily living and their intimate relationship with the forests.