Indal puja is related to which tribe of Madhya Pradesh?

Question

UnlockIAS · Accepted Answer

Correct — A, Barela. 'Indal' (also written Indar) is the tribal form of the name Indra, the rain-giving deity, and Indal puja is the great vow-fulfilment worship of the Barela — a Bhil sub-group of the Nimar belt of western Madhya Pradesh (Barwani, Khargone, Khandwa), who share the ritual with the closely related Bhilala. The word names both the god and the event.  Indal, performed by a single household, and gaon Indal, performed by an entire village — the first typically when a family's distress has passed, the second in a spell of peace and plenty, so the worship is tied to rain, harvest and thanksgiving rather than to a fixed calendar date.

Why the other options are wrong — (b) The Gond are the largest tribe of Madhya Pradesh, of the Mahakoshal–Satpura belt (Mandla, Dindori, Chhindwara, Betul, Seoni). Their ritual life centres on Bada Dev (Budha Dev) and MPPSC has keyed the Mandwara festival and the Birha folk song to them — but Indal is not part of the Gond round.  (c) A Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Group of the eastern districts (Dindori, Mandla, Balaghat, Shahdol), known for bewar shifting cultivation and godna tattooing. Their observances belong to the eastern forest belt, not to the Bhil cluster of the Narmada's western valley where Indal is performed.  (d) A PVTG of the Gwalior-Chambal region (Sheopur, Shivpuri, Guna, Morena), whose livelihood leans on forest produce. They live at the opposite corner of the state from the Nimar Indal belt.

Concept: Western Madhya Pradesh — Jhabua, Alirajpur, Dhar, Barwani, Khargone, Khandwa — is the Bhil belt, and the Bhil, Bhilala, Barela and Patelia of that belt form one cultural cluster whose religion braids pan-Indian deities into local worship. Indal is the clearest case: Indra becomes Indar becomes Indal, a god of rain and of the good season, honoured not on a fixed festival date but when a vow falls due. The same cluster gives Madhya Pradesh the Bhagoria haat festival in the week before Holi and the Pithora wall paintings made by ritual painters on a household's inner wall after a vow is fulfilled.

State PCS 2026 Q63 — Madhya Pradesh GK PYQ with Answer

State PCS 2026 Q63 — Madhya Pradesh GK PYQ with Answer