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The Konda Veduru bamboo variety (Dendrocalamus strictus), often referred to as the ‘Green Gold’, plays a significant role in the cultural, nutritional, and economic practices of the Konda Reddi tribe.
Konda Veduru Bamboo
Native to the Eastern Ghats, primarily found in the Godavari river valley (spreads across Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Odisha and Chhattisgarh).
Konda Veduru bamboo shoots is a staple food for the Konda Reddi tribe.
Known for its nutritional benefits, rich in proteins, amino acids, vitamins, and iron, with women traditionally harvesting the Bamboo shoots.
Konda Reddi tribe
Konda Reddis is a Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Group inhabiting the banks of the river Godavari in Andhra Pradesh.
The primary religion practiced by the Konda Reddi is Folk Hinduism, characterized by local traditions and cults of local deities worshiped at the community level.
The family is patriarchal and patrilocal.
Monogamy is a rule, but polygamous families are also found.
Political Organization:
They have their own institution of social control called ‘Kula Panchayat’.
Each village has a traditional headman called ‘Pedda Kapu’.
The office of the headman is hereditary, and the headman is also the Pujari (priest) of the village deities.
They are primarily shifting cultivators and largely depend on flora and fauna of forest for their livelihood. They cultivate largely jowar, which is their staple food.
The Konda Reddi tribe’s way of life largely revolves around the cow, which is a source of sustenance for them.
These tribal people are aggressive in the cultivation of commercial crops such as cashew, niger, chilli and cotton under Podu cultivation method
The tribe has adopted a unique circular-shaped architecture for housing. The houses, built with circular mud walls and thatched roofs, resemble the Bhunga architecture of Gujarat’s Kachchh region.
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