Indira Gandhi Rashtriya Manav Sangrahalaya (IGRMS), in the 75th step of its online exhibition series, presented ‘Mogra Dev: Ek Janjatiya Devta’ on Thursday. In this regard, Director of IGRMS Praveen Kumar Mishra informed that religious beliefs and practices are found in all known contemporary societies. There appears to be no general agreement among scholars as to why people needed religion, or how spirits, gods, and other supernatural beings and forces came into existence, yet there is a general recognition of great variation in the description of religious beliefs and practices. Societies believe in the types of different supernatural beings or forces and the existence of these beings. They also hold different views on the structure or hierarchy of those beings or forces, their actions and what happens to people after death.

 

Various beliefs are also seen in relation to supernatural powers with humans. He then said that the exhibition series is an initiative under the Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav and informed that the belief systems about Mogra Dev prevalent in the Chaudhari tribe of Gujarat are being presented. Shedding light on Mogra Dev, Assistant Keeper, Dr S K Pandey informed that Chaudhary tribe is bifurcated into Mota and Nana clans. Generally, the extended family is more common than the nuclear type family.

 

Chaudharis are mostly Hindu but some of them have converted to Christianity. Hindu Choudhuris believe in various deities such as the god of the hills, Ahindo Dev and the Himariyo Deva, to protect their fields. Kansari Mata is the goddess of corn and is worshipped after harvest. Mogra Dev is another deity who is worshipped in the form of a wooden idol of a crocodile. This exhibition is the final one in this series of exhibitions. Visitors desirous of viewing this exhibition can log on to official Facebook page of IGRMS, its official YouTube.