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What is the most important festival of the Toda tribe of the Nilgiris?
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Answer: Option C — Modhweth
Detailed Solution
Modhweth (also spelt Modhweth or Mudhweth) is the most important festival of the Toda tribe of the Nilgiri hills of Tamil Nadu. It is celebrated every year in December-January and marks the New Year of the Todas.
During Modhweth, the Todas gather at their sacred temples and pray to their gods for prosperity, good health and the well-being of their buffaloes, which are central to Toda life. Their sacred dairy temples are built in the same shape as their traditional huts. The festival includes prayers, songs and dances, and the people wear their traditional embroidered shawls.
The Todas are a small pastoral tribe, numbering only about 1,500 to 2,000 people, who live in small settlements called "munds" in the Nilgiri hills. Their life and religion revolve around the buffalo, which provides milk, ghee and other products. Their traditional homes, called "dogles", are half-barrel-shaped huts made of bamboo, cane and thatch, with a very small entrance, through which one has to crawl to enter. The Todas are famous for their beautiful embroidery, called "pukhoor" or Toda embroidery, done in red and black thread on white cloth, which has received a Geographical Indication (GI) tag. The Todas are classified as a Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Group (PVTG).
The Nilgiris is also home to other tribes, such as the Kotas, Kurumbas, Irulas and Badagas. The Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve, established in 1986, was India's first biosphere reserve.
Why not the other options?
- ✗Puthari is the harvest festival of the Kodavas of Coorg.
- ✗Wangala is the harvest festival of the Garos of Meghalaya.
- ✗Sarhul is the spring festival of the tribes of Jharkhand.
Quick tip
Remember: Modhweth = the Toda tribe of the Nilgiris, their New Year and the worship of buffaloes. Toda embroidery has a GI tag.
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Festivals & Fairs of India — Preparation
This question tests your understanding of Festivals & Fairs of India, a key topic in the General Knowledge section. The detailed solution above uses a step-by-step approach to show the reasoning, and where available, a shortcut that helps you solve similar questions in under 90 seconds during the actual exam.
This topic covers the religious, harvest, tribal and cultural festivals of India, the fairs (melas) held across the country, and the states, communities and seasons linked to them. It also includes festivals listed by UNESCO as intangible cultural heritage, such as Kumbh Mela and Durga Puja in Kolkata. Most questions ask which state celebrates a festival, which tribe it belongs to, or what event it marks. Harvest festivals are especially common: Pongal (Tamil Nadu), Onam (Kerala), Bihu (Assam), Lohri and Baisakhi (Punjab) and Nuakhai (Odisha). Fairs such as the Pushkar camel fair (Rajasthan) and the Sonepur cattle fair (Bihar) are also frequently tested. Revise festivals state by state. Practise the festivals and fairs questions below, written in the style of the general awareness sections of exams such as SSC, banking, railways, CUET GAT, MAH CET and CLAT. Each question comes with a detailed explanation that adds related facts, so every question helps you revise more than one point.