We owe our identity to Kalburgi: Budga-Beda Jangama

Ballari: A few days after rationalist Kannada scholar Dr M.M. Kalburgi was shot dead by unidentified miscreants at his doorstep in Dharwad, ‘Budga-Beda Jangama’, a minor but talented nomadic community of musicians remembers him fondly for throwing light on their role in disseminating the philosophy of the 12th century thinker Basavanna and his followers.

In Karnataka, Budga-Beda Jangamas, with an estimated population of about 50,000 live in villages near Gangavati, Kampli, Daroji and Hampi. ‘Hagalu Vesha,’ a popular form of art of this community has been largely restricted to the streets. Music and dance have just been handed down through the generations in this community.

Though Dr Kalburgi, with his extensive research, exposed the rich cultural heritage and historic background of this tribe, there is no great difference in their lives.

‘Hagalu Vesha’ artists, Gurumurthy and Hanumanthappa, from Siddapur village in Gangavati of Koppal were seen playing the harmonium to enact ‘Sindhura Lakshmana’ and ‘Agasara Nandamma’ in a residential area of Hosapete when the news of Dr Kalburgi’s murder reached them. Indeed, it was Mr Kalburgi who advocated the ‘Lingayat identity’ of this nomadic tribe.

At the state-level convention of Budga Jangams at the Karnatak Vidyavardhak Sangha held in Dharwad on September 26, 2011, Kalburgi, said that a few seers of the Lingayat community have snatched away the rights of the Budga Jangams resulting in the community remaining backward.

According to him, Budga and Beda Jangams were originally part of the Lingayat community. But seers certified them as Budga and Beda Jangams based on their occupation. However, this gradually resulted in the Budga Jangams losing their Lingayat identity, he said. He noted that Budga Jangamas have played a major role in disseminating the philosophy of the 12th century sharanas.

But the Lingayat identity has indeed created another hindrance for this community in securing benefits from the government when revenue authorities refused to issue Scheduled Caste certificates to people belonging to this community saying that they belonged to the Veerashaiva Lingayat community.

In reality, during the 1921 Census, the Beda Jangama community had been classified under the Scheduled Castes based on their socio-economic status. “For a long time, we weren’t even allowed into schools, because we didn’t know what to say in the caste column…,” adds Lingaraju. Only recently, when Dharam Singh was the chief minister were they brought into the fold of the Budaga Jangama caste.