Andhra’s Koya tribe faces brewing conflict over sacred Mahua flower

Koya tribe faces cultural threat as SEB raids Mahua liquor, impacting traditions and livelihoods in Andhra Pradesh.

In mid-April, 25-year-old Madakam Janakamma was filled with joy as she started preparations for the naming ceremony of her first child due in two weeks. A part of Koya tribe celebrations, liquor brewed from dried Mahua flowers was central to her plans. She took stock of the 20 litres of liquor that she had already brewed from flowers collected earlier, before heading to the lone Mahua tree in her backyard. She was about to collect the flowers scattered on the ground, when two unexpected visitors in a government vehicle, arrived at her house located in a remote village of Andhra Pradesh. They identified themselves as the staff of the Special Enforcement Bureau (SEB), a newly-created wing of the State police responsible for enforcing sand and liquor regulations.

“I was working in the fields nearby when the police came to raid our house. Janakamma was alone at home at that time. She had brewed nearly 20 litres of Mahua liquor and police took away half of it. They also took the Aadhaar cards of all our family members,” says Janakamma’s sister-in-law Madakam Adamma, 30, who stays in the same house.

The following day, the police returned the documents after Janakamma’s husband shelled out ₹10,000 so that no further legal charges would be slapped against the family for brewing Mahua, says Adamma.

Towards the end of April, Janakamma delivered a baby girl, but the naming ceremony was held without Mahua liquor, a cultural shock for the family’s Koya friends and relatives.

Their village, Kokkeragudem, in Alluri Sitarama Raju district, is nestled in the heart of a jungle with 50-odd households. It is located about 5 kilometres deep within an isolated forest from the Chintoor-Bhadrachalam national highway on the Andhra Pradesh-Chhattisgarh border. The village takes great pride in conserving Mahua trees, and remarkably, has three times more such trees than homes.

Mahua, a tropical tree known by its scientific name Madhuca longifolia, holds great significance in the lives of various tribal communities in India. In Koya society, the tree is considered sacred and forms part of several rites and rituals. Its flowers bloom in early summer and are primarily used for brewing liquor. Dry flowers serve as a major source of income for the collectors. In the Godavari Valley of Andhra Pradesh, the Koyas extract edible oil from Mahua nuts.

Janakamma was not the only one to be caught unawares by the SEB officials. The same month, Ravva Bhuvaneswari, a 24-year-old Koya woman, was alone at home, waiting for her parents to return from the forest around dusk, when SEB personnel in plainclothes showed up for a whirlwind raid. “They entered our house and conducted a search. They seized two bottles of Mahua liquor stored in our almirah. They also clicked my photo on their phone and asked me to inform my parents that they should visit the police station. My fellow villagers watched all this helplessly,” recalls Bhuvaneswari.