Dormitories are named youth organisations prevalent in tribal societies. The members of a dormitory generally fall in the age group if five to twenty-five years. Dormitories are often bisexual, or rarely unisexual. An individual is a member of the dormitory until his marriage. In most tribes, membership in the dormitory is compulsory, and attendance is obligatory. The admission into a dormitory is usually after the performance of some elaborate initiation ceremony. The dormitory is housed in a distinct, special building which is generally constructed a little away from the regular residential quarters of the people. This is where the youth assamble, gossip, dance, sing and play together. However, life in a dormitory is not mere fun and frolic, but is fraught with educational implications. The members within a dormitory, by virtue of belonging to different age groups, are generally divided into the seniors and juniors. The seniors being well-versed in tribal lore and tradition impart these aspects, including training in sexual acts, to their juniors, who in due course assume the role of seniors to their understudies. Most seniors have a some juniors as their immediate assistants and help-in-hands. The scope of training imparted in dormitories is very broad and includes all the spheres in the life of an individual. Teaching involves not merely verbal instructions but also practical demonstrations. The juniors are helped and guided by their seniors in various communal endeavours which the seniors indulge in such as house building, harvesting, marriage, festivals ,etc., while families bestow upon their children primary socialisation and informal education, the dormitories impart secondary socialisation and formal education. Thus, the dormitories serve the crucial purpose of imparting educational instructions that prepare youth for discharging their adult roles effectively and efficiently.
| Tribe | Dormitory Name |
| Murias, Gonds | Gotul |
| Nagas | Morung -Boys Yo- Girls |
| Ho | Gitiora |
| Oraon | Dhumkuria or jonkerpa |
| Ao Naga | Arichu |
| Angami Naga | Kichuki |
| Bhuiyan | Dhangar bhasa |
| Anthropologist | Tribe |
| D.N. Majumdar | Tribes of U.P |
| Verrier Elwin | Muria Gonds |
| S.C. Roy | Oraons |
| Sachidanda | Tribes of Chotanagpur |
Characteristics of dormitory
The following are the important characteristics of the youth dormitory:
- 1. While at some places there are separate dormitories for boys and girls, in other tribes they live in a common dormitory. This is the custom in the Muria tribe. On the other hand, among the Konayak Nagas of Assam, the boys live in the Morung and the girls sleep at Yo.
- 2. Normally the dormitories are situated outside the village in the forest, but they may also be near the fields as it is in the case of dormitories of the Nagas. In Oraon tribe the dormitory is situated in the centre of the village.
- 3. The life in the dormitory is based on certain traditions and customs which are invariably followed by all the members.
- 4. The age of membership of the dormitory differs from tribe to tribe. As a general rule it is four or five years in most of the tribes.
- 5. The boys and girls live in the dormitory till they are married when their membership is automatically dissolved.
- 6. If a girl becomes a widow she can again enter the dormitory as its member.
- 7. In the evening the members of the dormitory gather after taking their meals at their homes. At the dormitory they gather after fire, sit around it, tell stories, sing, dance and play and finally sleep.
- 8. The members of the dormitory are divided into two classes according to age seniors and juniors. The head of the dormitory is selected from the senior group. It is his job to take care of all the members of the dormitory and maintain discipline among them. The juniors follow the commands of the seniors and receive different types of education from them.
- 9. It is the duty of every member of the dormitory to keep every-thing secret about the dormitory.
- 10. The members of the dormitory carry out several functions together e.g., construction of a house on the occasion of marriage or helping the village folk in harvesting the crop etc.
There are several ideas as to how and why tribes were created and relied heavily on the use of dormitories:
✓ Safety – Since the dormitories are usually at the center of a tribal community, it is thought they were created to have warriors organized, together and ready at a moment’s notice in times of battle.
✓ Community – The dormitories create a sense of community and help ensure the longevity of the tribe and its culture.
✓ Tradition – Tribes in ancient India used to live in communal houses and allowed for everyone to work together. With this tradition, the tribes may
have tried to recreate this on a smaller scale.
✓ Separation – Dormitories might have been created to segregate the genders, so the males and females did not have access to each other, keeping them
pure. (Morality and sexuality is thought of differently in many Indian tribes, so this may be less likely).
✓ D.N. Majumdar : Helping parents , Saving from wild animals , Social education
✓ S C Roy : Effective economic organization for purpose of food quest; Seminary for training young men in their social and other duties .As a place for the performance of magico-religious ceremonies
Decline of the dormitories
With the Christianity and church gaining a firm footing within the tribal areas the Morung, Ghotul and Nokpantes met with a natural death. First the structure of the Ghotul collapses due to disuse and non-maintenance. The church premises and church activities taking away the major part of the time. At places it is turned into a club which primarily caters to the sports need of the youth, however, also used for organizing the youth to mobilise for certain socio-political goals.
The Independence movement in India set in motion various social reformatory movement in our country and in different areas these were initiated by different socio-political agencies. The prime objective of these were to inculcate, personal hygiene, abandoning tribal belief pattern of nature worship, abstinence from alcohol and of course general cleansing of Ghotuls and dangarbasa. The effect seen in Ghotul was that of increase in masturbation and homosexuality, unknown earlier. Gambling in various forms taking over the youth gradually. And in most recent times the outsiders non-Gonds from urban areas try, to vandalize the sanctity of the few Ghotuls left in the interior by debasing the togetherness of the youth. A safe and secure shelter where they can spend some time and discover themselves and shed all the curiosity regarding opposite sex. All these revelations are made in stages along with the learning of various arts and craft. During the community services and annual ceremonial dancing the spirit of sharing, cooperation pervades over the general bonhomie bringing all of them close together to uphold with pride the ethos and spirit of their community, cherishing it unto death. These Ashram, Pathshala, Gurukul and Morungs have survived the ravages of time mainly because they are the institutions which strengthen and ensure the survival of healthy community.
In recent years, it was revealed that Anganwadi, Prathamik shala, Ashram shala and Samaj Bhawan were taking up the prime places in each village. The Ghotuls were partially maintained, abandoned or left for self-decay. Yet some villages did maintain the structure and used it frequently. The circular pattern of the Ghotul structure at places was converted to barrack like rooms obviously girls’ room and boys’ room with a window conjoining the two. They still sound the hakum to call upon the youth to collect in these Ghotuls for work and entertainment. But the governmental programmes under IRDP, TRISM and NGO’s educational activities attract the children more to these schools. Not because of formal education but because of the mid-day meals served at these centres. The Anganwadi also provide meals to the pregnant mother which confirms presence of her children in these institutions. On reviewing the entire setup, it can be concluded that the youth get acquainted with their own physiology and to the act of sexual intercourse within the premises of the Ghotul. It should not be imagined that they practise all this, rather, through dance, songs all the adult roles are enacted or mimicked. The general belief of people regarding Ghotul as an institution to encourage premarital promiscuity is totally untrue and biased with false morality and decorum. They fail to see the immense purpose of Ghotul, where the youth power is channelized, disciplined, regimentalised and educated for taking over the duties of an adult.
Revival of Gotul
✓ Gond Adivasis are trying to revive gotuls.
✓ Gotuls are being developed as centres for skill development. Tribals have become part of a movement to restart them in adivasi villages as centers of alternative education where youth can learn from each other.
✓ Gotuls can also be linked with modern technological tools like mobiles, internet and radio. Gotul Radio with the help of CGnet Swara is one such intiative.
✓ Gandhian organisations like the Ekta Parishad are also trying to revive the mating ritual. And pro-ghotul slogans have begun appearing on walls in Bastar.