Culture of Indian village Gowari cowboy of Pusada Diwali song Video by Shirishkumar Patil

Gowari or Govari (Marathi: गोवारी) is a Hindu caste/ ethnic tribal group predominantly living in Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh states of India. They are traditionally cattle herdsmen of Maharashtra (and are neither milk seller nor cow owner). Like all Hindus, cow is the most sacred animal for Gowaris, On the next day of Diwali, there is a festival known as Govardhan Pooja/ Bali Pratipada. On this day, Gowaris decorate cows beautifully, special worshiping is done and blessings are asked for. They also make a heap of cowdung which is considered sacred, in their yard, put durva and flowers into it. Dhaal pooja is a custom where Gowaris worship a dhaal (made of a long bamboo and more things) denoting deceased unmarried men or women of their family, which had unnatural death. This type of worshiping shows tribal roots of the community. There had been a stampede during a protest in Nagpur on 23 November 1994 when 114 people from Gowari community were killed and more than 500 were injured. A monument named as Gowari Shaheed Smarak has been built in Nagpur near Zero Milestone (the geographical centre of India) to commemorate those who died in this tragedy. Also the nearby flyover (Sitabuldi area, Nagpur) has been named Adivasi Gowari Shaheed flyover which is the longest in Nagpur.