The Meaning of Madiga: The meaning of ‘Madiga’ is ‘uncertain’.

Many Vedanta Pandits like

Sri Garikapati Narasimha Rao1 and other Madiga leader like Manda Krishna says that the word
Madiga came of word ‘Matanga’, the name of the dynasty (Matanga Dynasty in Kanarese/
Kannda). ‘Matangi’ is a goddess and it is a Sanskrit name for ‘Kali’. For H. A. Stuart, the author
of ‘Ramayana’, the Madigas are believed to be descendants of people who were once a ruling
race.2
Some other mythological stories claim that the word ‘Madiga’ came from the three words maha,
digi, ra, and the meaning is ‘the great on, come down.’ ‘Maha digi ra’ are the words uttered by
the lord Siva while he was asking help from ‘Jambavant’. 3
Just Therapy in the context of Madigas:
Just Therapy: Just Therapy was developed in 2003 by Charles Waldegrave, Kiwi
Tamasese, Flora Tuhaka and Warihi Campbell in New Zealand. 4 Just Therapy is “The highly
respected work, which involves a strong commitment to addressing issues of culture, gender and
socio-economic (religious, political) disadvantage.” 5 Therapy reflects the themes of liberation
that lead to self-determining outcomes of resolution and hope.6
Three main principles of Just Therapy used in the counselling process that is Belonging,
Sacredness and Liberation.
Belongingness of Madigas: Madigas are the people who have an Identity. The history of
Madiga shows that they are the decedents of Jambavant who is created by Narayan/Brahma, the
supreme god. The stories of Jambavant says that in critical situations gods themselves seek help
from the Jambavant. The history of Madiga declares that they are the rules. Madigas, once they
are rulers and kings. At the beginning of the history, the Madigas have highly appreciated
Identity, but in later times Madigas lost their Identity of kingship and became the slaves to the
upper castes. Now their identity is in crisis, they had the identity as slaves.
Sacredness: Even though some part of Madigas history has consisted of Mythological
Stories, it never to be undervalued, because kingship is their historical Identity. The history of
the Madigas needs to be considered as sacred. Now their original identity has vanished and they
1
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xoaUWZr_apE (Accessed on 31/10/2020)
2
http://www.madiga.net/p/history.html (Accessed on 29/10/2020)
3
http://www.madiga.net/p/history.html (Accessed on 29/10/2020)
4
Charles Waldegrave, “Just Therapy,” in Just Therapy- A Journey: A Collection of Papers from the Just
Therapy Team, eidited by Charles Waldegrave, et al., (Adelaide: Dulwich Centre Publications, 2003), 4.
5
http://dulwichcentre.com.au/wp-content/uploads/22015/06/Just-Therapy.pdf (Accessed on 2/11/2020)
6
Waldegrave, “Just Therapy…,” 4.
are considered as slaves. The experiences of the Madigas after being slaves are must be treated
as sacred and to be respected. They were seen as polluted, untouchable. Now they are the most
vulnerable people exploited in every aspect of life. The identity as a slave shows that they need
liberation.
10.1.3. Liberation: The Liberation aspect in Just therapy is significant along with other
principles. Just Therapy supports the works that are done for liberation. Madigas who are
considered as slaves, need to be focused on the transformation and the liberative aspect. The
liberation is not to change the identity of the upper caste, rather it is becoming equal with the
upper caste. The Madigas liberation process, they should not inculcate the habit of hating the
upper caste people, because it again lays the path for other divisions in the society and will not
direct towards collective identity formation. The liberation should focus on collective
development of self of both upper caste and Madigas. The aspect that liberation should focus on
is reconciliation between the upper caste and the Madigas.
Developing Madiga Theology: There are many theologies came out to liberate the people from
their oppression and bondages. There is a problem in developing Madiga Theology because it
belongs to the Dalit community and the Dalit theology is already developed. Yet, there can be an
attempt in developing Madiga Theology because the Dalit theology deals with all lower castes
together as a whole and Dalit theology did not deal with individual castes. And the problems of
each lower caste may not be the same. The experiences vary from individual to individual and
community to community. The Dalit theology is based on the Dalit experiences 7 as a whole but
not particularly on the Madiga’s experiences.

7
Aravind P. Nirmal, “Towards a Christian Dalit Theology,” Contextual Theologies: Method and
Perspectives, compiled by Wati Longchar (West Bengal: SEPTRE, 2013), 126.