Kauncha

Kauncha is a small and beautiful tribal village 40 km away from Silvassa belonging to the Warli community. One can see the men and women still clad in traditional attire going around their daily chores. Women wear knee length saree known as Lugden, whereas men wear dhoti and waist coat. I have seen people relating their traditional attire to them being backward, but I believe that there is a pride and uniqueness associated with it and it should not be considered as a backward trait. The landscape around the village is gifted with sprawling grasslands, lakes, forests all set amidst small hills on which the clouds often descend very low. The Warlis live in small mud huts and are mainly involved in paddy cultivation. The best time to visit Kauncha village is during ‘Kokna dance festival’, where you can even participate in this foot tapping dance along with the locals.

One can also enjoy a trip to the cashew processing unit at Karchod, and experience raw cashew nut boiling, peeling, cutting and grading. There are also many big mango orchards around and beautiful hiking trails. Food lovers can view traditional tribal ways of cooking and experience Warli food cooked by local women. Nachani (finger millet) and Varai (little millet) are often served with rice and spiced curry, fresh spiced powder and chutney of black gram and chillies.