Adi Dharam

Adi Dharam or ādi dharam ( आदि धरम, আদি ধারাম, આદિ ધરમ, ଆଦି ଧର୍ମ, ఆది ధారణ, ஆடி தரம், ആദി താരം, ಆದಿ ಧರಮ್) (literal meaning the ancient or the root (Ādi) religion (Dharam) ) refers to the tribal religion or the traditional religion or the indigenous religion or the Adivasi (Hindi for original settlers) religion of the indigenous peoples of India. It is an umbrella term used to denote the religion of indigenous peoples of India. The term 'Adi Dharam' was made popular by the tribal scholar and philosopher Ram Dayal Munda when he sought to unite the ancestral beliefs of the all the indigenous people of India

In the pre-Independence British era, the Indian government had recognized the distinctiveness of the religious beliefs of the Adivasi or the tribal people of India and had categorized it under the term 'Animism'. The term Animism was re-purposed and made popular by the works of British anthropologist Sir Edward Tylor. Census records as early as 1871 and various ethnographic books by the Britishers show that a large chunk of the tribal population were followers of their traditional religion (recognized as Animism). The term 'Animism' was included in the census till 1931 after which, due to unknown reasons, its use was discontinued (some records show that Animism was there in the 1951 census). The post-Independence Indian Government abolished all the terms signifying the distinctiveness of the religious beliefs of the tribal people.

However, tribal religious movements that intended to safeguard the belief system and identity of the tribals continued at a regional level like the Donyi-Polo movement, Gondi movement, Khasi religion, Sanamahi movement, Sari Dharam movement, Sarna movement etc., but a national level movement encompassing all the tribals was lacking. The early post-Independence literate tribals did feel a need for a national level movement in order to safeguard the religious beliefs of the tribals. The term 'Adi-Dharam' to denote nationally the belief system of the tribals was very much used among the literate tribals in the early post independence era as is evident from Shri Kartik Oraon's, (a tribal leader and the then State Minister of Aviation and Communication, Govt. of India) book Bees Varsh ki Kaali Raat (1970s) where he uses the word 'Adi Dharm' to denote the belief system of the tribals nationally.

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