What you need to know about Mahua heritage liquor, made in Madhya Pradesh by indigenous tribes

Aniruddha Mookerjee, adviser to the Madhya Pradesh state government on heritage liquor.

In 2021, when senior officials from the Madhya Pradesh government first explored the idea of commercializing liquor made from dried flowers of the mahua tree, they called up Aniruddha Mookerjee. Mookerjee has an encyclopaedic knowledge of India’s indigenous liquors, a result of the several detours he took into the interiors while reporting from across northern India as a print and broadcast journalist in the mid-1980s and 1990s and later, as a peripatetic and longstanding director of the Wildlife Trust of India. If you were to visit him at his home on the boundary of the Kanha National Park, he could perhaps offer you as many “as ten varieties of indigenous liquor from across the country.” His long-pending book on India’s indigenous liqours is eagerly awaited by readers such as this writer.

Mohulo Mahua (Photo credit: Anirudhha Mookerjee)

That 2021 telephone call to Mookerjee followed the state’s declaration of mahua as Heritage Liquor and finally led to last month’s launch of Mond, the first mahua spirit to be distilled by indigenous tribes. Mond is distilled by the members of the Bhilala tribe in Alirajpur district, while Mohulo, an upcoming brand, is made by the Gond tribe in Dindori. The members of both tribes are part of self-help groups. To Mookerjee, who Mookerjee advises the state government on heritage liquor, the launch of Mond and Mohulo represents not only tribal empowerment, but also an attempt to “right historical wrongs,” for the right to commercially distil Mahua in Madhya Pradesh has only been given to Scheduled Tribes, as opposed to other states such as Maharashtra, which have opened this to everyone.

Mond and Mohulo are both priced at Rs 850 a bottle; and are available in bars and retail outlets across Madhya Pradesh.

Mond is the first mahua spirit to be distilled by indigenous MP tribes.

The mahua tree, or Madhuca indica, grows across a wide swathe of the country, from Rajasthan and Gujarat, through Madhya Pradesh down to Andhra Pradesh, and is an integral part of the life of many communities, including the Gonds and Baiga of Madhya Pradesh, Maria and Muria of Chattisgarh and the Santhals, Ho and Oraons of Jharkhand and Odisha. It has the status of a divinity in their lives; it is revered in their folklore; and the tree’s flowers and fruits are consumed in a variety of ways. Until it acquired the taint of a ‘country liquor’ during colonial times, a stigma that still persists, mahua was part of the country’s vibrant – and fast vanishing – alcoholic beverage tradition. “Mahua is a product that identifies the country’s tribal originals. It’s probably older than arrack and is consumed by millions in as many as 12 to 13 states. It should ideally qualify as India’s national drink,” says Mookerjee.

When he first began to work out the nitty gritty of the project with the state’s excise department and officials from the tribal affairs ministry, Mookerjee says that the project lead’s idea was always to ensure that the right to distil mahua would only be given to scheduled tribes. “The tribal communities were the ones who have always distilled mahua and still do. Over time, it was also decided that women would constitute 50 percent of the self-help groups (SHGs) that would distil because traditionally it was women who distilled mahua,” says Mookerjee.

Two years ago, the state government sent select members of the SHGs to the project’s technical partner, Vasantdada Sugar Institute, in Pune, to better acquaint themselves with the basics of distilling and to understand the science behind the tradition. Two 1000-litre capacity pot stills were then set up at Alirajpur and Dindori as demonstration units and after consultations with various experts, the blends were refined to meet Food Safety and Standards Authority of India criteria for alcoholic beverages.

Members of the self-help group in Pune.

Mookerjee says that both Mond and Mohulo have the flavour of a traditional tribal product. “It has no additives or colourings and has a very smooth and palatable floral flavour that very few people know about,” he says.

Each unit distils about 1200 litres a month and since its launch, Mookerjee says that Mond, which is available in bars and at liquor stores in Madhya Pradesh, has been making young buyers curious and registering steady sales. The state government has ambitious plans to sell Mond in other states and also export it, and Mookerjee is also as enthused by how the mahua project is being received by the tribal communities. He hopes that the platform provided by the Madhya Pradesh government will one day be populated by youngsters from the tribal communities, especially those with a background in the sciences. “I’d love for them to take ownership of it,” he says. In a small way, his work is already bearing fruit.

Ankita Bhabhar (left) at the Mond Mahua distillery in Alirajpur.

Ankita Bhabar, who hails from the Bhilala community and is among those in charge of distilling mahua at the Alirajpur unit, is now pursuing a Bachelor of Sciences just so that she can get better at her job. “We’ve always distilled mahua at home, but to do that in a more formal environment and be in charge of producing it for a wider audience is thrilling,” says Bhabar. “Each day, I see more and more young women who are curious about what I do and how it is done.”