East India: Odisha 3: a visit to the markets of the Dongria Kondh and Bonda Tribes

In this video we take you to the market where mainly women from the Dongria and Desia Kondh and Bonda Tribe do their shopping.
The villages of these famous tribes of Odisha are protected against outsiders and cannot be visited but the weekly markets outside the villages can be visited.

The indigenous Dongria tribes live in the Niyamgiri high hill range and walk once in a week to the down hill market to sale their horticultural products like seasonal fruits and vegetables and in exchange buy live chicken, salt, kerosene etc.

The Niyamgiri high hill range is an area with densely forested hills, deep gorges and cascading brooks. To be a Dongria Kondh is to farm the hills’ fertile slopes, harvest their produce, and worship the mountain god Niyam Raja and the hills he presides over, including the 4,000 meter Mountain of the Law, Niyam Dongar.

The habitat of the Dongria is threatened by a large mining company that wants to dig up the mountain for the production of bauxite. It makes the Dongria very suspicious. They protect their habitat and culture fanatically. Rightly so!

But a visit to the weekly Chatikona / Bissamcuttack marketis a nice and colorful event.

The Dongria have striking jewelery, tattoos and hairstyles. Women wear many rings through their ears and three through their noses, while boys wear two nose rings. Dongria girls wear clips in their hair and rings and beads around their necks.

The second market we visit is the market where the people of the Bonda or Remo tribe come to buy and sell . The Bonda tribe is one of the most interesting tribes of India. Bonda ladies are very pretty as they adorn their upper body with various beaded chains, jewellary, and metal chains. Bonda means: naked people. The ladys used to be dressed with only a bunch of necklaces made of colorful beads covering their body. Now they also wear a loincloth and shawl to as a cover for their body.

The Bonda tribes sell their homemade alcohol in this market. You have the great opportunity to meet this community and to deal with it and if you want to share a drink with them.

Also meet one lady of the native Gadaba tribe. www.travelbyphoto.nl

Видео East India: Odisha 3: a visit to the markets of the Dongria Kondh and Bonda Tribes канала jan-arend van Boeijen