The Dongria Kondh are an indigenous tribe living in the Niyamgiri Hills of Odisha, deeply connected to nature and their deity, Niyam Raja.
They live in forest hamlets and practise podu cultivation, an age-old method of shifting agriculture to grow millets, turmeric, pineapples, and vegetables.
Their traditional dress is simple but symbolic, with women wearing minimal cloth, nose pins, multiple earrings, and forehead tattoos; men wear turbans and loincloths.
They speak Kui, an ancient Dravidian language, and pass down their traditions through oral stories, songs, and dances.
In 2013, they successfully stopped Vedanta Resources from mining bauxite in their sacred hills by taking their fight to the Supreme Court and winning through local village councils.
Though modern influences like smartphones are reaching their villages, the Dongria Kondh continue to preserve their culture, land, and spiritual way of life.
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