East India: Odisha 4: a visit to the Kutia Kondh, the Dongria Kondh tribe and the country side

First i want to say dat my main camera broke down during my trip. The next video is interesting but the image quality is less. Sorry for that.

In this video we take you to meet the Kutia Kondh.
The Kutia Kondh women from the Kandhamal district of Odisha state of India are marked with beautiful geometrical facial tatoos and many ear piercings.
It is said that these identifying marks ar placed on the face so they will recognise each other in the spirit world.
Other beliefs are that in the past during the invasion of the Moghuls, Maratthas and the English the tribal women were misused at random.
To escape such torture the tribal women willingly deformed their faces taking resort to tattooing.

The process of tattooing is a different affair.
First of all, straw is burned and it is added with castor oil to be in a liquid form.
Then with a needle, flowers,creepers, branches etc. are pricked into the skin for disign .
The liquid is poured on it. During this time there is severe pain which is to be endured.
To ward off this pain other friends sing song . For eight to ten days the pain remains in the body .

Next we wander arround in the country side and see the fishermen with their casting nets and farmers climbing a the trees to collect palmwine.

We also visit another market of the Dongria tribe.
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.

Jan-Arend van Boeijen www.travelbyphoto.nl/[email protected]