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Clockwise from above: Women improvise a song dedicated to Niyam Raja, as they entwine their hands in a sacred circle and perform the dhimsaa dance formseen in many tribes in the Eastern Ghats that helps bring people from different villages together; A teenage girl atop the mountain. Female literacy is just 3per cent amongst the Dongria, but teachers in the foothills often do not speak Kuvi, and children accustomed to the traditional ghotulform of schooling

where boys and girls are free to mingle and learn from their environmentcannot tolerate connement in the four walls of a classroom; The women I met,used to being photographed, were happy to be behind the camera and learned to operate one in no time; Dongria women dig in to a simple meal that theyhave toiled to prepare for over a hundred people; The women here are forces to reckon withthey collect water from mountain streams, pots perfectlybalanced on an uphill climb, gather rewood and forest produce, cook food, look after children and participate in the resistance, all while being immacutelydressed in traditional nery.

the landThe laws oft Dgi d Kd ibs f odis, niymgii ills s iiq wy f lif. ad i l ib mi, is js expression of gratitude to the land but an assertion of their self-sufciency

and distinctive cultural identity.

by aruna SeKhar

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On a Feruar night, we la up on a ed of grass and auxiterock, while the wind shrieked across the summit of NiamDongar. The Dongria Kondh (Dongriafrom the Oriaword for hill), one of Indias oldest tries, were offeringtheir thanks to Niam Raja, the god of universal law, andcelerating another ear of resistance against the mining oftheir sacred mountain.

We were honoured to e their guests for it was a partto rule all parties. There was music, simple, exquisite andimprovised, from dawn till nightfall: hmns handed downover generations, protest songs and the sweet music of axesclinked together. There was laughter, as the Dongria gatheraround our re to take a closer look and share stories. The

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Clockwise from above: A shrine to the forest gods lies at the base of Niyam Dongar. When asked what their religion is by census ofcials, Kondhs have oftenanswered mountain; The drummers beat out a primal tattoo, encircling Niyam Rajas shrine on the mountain top. The Dongria religion is one that protectsbiodiversitythe mountain tops are designated trunjeli muanris(sacred groves), where deities gather, and the cutting of trees without sufcient cause is seenas a violation of Niyam Rajas sovereignty; The dhimsain progress.

ritualspread across three dasdraws hundreds of peoplefrom the plains: activists, journalists and anthropologists fromacross the world to this reathtaking neck of south-westOdishas forests that lie across the districts of Raagada andKalahandi, where trees grow to their full height and width,interspersed villages and elds, hundreds of streams (whichis wh the Dongria are also referred to as Jharnia) and not ailloard in sight for miles. n

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The Dongria Kondh were offering their thanks to Niyam Raja, the god of universal law,

and celebrating another year of resistance against the mining of their sacred mountain.

Clockwise from above: These hills are the birthplace of numerous streams and the Bansadhara river, which serves as a water source for the Eastern Ghats,up until Visakhapatnam. It is also home to the extremely rare Golden Gecko, and high-altitude medicinal plants endemic to the region; Preparations forthe days prayers and rituals begin, as crowds slowly begin to trickle in from the foothillsags are hoisted, the female shaman and the male priest aresummoned; A woman stirs a huge pot of rice that forms the staple of the Dongria diet. It is said that over 300 different varieties of rice grow in this veryhill range.

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