Rapid Fire
Lanjia Saora Tribe
- 26 Apr 2025
- 1 min read
The women of the Lanjia Saora tribal group in the Gunupur region of Rayagada district, Odisha, celebrate the mango harvest through traditional dance.
- Lanjia Saora: The Lanjia Saora, a culturally rich and isolated subgroup of the Saora tribe, inhabit the forested hills of Gajapati and Rayagada districts in Odisha, they speak Saora, a Mundari language of the Austroasiatic family.
- The Lanjia Saora perform vibrant dances with spontaneous songs, using brass pipes, cymbals, and gongs. Men wear turbans adorned with crane feathers, while both men and women carry umbrellas, swords, and peacock plumes during the dance.
- Saora Tribe: The Saora are one of the oldest tribes of Odisha, mentioned in the Ramayana and Mahabharata, and also found in parts of Andhra Pradesh, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, and Assam.
- Their unique cultural identity includes ritual art, traditional tattoos (Tantangbo), and distinct economic groups Sudha Saora in the plains practicing wet cultivation and wage work, and Lanjia Saora in the hills relying on shifting and terraced farming.
| Read more: Tribes in Odisha |
