Orissa has the 3rd largest concentration of tribes of india, forming about of its total population.The majority of tribal population inhabits the forests and hilly regions of Mayurbhanj, Keonjhar, Phulabani, Sundargarh, Sambalpur, Bolangir, Kalahandi and Koraput District. Among the state of india, orissa has the largest number as many as 62 tribes, the important of which are - Kondha, Paraja, Bondo,Souras,Gadabas
1. Kondha
The kondhs form numerically the largest group among the 62 tribes of orissa.Customally they were once famous for their brutal acts of human sacrifice(Maria sacrifice) to achive the end products of bumper crops and killing of infants for better yield of turmeric.There are various sections among the kondhs or Kandhas.Each section is endogamous though originally they hail from the same Kandha community. more.....
2.Paraja
The parajas are one of the well known major tribes of orissa .The parajas bear many features in common with the neighbouring major tribes namely the gond, the khondh and gadaba.In Koraput the parajas live with other communities like the Rana, paika, mali , dumb, the gadaba and the kondh. more.....
3. Bondo
The high hills located towards the remote south western tip of malkangiri uplands and the north west of river machkund in the district of koraput are inhabited by sparesely populated primitive tribes .The bondos are one of them and the hills on which they live are called the bondos hills. Though few in numbers the tribes have successfully retained the distinctive features of its culture , chiefly on account of geographical isolation and more perhaps due to its stubborn and independent spirit.Their language is called remo which comes under Austro -asiatic language belonging to mundari group. more.....
4. Souras
Souras are mainly concentrated in and around the paralakhemundi and the gunupur area of south orissa. They are called by various names such as sabara, soura, sora etc and have their racial affinity with the proto -austroloid physical feature which are dominant among the aborgines of central and southern india. The soura from their appearance resembles the other predravidian tribes.They have long heads, flat noses, with expanded alae.The brow ridges are prominent , but not to a great extent like the kondhs. There is a depression at the root of the nose. The hair is generally waivy and curly and the skin colour is brown to dark brown. The souras are not strongly built like the kondhs, but they are better in body built in comparison to the tribes of north orissa. more.....
5. Gadabas
Gadabas are one of the very primitive and colouful tribes of orissa. They are concentrated in the southern most parts of the state of the ditrict of koraput.The gadabas whose original home was in the north of the Vindhya mountains should be called by a name connected with "GADA" by which a brook or a stream is indicated in the part of the country.The gadabas build their houses in two rows facing each other with some broad way left between them. The headman house is the biggest and it is generally stand in the middle of one of the rows .In front of the headman house a tree , the ficus indica of the banyan or the mango, is planted in the centre of the space between the row of house. Round the foot of the tree a platform is made with stones. this is the seat for the leader of the village to hold court to decide many disputes of their communities. During festive occassions also they all gather here to drink and dance . more.....
