Bonda Tribal Old Women Editorial Photo

Orissa has 62 distinct tribal groups, making it the largest collection of tribal people in a single state in the country. Each of these tribal groups has its own indigenous customs and continues to practice them even today. Orissa is home to India's ancient civilization and most of it is concentrated around the Eastern Ghat hill ranges in the region of Koraput. The Bonda are an ancient tribe of people numbering approximately 5000 who live in the isolated hill regions of the Malkangiri district of southwesternmost Orissa, India, near the junction of the three states of Orissa, Chhattisgarh, and Andhra Pradesh. The Bonda are generally semi-clothed, with the women characterised by the wearing of thick silver necklace bands. The tribe is one of the oldest and most primitive in mainland India with their culture little changed in over a thousand years