GADABA women are traditionally distinguished by their facial tattoos and wear neck rings which are about 500-700 gms each and can not be removed without the help of the Blacksmith. As a part of their tradition, it is only removed after their death. The Gabada tribe is reckoned as one of the oldest and jovial tribes in India. These Gabada tribes mostly are located in the southern fringes of the Koraput district. Apart from being singularly attractive tribe Gadabas are also friendly and hospitable. Their villages with square or circular houses and conical roofs and gaily dressed women, present a picturesque sight. It is believed that they have their ancestral home in the north Vindhya mountain ranges. In fact Gabada has got a link with Gada, which is a name of brook or a streamlet found in this portion of the Indian Territory. The houses of these Gabada truly reflect their cultural heritage. The society of the Gadaba tribe can be best understood in the villages. Each community is headed by a leader. Their main occupation is agriculture but they also give due importance to cattle rearing. The social set up this tribe is also interesting because it has unique rules for marriage and even building houses. Agriculture is the main occupation of the Gabada tribe, thus making their society an agrarian one. Moreover, some of them involve in other activities like gathering forest products, fishing and hunting. They use animals and its products for various purposes. The cows and buffaloes are utilized mainly for ploughing. They do not milk the cows, as they believe it reduces the strength of the animals. The Gadabas also regard cattle-raising as the true source of their wealth. They believe in sacrificing pigs, cows and buffaloes at the altar of their Vanadevata (god of the jungle). Almost every family rears pigs irrespective of its status and size and keep dogs to ward off evil spirits. A Gadaba woman usually wears a two-piece dress which is very colourful, often striped in red, blue and white, which is woven by the women themselves. The textile is made from the bark of the kereng plant. The ornaments they wear are not very different from those of other tribals. They wear beads of various colours in the hair, silver necklaces and very big brass earrings. The kerengis are being slowly replaced by the sari. Men wear only a piece of cloth `Languti` with a flail which hangs in front. The religion of the Gadaba tribe is basically Hindu. This particular tribe worships several gods and goddesses. Religious festivals form an interesting as well as important part of their lifestyle. They worship an array of gods and goddesses. They celebrate festivals and occasions like Dussehra, andapana parab and chaita parab. These Gabada tribes have developed their own language, which is popularly known as Gutub. Orissa, India. © Ingetje Tadros

Bonda women are distinguished more for their masculinity than femininity and as much by their nudity (their clothing consists simply of a tiny skirt) as by their countless colourful beads and wear large and thick brass or aluminium circular around their head and neck. The Bonda women wear tiny skirts called 'ringa', which they themselves weave at the family loom. Beads cover their naked breasts. Being very fond of ornaments they cover their nudity to a great extent through ornamental devices. The Bonda or Biby 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 a scheduled tribe of India and are also known as Remo (meaning "people" in the Bonda language), Bhonda, Bondo, or Bondo Poraja. Their language belongs to the Munda subgroup of the Austro-Asiatic language family. 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. Their isolation and known aggression continue to preserve their culture despite the pressures of an expanding Indian population. In contrast with many other populations in India, the number of females among the Bondas greatly exceeds the number of males. The best way to view members of the tribe is by going to one of the local town markets. It is not considered safe to venture into their tribal areas. Bondas still use 'binnimoy protha', i.e. give-and-take policies. Every Sunday they use to go in a market. They like to put castor oil in their head. Women make worli painting in their house. Orissa, India 2011. ©Ingetje Tadros

The women of the Desia Kondh are readily identifiable by their geometric facial tattoos that on close observation bear striking similarity to tiger's whiskers. These identifying marks ensure they will recognise each other in the spirit world. Orissa, India,2010 ©Ingetje Tadros

The Dongria Kondh tribe in India are struggling to defend their land against a mining company on destroying their sacred mountain. ©Ingetje Tadros

The Paroja is a small tribe primarily residing in Koraput and Kalahandi Districts of Orissa (Eastern India). The Paroja appear to be related to the Gond and have many features in common with neighboring tribes such as the Khond and the Gadaba. The Paroja speak a Dravidian language called Parji. The Paroja are broadly divided into two sections, the Bada Paroja and the Sana Paroja. The major distinction is that the Bada Paroja follows the Hindu tradition of not eating beef and buffalo meat and observe elaborate purification rituals. The Sana Paroja do not follow this tradition and eat both these animals. The Paroja have exogamous totemic clans. All members of the clans believe in their common mythological origin and therefore marriage between members of the same clans is prohibited. The family is the smallest social unit in Paroja society and is patrilineal and patriarchal. The Paroja village is an organized socio-political system, which functions as an independent autonomous unit. This unit has its own set of functionaries who are in charge of internal and external village affairs. Agriculture is the mainstay of the Parojas economy. Although traditionally they relied on shift cultivation, today the Parojas depend on wet cultivation. Their economy is also supplemented by forest produce, wage earning, and animal husbandry. The Paroja follow a polytheistic religion as well as worship their ancestors. ©Ingetje Tadros

The miracle of ikat weaving. Ikat weaving is one of the most complicated and time consuming ways to pattern cloth. The weavers of Orissa are highly skilled in this centuries old tradition. We met the Bhima Patra family of Sambhalpur, a region in the North Western corner of the state. Their weaving center employs 400 looms, mostly housed in family huts in villages in the area. When a son of the family got married recently they decided to do the wedding announcement in Ikat! The text is in english and Oriya, perfectly executed! The knowledge and expertise to design sarees in this style lies primarily with the patriarch of the family. Knowing what's possible at all, how long it will take, and who is able to do it is a skill in itself, for the work is exceedingly complicated. First the design is drawn out on paper to convey the pattern to the weavers. The weavers then lay out the warp or weft threads to be patterned on a frame, which has to be just the right size to achieve a repeated pattern. Then the threads are tied up. This is usually with very tightly wound on strings or even bicycle inner tubes for longer sections of resist. The threads are then dyed, sometimes in multiple colors baths - which require separate tie ups. After final washing and drying and sizing. The weft threads are then wound onto spools for later weaving and the warp threads, which are mostly seen in border ornaments, are tied onto the loom and wound around the warp beams. "The typical temple border is created by eye and hand and years of experience. Two weavers working in sync, each create the temple border on their side, interlacing the black and red threads, and tossing the red shuttle with lightning speed between themselves. Two sets of bamboo sticks criss-crossed and tied function like a stretcher bar to maintain the uniform width of the cloth." Bomkai was the original sari of India and was created with very rudimentary looms in coarse cotton. These sarees are still being made in some places like Siminoi, Kotpad and Habaspuri. As the technology has advanced Bomkai has come to mean something quite different. The modern Bomkai is a flannelly heavy gauge cotton sarees woven with complicated jacquard machinery. These are grand textiles with elaborate supplementary thread worked borders and pallus, and often combine ikat work for textile beauty that will take your breath away. You can find a selection of beautiful Odissi sarees in the sarishops. The natural dyers of Kotpad and the weaving villages of Barhampur, Pittal and Boirani ©Ingetje Tadros

Orissa's adivasi tribal region has a very interesting market in Kundli where The Paraja, Rana and Maja tribes can be seen. It's a market full of action, trading and colours where they sell bangles,drums,homemade alcohol,cattle, goats tribal jewelry and much more. You can buy a cow and they will slaughter it and give you the skin as well. This happens early in the morning 'away' from the market in a field as the cow is holy for Hindu peoples. ©Ingetje Tadros

Swargadwar, literally Gateway to Heaven. India is full of holy sights, but some stand out more than others for historical and religious significance. Puri is one such city, situated on the East Coast and one of India's Char Dhams (literally four holy spots). 9th Century Hindu reformer Sankaracharya designated four places of sacred pilgrimage in India that correspond with the four cardinal points. From this time on Hindu's throughout the Subcontinent have been drawn to the city of Puri for it's profound spiritual power. Hindu funeral rites prescribe that all four elements (earth, wind, fire & water) are present during the occasion. Swargadwar is particularly auspicious as it is situated on the shores of the Bay of Bengal and a stones throw away from the awesome Jagannath Temple. Hindus believe that cremation (compared to burial or outside disintegration) is most spiritually beneficial to the departed soul. This is based on the belief that the "astral body" will linger "as long as the physical body remains visible." If the body is not cremated, "the soul remains nearby for days or months"The only bodies that are not generally burned are unnamed babies and the lowliest of castes, who are returned to the earth. ©Ingetje Tadros