Under the 60th series of its online exhibition by Indira Gandhi Rashtriya Manav Sangrahalaya, today presented the “Traditional House type of Saora Tribe of Odisha” situated in the Tribal Habitat Open Air Exhibition of Manav Sangrahalaya has been presented online with its basic information and photographs and videos.
About this exhibition, Praveen Kumar Mishra, Director, IGRMS said that – The Saora’s are known as one of the oldest tribes in Odisha. Bulk of their population lives in Gajapati district and Gunupur sub-division of Rayagda district. They are also found in all the districts of the state. They are known from various names such as saora, saura, sabara, savara, saur, sora etc.
They find mention in the Sanskrit literature, the epics, the puranas and other religions texts. Especially in Odisha, they have been very intimately connected with the worship of Lord Jagannath who according to a legendary tradition originated as a Sabara deity and was later brought to Puri under royal patronage. They live in the hilly and mountainous region of Eastern India. They are mainly divided into two classes Hill Saoras or Lanjia Saoras and low land Saoras or Sudha Saoras.
Their scattered housing pattern in hill slopes, installation of village deities (Wooden posts) at the entrance of the village, ingeniously prepared stone bounded terrace fields with inbuilt water management system, lineage organization called Birinda, attractive wall paintings called “ Idital” and peculiar socio-religious customs are the most significant aspects of their cultural life. Their language belongs to the Kol-Munda group of the Austro-Asiatic linguistic family. Saoras are of medium height, women being shorter than men, light yellowish to dark-brown in complexion and having wavy hair, thick on the head and scanty on the face.