Who Are the Saora?
The Saora (also Sora, Savara, or Sabara) are an Austroasiatic tribal people of the hills of southern Odisha and adjacent parts of Andhra Pradesh in eastern India. Numbering approximately 500,000-600,000, they are among the larger Scheduled Tribes of the region. They speak Sora, a Munda language with its own indigenous script (Sorang Sompeng) developed in the 20th century. The Saora are renowned for their distinctive ikons—ritualistic wall paintings created by shamans to appease spirits and heal the sick—that have gained international recognition as a unique indigenous art form while remaining rooted in shamanistic religion.
Ikon Paintings
Saora ikons (idital) are among India's most distinctive tribal art forms. Traditionally painted on interior house walls by shamans (kuran), these works depict the spirit world accessed during trance states. Images show houses of the dead, ancestors, deities, and the shaman's journey—all rendered in a distinctive style using geometric patterns, human and animal figures, and symbolic elements. Red, black, and white pigments from earth, charcoal, and rice paste create bold compositions. Ikons serve ritual purposes: appeasing angry spirits causing illness, commemorating the dead, fulfilling vows. Since the mid-20th century, anthropological attention led to Saora paintings being created on paper and canvas for sale, raising questions about sacred art becoming commercial commodity while providing income to impoverished communities.
Shamanic Tradition
Saora religion centers on spirits (sonum) of ancestors, nature, and place who constantly interact with the living. Illness, misfortune, and death result from spirit displeasure. Shamans—both male (kuran) and female (kuransi)—enter trance states to diagnose causes and prescribe remedies, typically sacrifices or the creation of ikons. The shaman's calling comes through possession; training involves learning spirit genealogies, ritual procedures, and artistic skills. Shamans serve as intermediaries between human and spirit worlds. This complex spiritual system, documented extensively by anthropologists, represents an elaborate example of indigenous healing traditions. Christianity and Hinduism have made inroads, but shamanic practices persist, particularly among hill communities.
Contemporary Saora
Modern Saora communities exhibit great diversity—from isolated hill settlements where traditional practices continue to plains areas integrated into regional economy. Development has brought roads, schools, and health facilities, but Saora areas remain among Odisha's poorest. Agriculture combines wet rice in valleys with shifting cultivation on slopes. Migration for wage labor has increased. The indigenous Sorang Sompeng script, developed by Mangei Gomango in the 1930s-1940s, has been promoted through literacy programs. Christianity has grown significantly; some converts abandon traditional practices while others synthesize beliefs. Ikon painting has achieved commercial success; several Saora artists have gained national recognition. The Saora navigate between preserving shamanic traditions that gave their art meaning and adapting to forces—religion, economics, politics—that transform tribal India.
References
- Elwin, V. (1955). The Religion of an Indian Tribe
- Vitebsky, P. (1993). Dialogues with the Dead: The Discussion of Mortality among the Sora of Eastern India
- Patnaik, N. (1989). The Saora