Set in the Niyamgiri Hills in Odisha, India, Womanhood Of Sacred Niyamgiri centers on the Dongria Kondh, an Indigenous Adivasi community whose identity, spirituality, and livelihood are closely tied to the forested mountains where they live.

For the Dongria Kondh, Niyamgiri is sacred—understood as an ancestor and a source of life. Women play a central role in sustaining that relationship. They carry intergenerational knowledge about the land and its resources, and they are often among the community’s most visible stewards and defenders of the hills.

Dongria Kondh women move through this landscape with the familiarity of deep belonging. Their identity is expressed in everyday ways through dress, posture, and ritual, and in the work of tending fields, gathering forest produce, and maintaining community life. The women’s presence reflects a broader ecology of care and resistance rooted in place.