2020 GeoEx Catalog

Eastern India’sTribal Tapestry

TRADITIONS AND TEMPLES IN OFF-THE-RADAR ODISHA

TOURING | 12 DAYS · GROUP AND CUSTOM

I ndia is proof that a seemingly impossible bounty of  languages and cultures can be defined as one country, and its state of Odisha shines among its brightest stars of diversity. This region is home to 62 tribal communities, each with its own dialect and customs, who rely on the forests and seas for their livelihood, living as hunter- gatherers, farmers, fisherfolk, or cattle herders, largely isolated from the modern world. We journey deep into the valleys of India’s Eastern Ghats to respectfully encounter these people, learning about their ways of life and the challenges they face to keep their tradi- tions alive. Delving far off the traveler radar, we meet with vil- lage elders, priests, and artisans. We go to market, perhaps sitting by a creek to watch tribespeople arrive: women dressed in their finest saris, hair neatly plaited, carrying jugs of palm wine or woven baskets; men escorting cattle; kids skipping across stones; everyone stopping to clean their feet in the cool water before continuing. We spend time with indigenous folks who welcome us for home- cooked meals. Stupendous heritage sites also showcase the area’s religious and cultural mélange. The state’s capital, Bhubaneswar, sits at the crossroads of Hindu, Buddhist, and Jain religions and is an important pilgrimage desti­ nation for many Indians. There we wander among the 500 remaining graceful towers and artfully detailed sculpture of the 7,000 stone temples that once stood. In Puri, we commune with the trinity of deities, sur- rounded by blaring celebratory music and wall-scaling

KEREN SU / CHINA SPAN

ABOVE Women transplanting rice seedlings in Odisha, India.

monkeys, and we linger at the 13th-century Konark Sun Temple, a UNESCO World Heritage–listed Brahman sanctuary, considered one of the most stun- ning monuments of religious architecture on earth.

group trips from $6745 nov. 13–24, 2019; jan. 29–feb. 9, 2020; nov. 4–15, 2020 also offered as custom trip oct.–mar.

Day 1  arrive in Kolkata ✦  2  fly to Bhubaneswar ✦ 3 & 4  drive to Puri, explore ✦  5  fly to Visakhapatnam ✦  6  drive to Goudaguda ✦  7  visit tribal villages ✦ 8  Chatikona Market ✦  9  Onkudeli Market

India

✦  10  village walks ✦  11  drive to Visakhapatnam, fly to Kolkata ✦  12  depart.

BELOW  A boy on fishing boats in Puri, set on the Bay of Bengal.

HEMIS / ALAMY