Saora. Shamanism and Modernity: Dynamics of Resistance to Social Transformation

The Saora are a small ethnic group with a distinctive culture of great relevance, most of whom live in the central-eastern Indian states of Odisha and northern Andhra Pradesh. Despite a certain tendency in India to consider them as part of the larger ethnic minority of Savara (spelled alternatively as Sabara, Sora, Sabar, etc.; Singh, 2001), who also live in areas of the neighboring states of West Bengal and Bihar, the link between these ethnic groups is not entirely clear. According to the 2011 census of India, the number of the Saora comes to a total of 534,751. The Saoras living in the plains are more Hinduized and speak Desia, the local dialect of Odia. Their subsistence economy is mainly based on agriculture (rice cultivation). The Saora living in the hills, called Lanjia Saora, are a small minority of only 5,960 individual