The Mankirdia of Northern Odisha

The Mankirdia are skilled rope makers and monkey trappers. Calling themselves Birhor, the community in the past lived a semi-nomadic life of hunting and food gathering. Their settlements, called tanda, were a collection of 20 to 30 leaf huts deep inside the Similipal forests. Today, some groups of the community live in permanent settlements, close to the forest, while continuing to gather forest produce and siali for rope making.