"Truly Tribal" is a journey that takes you through the green corridors of 'Dandakaranya'- the Dandaka forest of Ramayana fame. The Dandakaranya belt of southern Orissa and adjoining Chhatisgarh is an anthropological wonderland. It is home to numerous tribal groups that belong to diverse ethnic and linguistic identities living side by side in primitive harmony from time immemorial. We are offering you with variety of tribal tour of orissa, orissa tribal tour, tribal tour of orissa india, orissa tribal tour package, tribal tour package for orissa india, online tribal tour booking for india etc. at very competitive prices.

Day 01 : Bhubaneswar
AM : Arrive Bhubaneswar and transfer to Hotel.
PM : City tour of Bhubaneswar including temples, caves. Overnight hotel in Bhubaneswar.

Day 02 : Bhubaneswar - Konark - Puri
AM : Visit to the world famous 'SUN TEMPLE' at Konark. Enroute visit the Buddhist Stupa at Dhauli and the Appliqué center at Pipili.
PM : Drive to Puri (driving distance 38 kms , driving time 50 minutes). Overnight hotel in Puri.

Day 03 : Puri - Gopalpur-on-sea
Drive to Gopalpur-on-sea (220 kms-5hrs drive + visit). En route visit to Chilika the largest brackish water lake in Asia. Upon arrival check into a hotel. Rest of the day free to relax on the beach. Overnight hotel in Gopalpur-on-sea.

Day 04 : Gopalpur-on-sea - Rayagada
Drive to Rayagada. En route visit some of the Lanjia Saura villages. Overnight hotel in Rayagada.

Day 05 : Rayagada - Bissamkatak - Rayagada
AM : Drive to Bissamkatak to visit the Desia Kondh market (should be a Tuesday) and craftsman village.
PM : Visit one of the original primitive Dongariya Kondh village. Overnight hotel in Rayagada.

Day 06 : Rayagada - Chatikona - Jeypore
AM : Visit the weekly market of the Dongariya Kondhs (should be a Wednesday) at Chatikona.
PM : Drive to Jeypore (driving distance 160 kms, driving time 4 ½ hrs). En route visit some of the Mali villages. Overnight hotel in Jeypore.

Day 07 : Jeypore - Onkudelli - Litiput - Jeypore
AM : Early in the morning drive to Onkudelli to visit the weekly market of the most colourful tribe Bondas, Gadabas and Didayis (Should be a Thursday).
PM : Visit the Pottery village and Paroja village at Litiput. Overnight hotel in Jeypore.

Day 08 : Jeypore - Kunduli - Jeypore
Excursion to Kunduli market, the biggest weekly market (should be a Friday) of the Parojas and Mali tribes. Overnight hotel in Jeypore.

Day 09 : Jeypore - Machkund - Lamtaput - Jeypore
AM : Drive to Machkund and soft trek to primitive Barogadaba villages. Watch the traditional dance.
PM : Visit the Lamtaput market. Overnight hotel in Jeypore.

Day 10 : Jeypore - Jagdalpur
AM : Drive to Jagdalpur - Bastar's main town and heartland of the tribals (Driving distance 100 kms, driving time 2 1/2 hours).
PM : Visit a colourful 'Haat'* (weekly market) to enjoy a slice of local life. Overnight hotel in Jagdalpur. *'haat':- Here tribal people go to buy salt, tobacco, cloth and other essentials in exchange for produce collected from the forest.

Day 11 : Jagdalpur - Kanger valley - Jagdalpur
Full day visit to Kanger valley national park to enjoy one of the finest virgin forest tracts on earth, limestone caves known for beautiful stalagmite and stalactite formations. Also visit some of the tribal people in their homes before enjoying your picnic lunch at the popular Tirathgarh falls. Drive back to Jagdalpur after spending time at the falls and lush vegetation. Overnight hotel in Jagdalpur.

Day 12 : Jagdalpur - Chitrakote - Nagarnar
AM : Visit to the famous Chitrakote falls, the Niagara like horseshoe waterfall created by Bastar's Indravati River. Also visit the Anthropological museum to get an interesting insight into Bastar's tribal culture.
PM : Drive to Nagarnar famous for its Terracotta handicrafts. Overnight hotel in Jagdalpur.

Day 13 : Jagdalpur - Narayanpur - Raipur
Drive to Raipur. Enroute take a side trip to Narayanpur which is known for its excellent handicrafts. The other interesting place here is the Ramakrishna Mission centre where some of the people are involved in valuable welfare work amongst tribal people. Overnight hotel in Raipur.

Day 14 : Raipur
Wake up at leisure and relax till departure.

Fire walking is a rigorous ritual practice performed in many parts of the world. Fire walking as a religious ceremony is common to many regions. The origin and meaning of this custom is shrouded in mystery and very obscure. It still survives in India, Mauritius, Trinidad, Fiji, Tahiti and Bulgaria.

The devotees who walk bare foot through the fire-pit have a strong conviction that they would pass unscathed if they had faith.

"Knowing the secret behind fire walking can improve your life! Even if you never do it yourself, knowing how it works can bring you better health and increased personal power," says Tolly Burkan, founding father of the modern global fire walking movement. Do you know that over two million westerners have fire-walked in recent decades?

Tamilnadu in Southern India is home to such Fire-walking festivals. Natham is a small town in the Dindigul district of Tamilnadu. Every year in February/March this small town bursts into an ecstatic display of an extreme brand of spiritualism practiced by thousands of faithful devotees of Mariamman (goddess of rain and epidemics) the presiding deity. Natham is famous for its fire walking festival known as pookkuli tiruvizha. It literally means 'flower pit festival'. Here the reference to 'flower' does not mean actually 'flower' it is actually a metaphoric reference to, 'the hot embers of burnt charcoal' As the devotees confidently walk on the fire pit as if they are walking on a carpet of flowers the festival instead of being called 'fire pit festival' is called 'flower pit festival'. The devotees undergo a fortnight of rigorous ritual practice of one-meal (strictly vegetarian) a day, sleeping on the floor (not using beds and mattress) and strict abstinence and so on. The ritual period of restriction starts on an auspicious day (new-moon day) in the month of Maci/Panguni as per Tamil Calendar (falls in February/March) to be decided by the temple priests in advance and culminates in fire-walking on the following full-moon day.

The modern world has rediscovered the essence and philosophy of fire-walking. "Anyone seeking to explore the mind-body connection, and ways to apply this information toward enhancing human potential, will find value in fire-walking" says Tolly Burkan. And that is how the 'Global Fire Walking Movement' is gaining in popularity and the terms such as 'Collegiate Fire Walking' and 'Corporate Fire Walking' has become parts of management glossary.

We in Beyond Boundaries believe that Tourism is not about traveling and seeing but about understanding, feeling and perceiving.
We invite to you visit The Enchanting Tamilnadu and witness Fire-walking festivals and gain a first-hand knowledge of the age-old tradition which has stirred interest in the modern minds.

Does it kindle a spark of interest in you?

If so write to us!
We will show you the fire and the fire-walkers.

Natham - Fact Files.
Natham is a Taluk Head Quarters town in Dindigul District of Tamil nadu. It is situated at a distance of 32 Km from the District Head Quarters i.e. Dindigul. Natham can be reached from Madurai (distance 35 km by road). The other place of interest near by - is Alagarkoil - 28 Kms.

On the festival day (fire-walking day) if the traveler starts by car (either from Madurai or Dindigul) he can reach Natham within 45 mts. On that day early in the morning, the devotees carry the fire-pot (Agni chatti) and many devotees pierce their body parts including tongue and cheeks with needle and spears.

In the after noon the ritual of climbing the 'flag tree' (Kazhu Maram) smeared with castor oil is performed. Then in the late after noon hundreds of fire-walkers walk through the fire pit.

The tourists can be taken on a guided tour. In order to have a proper view the tourists should take position on the terrace of some near by houses, which can be arranged by us. Visitors can video-graph/photograph the event. We can even facilitate the interaction between some of the fire-walkers and the visiting tourists.