TITLE: Jungle of Tattoo

The Baiga tribes are a forest-dwelling indigenous tribal community of central India.The women of the Baiga tribe consider tattooing as an integral part of their culture. Locally known as Godna, the Baiga women decorate their body from childhood to different phases of life with symbols of social, cultural and spiritual significance .Traditionally, a Baiga girl gets a “V” mark tattooed on the centre of her forehead at the age of eight. At the age of 16, the girl’s back is tattooed with various designs such as chains, dots, circles, parallel, horizontal, slanting and vertical lines. After this dries up, nearly four months later, the thighs of the girls are tattooed. Subsequently, the entire legs and hands are designed with tattoos. By the time she turns 20, the entire body of a Baiga girl gets covered with beautiful tattoos. In this picture the baiga tribal ladies are sitting with their tattooed legs apart to show their godna culture along with their children

AUTHOR: SANGHAMITRA SARKAR (India)