Niyamgiri Hills

Also called: Niyamgiri · Topic: Biodiversity and its Conservation · NCERT: Class 7, Ch 8 "How the Land Becomes Sacred"

Meaning

The Niyamgiri Hills (also called Niyamgiri) are a hill range of the Eastern Ghats in Rayagada and Kalahandi districts of southern Odisha. The Dongria Kondh, a PVTG, hold these hills sacred as the home of their god Niyam Raja.

The range matters because it shows sacred ecology standing up to mining. In 2013 the Supreme Court let the local Gram Sabhas decide on a bauxite mine. All 12 Gram Sabhas rejected it, and the case became a landmark for Gram Sabha consent and sacred rights.

Explanation

How a hill becomes sacred (the Class 7 view)

• Sacred ecology means people see land, rivers, mountains and trees as holy, so they protect them.
• Tirthas (pilgrim sites) lie by rivers and lakes, in forests and on mountains. This turns the whole landscape into punyakshetra ("sacred space").
• Niyamgiri fits this pattern:
• The highest hill, Niyam Dongar, is the home of Niyam Raja, the god of the Dongria Kondh.
• Because the hill is holy, the Dongria Kondh forbid cutting trees on it.
• Result: the hill's forest stays protected by belief, not by fences or guards.

The people: Dongria Kondh

• The Dongria Kondh are a PVTG (Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Group). A PVTG is a tribe with:
• a very small population that is shrinking,
• a simple economy,

• low literacy.

• For them, the hill is not a mineral deposit. It is a god's home and the source of their way of life.

The conflict: mining versus the sacred hill

• Cause: Vedanta wanted to mine bauxite (the ore of aluminium) on Niyamgiri to supply its refinery at Lanjigarh.
• Clash: mining would dig up the same hill that the Dongria Kondh worship and protect.
• Legal process:
• In Orissa Mining Corporation v. MoEF (April 2013), the Supreme Court did not decide the matter itself.
• It asked the Gram Sabhas (the meeting of all adult voters of a village) to decide whether mining would harm their religious and cultural rights.

• The Gram Sabhas decided this under the Forest Rights Act 2006.

• Result: all 12 Gram Sabhas rejected the mine in 2013.

The law behind the verdict

• Under the Forest Rights Act 2006, community rights and Community Forest Resource titles are issued in the name of the Gram Sabha [3].
• Under Section 5 of the Act, the Gram Sabha and local bodies have the power to protect wildlife, forests and biodiversity [2].
• Why this matters: a traditional belief (the sacred hill) was turned into a legal right (Gram Sabha consent).

Where it occurs

• Niyamgiri range: Eastern Ghats, Rayagada and Kalahandi districts, southern Odisha.
• Niyam Dongar: the highest hill of the range, the seat of Niyam Raja.
• Lanjigarh: site of the Vedanta refinery that the bauxite was meant to supply.
• Similar sacred landscapes elsewhere (for comparison):
• Sacred groves across India: kavu (Kerala), devrai (Maharashtra), sarna (Jharkhand), oran (Rajasthan), khlaw kyntang (Meghalaya, e.g. Mawphlang near Shillong).
• Todas of the Nilgiris (Tamil Nadu), who treat peaks, sholas and wetlands as sacred.
• Sikkim, which notified sacred mountains, caves, lakes, rocks and hot springs for protection in the early 2000s.
• Taranaki Maunga, a mountain in New Zealand, declared a legal person in 2025, with Māori elders as its voice.

Don't confuse with

• Chipko movement: villagers hugged trees to stop felling at Mandal and Reni in Chamoli (now Uttarakhand) in 1973–74. Niyamgiri was in Odisha, against bauxite mining, and was won through Gram Sabha votes.
• Joint Forest Management (JFM): also first started in Odisha (1988). However, JFM is a forest department + village scheme for degraded forests. Niyamgiri is about Gram Sabha consent under the FRA 2006.
• Bishnoi / Khejarli (1730): a sacrifice in Jodhpur, Rajasthan to save khejri trees, guided by Guru Jambheshwar's 29 principles. Niyamgiri involves the Dongria Kondh and Niyam Raja.
• Community reserve (Section 36-C, Wildlife (Protection) Act 1972): land the state notifies when a community volunteers to protect it [2]. Niyamgiri's protection came through the Forest Rights Act 2006, not Section 36-C.

Prelims Hooks

• Niyamgiri Hills — Rayagada and Kalahandi districts — Odisha (Eastern Ghats).
• Dongria Kondh — a PVTG — worship Niyam Raja, whose home is Niyam Dongar.
• The mineral at stake was bauxite (ore of aluminium), for Vedanta's Lanjigarh refinery. It was not iron ore or coal.
• Orissa Mining Corporation v. MoEF (April 2013): the Supreme Court gave the decision to the Gram Sabhas under the Forest Rights Act 2006.
• All 12 Gram Sabhas said no to mining (2013).
• Trap: the 2013 verdict rested on religious and cultural rights under the FRA, not on the Wildlife (Protection) Act.

Mains Points

• Sacred ecology versus development (GS-III):
• Niyamgiri shows that Gram Sabha consent can block mining on sacred land.

• It sets the mineral value of a hill against its cultural and ecological value. David Suzuki's idea fits here: a worldview that sees a mountain as a deity, not as ore, can support sustainability.

• From tradition to law:

• Belief alone may not protect a place. The polluted sacred rivers (Yamuna, Mahanadi, Kaveri) show this.

• Niyamgiri worked because belief was backed by law: Community Forest Resource rights with the Gram Sabha [3] and its power to protect forests and biodiversity under Section 5 of the FRA [2].

• Tribal rights and conservation:

• A PVTG's right to its sacred land was upheld.
• This matches the CBD and Kunming-Montreal framework's focus on the rights of indigenous peoples and local communities.
• It also shows that the people who depend on a forest are often its best guards.

Related concepts

• Community participation in conservation
• Bhairodev Dakav Sonchuri
• Beej Bachao Andolan
• Navdanya
• Bishnoi community
• Sacred grove
• Rights of nature

Read more

• Community conservation and sacred ecology