Fenced out: pastoral lives of Bakarwals
Every year the community ascends to the higher Himalayas in Kashmir in search of grazing grounds. Ongoing fencing of pastures by the military and for tourism, along with a continuing lack of access to basic facilities, is putting their way of life under threat
January 9, 2023 | Ritayan Mukherjee and Ovee Thorat
‘These are Kharai camels, they need the sea’
In this film where camels swim in the Gulf of Kachchh, herders from the Fakirani Jat and Bhopa Rabari communities of Gujarat narrate the difficulties in keeping their seafaring livestock alive
November 21, 2022 | Urja
Jamnagar’s ‘swimming camels’ in deep waters
State policies’ dismissal of traditional knowledge of the pastoralist communities endangers the lives of Kharai camels and their herders in and around the Marine National Park and Sanctuary in Jamnagar, Gujarat
October 13, 2022 | Ritayan Mukherjee
Shepherding in Garhwal: a dangerous life
In this region of the Himalayas, shepherds brave the wet and cold weather to graze their sheep and goats. They also protect them from wild animals on the Gangotri range where they live for up to nine months a year
July 20, 2022 | Priti David
‘If they don’t get food, how will we eat well?’
Donkey herders from the Kaikadi community who migrate to work at brick kilns in Sangli district, struggle to look after their livestock. An increase in theft of the animals in Maharashtra has made it harder on them
June 28, 2022 | Photographs: Ritayan Mukherjee | Text: Medha Kale
Kachchh camels’ custody: ships of the deserted
Maharashtra police detained five traditional herders from Kachchh on January 7 suspecting these semi-nomadic pastoralists were smuggling camels to slaughterhouses in Hyderabad. Also detained: 58 camels
January 24, 2022 | Jaideep Hardikar
7,000 a litre: milking donkey breeders’ dreams?
When a litre of Halari donkey’s milk sold for Rs. 7,000 in Gujarat, it triggered speculation over this declining breed’s commercial potential. PARI explores the hard realities of the species and its breeders
December 2, 2020 | Ritayan Mukherjee
Predators and pastoralists: Shangdong to stupa
The documentary featured here records voices of Ladakh's pastoral communities. It speaks of how, in harsh conditions, herders try to protect their livestock from wolves, and the changes in this traditional approach
November 4, 2020 | Abhijit Dutta
‘We don’t have a home to stay at home’
For this group of nomadic pastoralist Dhangar families in Maharashtra, the lockdown brought a drop in sales of sheep, restricted access to village grounds, and depleted rations – but they have tried to move on
August 28, 2020 | Shraddha Agarwal
Kachchh camel herders: lockdown last straw?
What happens if you are nomadic pastoralists with huge herds of animals far away from home when the Covid-19 lockdown was enforced? The Fakirani Jats of Gujarat’s Kachchh district tell their story
April 28, 2020 | Ritayan Mukherjee
Vidarbha’s pastoralists paying a pandemic price
The Nanda Gaolis and other dairy farmers in eastern Maharashtra are facing losses from the drop in demand for milk and broken supply chains, besides grappling with animal health problems and fodder shortages
April 22, 2020 | Jaideep Hardikar and Chetana Borkar
Where country roads don’t take you home
With the COVID-19 driven lockdown, Chenakonda Balasami and other pastoralists in Telangana, on the road for months, are finding it difficult to access food and new grazing grounds – or return to their villages
March 31, 2020 | Harinath Rao Nagulavancha
At a 'watering hole' in the arid Banni grasslands
The migrations of the maldharis of Kachchh, Gujarat, are linked to the search for grazing grounds and water
March 5, 2020 | Ritayan Mukherjee
Kuruba shepherds lose their security blanket
For long, the pastoralist Kurubas of Karnataka have journeyed for months to graze their hardy Deccani sheep. But with declining demand for their animals' manure and wool, many are seeking other sources of income
December 13, 2019 | Prabir Mitra
Counting sheep as grasslands shrink in Gujarat
Pastoralists from Kachchh walk great distances in search of grazing lands for their sheep in Gujarat, even as pastures disappear or become inaccessible, and climate patterns get ever more erratic
September 23, 2019 | Namita Waikar
‘The happy days are now just nostalgia’
In the high mountains of the eastern Himalayas in Arunachal Pradesh, the nomadic Brokpa community is recognising climate change and devising coping strategies based on traditional knowledge
September 2, 2019 | Ritayan Mukherjee
‘Perhaps we made the mountain god angry’
Nomadic Changpa pastoralists at the high grazing grounds of Ladakh find their yak-related economy in a crisis that is driven by major climatic shifts in their fragile mountainous ecosystems
July 22, 2019 | Ritayan Mukherjee
Weaving the story of the pashmina shawl
From Changthangi goats in the Tibetan Plateau to retail stores in Srinagar, the making of the pashmina shawl involves many – pastoralists, wholesalers, spinners, dyers, designers, embroiderers and entrepreneurs
May 27, 2019 | Prabir Mitra
Women who climb mountains, cross deserts
On March 8, International Women’s Day, a PARI photo essay on the remarkable women of three nomadic pastoralist communities – the Changpa of Ladakh, the Brokpa of Arunachal, and the Fakrani Jats in Kachchh
March 8, 2019 | Ritayan Mukherjee
The swimming camels of Kachchh
The magnificent Kharai camels get vital elements of their diet from marine mangroves on islands – and get there by swimming – yes swimming! – several kilometres off the coast of Kachchh (or Kutch) in Gujarat
September 20, 2018 | Ritayan Mukherjee
The fable of Lek and Lakshmi
For long, the Raikas of Rajasthan have told stories to pass the time on their journeys. But this tradition, along with their pasturelands, is shrinking. In the video featured here, Fuyaram Raika narrates a cautionary tale
July 17, 2017 | Sweta Daga
Brokpa: ‘The jungle is our mother'
The Brokpa of West Kameng and Tawang districts of Arunachal Pradesh are reclusive herders who migrate in fixed seasonal patterns at high altitudes. A photo story depicting their daily rhythms
June 22, 2017 | Ritayan Mukherjee
The endless search for grazing grounds
Jat Ayub Ameen, a Fakirani Jat, is distinctive even among the remarkable 'maldhari' or nomadic pastoralists – who are worried about the growing scarcities in Kachchh district of Gujarat. A PARI photo story
March 31, 2017 | Ritayan Mukherjee
The Changpas who make cashmere
The nomadic Changpas communities of Hanle Valley in Ladakh herd pashmina goats, live in high-altitude pasturelands, and even retain old barter systems – but their ways of life are changing
February 8, 2017 | Ritayan Mukherjee
The Raikas of Rajasthan
This camel-herding community of Rajasthan faces restrictive grazing laws, social hostility and falling incomes
February 14, 2016 | Sweta Daga
