The Dandak is the sundry head ornament that is worn by the female folks of the Bonda tribe. It is ancient and culturally distinct indigenous community settled on the hilly terrains of the Malkangiri district in Odisha. The Dandak is one of the many specialized ornaments for the Bonda people and is perhaps the simplest with the greatest cultural connotation. Each of such ornaments is ringed and coiled with leaf—the coiling further signifies that it is an organic material and the strong intimacy of the tribe with nature. Mostly ornamented by two, the head ornaments symmetrically placed atop the head often become part of rituals and celebrations. The inner and outer sides of the Dandak are plain and have been reduced to the minimalistic aesthetic typical for Bonda ornamentation.
The Dandak, simple in its construction, is literally heavy with meaning from the cultural viewpoint. Identification and belonging are connotations of use according to life stages and events. The coiling of leaves, rather than using metal or stone, is an illustration of the harmonious living of the Bonda community with its environment in the forests and sustainable lifestyle. In larger contexts of tribals in India, such ornaments give an insight into native knowledge systems and crafts, artistic sensibility that are usually ignored in mainstream narratives. Thus the need for preservation and comprehension of such ornaments within tribal culture becomes extremely important toward appreciating indigeneity in the different strands of India's intangible cultural heritage.