The Saora are a tribe found mainly in the eastern part of India, and they have an extremely close relationship with nature and its elements in terms of spirituality. Among their ritualistic and cultural practices is making the use of ritual necklaces, like from small animals vertebrae strung with string and worn during sacred ceremonies and rites of passage. Life, according to this necklace, is more than a necklace; it's a form of reverence, spirituality, and the tribe's deep meditation upon this world and those beyond it.
The vertebrae composing that necklace are arranged with much care in a string and introduce a unique powerful symbol of continuity and life. Each vertebra symbolizes spiritual essence from the strong and tough animal from which it was derived. Such ritual objects in Saora culture carry deep meanings for the wearer, linking him or her to the ancestral practices and forces of nature. The necklaces are mostly found on an individual during important rituals like harvest-related activities, healing practices, or community celebration where one's position in the community is recognized. The Saora are a tribe who invokes the higher spirits of the Upper World in animism, the acceptance that spirits inhabit the components of nature. The vertebrae tell one something in the creation of such jewelry in the sense that the vertebrae honor the spirit of the animal and the life force that it once had. Wearing ritual necklaces places them very firmly in the cultural heritage and priceless teachings passed on through the ages.