Dayandi is the common name of a gourd vessel. This was a utility object belonging to Khonds, the tribe of Odisha. Now, it has been preserved at the Indian Museum, Kolkata. This container is the hollowed-out fruit of a naturally hollowed gourd. It signifies the sustainable practices of the tribe and its resourceful use of organic materials, which are available from their woodlands.
Succinctly, this is a bottle-shaped vessel with a broad, bulbous lower body and a little constricted neck, which makes it ideal for carrying either water or locally fermented beverages. A handle is attached to the vessel for easy transport by even long walk distances across hilly terrains or agricultural fields.
Among the Khonds, an important tribal group from central and eastern India, such vessels have found a use over the ages in storing liquids and serving them during specific rituals, farming activities, or community-based meetings. The adopting of these utensils from dried gourds shows how craft practices have deep root traditions and a very healthy symbiosis with nature, which wastes nothing.
The Dayandi Artefact is manifestly a cultural being of eco-consciousness and nostalged at a time when the world spoke mainly natural materials for tools for survival and community sustenance.