01 · A living language
Begin with the language
SCSTRTI identifies Ho as Austroasiatic in its community profile, and names Mayurbhanj, Keonjhar and Angul among the Odisha locations associated with the community.
This is a starting point, not a complete map of speakers. Community identity, home language and the language someone uses at school or work need not be the same.
02 · A living language
Words within a living culture
SCSTRTI’s account describes the akhara as a space for dance and the sarna as a sacred grove. These are cultural contexts recorded by the institute, not public attractions or a description of every Ho household.
What words belong to an ordinary day? Begin with a greeting, a place name or the name of something a speaker chooses to show you. Ask whether they want the word written down, and in which script.
Where the voices were counted · Census 2011
Recorded as Ho
4,11,098people in Odisha
0.98%of Odisha’s 2011 population
This is the individual mother-tongue entry in the Census table. It counts reported mother tongues in 2011, not everyone who can speak the language today.
Largest recorded counts: Mayurbhanj (1,90,876); Kendujhar (1,45,780); Jajapur (38,167).
Explore all 30 districts →Census C-16 · Sheet1, row 180. Original table
On the reading shelf
Ho · a book to open together
Compare the language columns with a willing reader or teacher. Ask how their own usage differs from the printed example.
Open the original learning booklet (PDF) ↗A shared page
- English
- Odia
- Ho
The linked booklet places these languages alongside one another. This panel describes its layout; it does not reproduce or translate its vocabulary.
- First edition
- November 2018
- Published by
- Special Development Council, Mayurbhanj
- Compiled by
- Kaira Singh Bandia, Machua Ho, Padmalochan Soy
Follow your curiosity
One voice.
Another doorway.
Sources, image credits & editorial notes
Prepared for Utkal Project, founded and edited by Ahimanikya Satapathy. Research checked 2026-10-01. English introduction checked against the cited publications. Fluent-speaker and specialist review remain pending; original-language phrases, translations and recordings are not supplied.. Opening lines and reading prompts are original editorial invitations.
Reading and evidence
- SCSTRTI · Ho community profile
Direct institutional profile inspected for broad geography and attributed cultural context. Older terminology, universal claims and population figures omitted. No field or speaker review.
Used in: Begin with the language; Words within a living culture. - SCSTRTI · Ho trilingual learning booklet (2018)
Original PDF inspected: publication credits on PDF page 3 and comparison table on PDF page 10. Selected pages only; vocabulary and pronunciation have not received fluent-speaker review. Linked for reading; pages and illustrations are not reproduced.
Used in: Reading shelf.
Images and reuse
Research and presentation prepared with AI assistance. No speaker recording or complete literary text is reproduced. Help improve the collection.
Editorial preview · awaiting Founder and language or literary review.