Kunwariya Bai, 40, pictured with her grandson, lives in Tantar village in Baiga Chak. She had her body tattooed before she got married, and believes it is important the tradition continues. ‘Baiga believe in this. It is all that is left of us after we die,’ she says, adding that her granddaughter, Amratiya, who is five, will have her forehead tattooed when she is older. ‘We know it is painful but it is important for our identity. We do want her to study. We want her to become a teacher – otherwise she too will have to become a farmer’

Photograph: Ronny Sen/WaterAid