Suliaa Jatra; a Sacred Tribal Ritual Based Festival of Faith and Tradition

Abstract (English)

In Odisha's cultural life, the tribal religious beliefs and rituals of western Odisha hold a special place. Many religious acts here are associated with religion, the environment, and the way of life. In the Deogaon Tehsil in the Balangir district of Odisha, Suliaa Jatra is a recurring folk ritual-based celebration that is held annually on the final Tuesday following the full moon of the lunar month Pausha/poosh. The festival is celebrated during the post-cultivation period by the Kondh tribal community in western Odisha to honor their deity, Suliaa Baba (the incarnation of Lord Shiva worshipped in the form of a trident), with a great deal of animal sacrifices in order to show their faith, devotion, and gratitude for a bountiful harvest. Such a form of practice in the current period helps to understand the ancient indigenous society's food culture and subsistence system as well as reveals the ritual-based celebration. It symbolizes the development of human faith in nature throughout the quest for food.

A thorough ethnographic study of the rural residents of the Deogaon Tehsil of the Balangir district was conducted in order to comprehend the earlier stages of the folk belief system, the relationship between humans and the environment, and their associated food culture. The tribal people's traditional subsistence pattern and their symbolic worship of the agricultural folk deity are revealed by this investigation. It provides an opportunity to recognize and comprehend the tribal society's traditional rituals' genesis.