Thursday, December 10, 2015

Chaiti Festival, or Chhau festival is the important festival of Tribal people.

Chaiti Festival" or "Rayagada Mahotsav" is the official annual mass cultural festival of Rayagada district, India. It is one among the major visitor attractions in the district.

The Chaiti Parba or Chhau festival is the most important festival of the tribal people of Koraput. It starts from 10th April to 14th April every year. 14th April is known as Mahavishuva Sankranti Day all over Odisha. 

This festival is celebrated in a tribal village like mayurbhanj, Sundargarh, and Keonjhar.


Tribal Dance
On this day they offer puja to the mother of the earth(Bhumidevi). During the festival, they worship the Gods with liquor and sacrifice an animal or bird. In the evenings they unite, feast, drink and dance together.

The festival started in 2005 in the district to give a boost to tribal culture. The cultural fest is observed in the Block levels and Sub-divisional levels in addition to the district level. 


The first Chaiti Festival was organized as a mass festival by the then District Magistrate Dr. Pramod Kumar Meherda. Since then the Chaiti festival has been organized every year. But for some reason, it was discontinued during 2008. In 2009, Shri K.G.Mahapatra, the then Collector of the district revived the tradition. This festival celebrates by all Boys and Girls wear in Traditional  Saree.  

People from across the world to visit Odisha and enjoy this festival and see the tribal festivities in full glory.

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