India Tours - Fair and Festival

Exuberant and colourful festivals dating back over centuries and marvellous dances, both classical and folk, celebrate the people’s ties to their community, gods and the seasons.

A Land of varied cultures and traditions with numerous temples and tribes, Odisha is naturally home to innumerable fairs and festivals that add colour to its cultural fabric.

Bali Yatra: It is celebrated to commemorate the voyages of the Odian traders who, centuries ago, carried merchandise to the islands of Bali, Java and Sumatra. Traders considered KartikPurnima or the full moon of the month of Kartik (November-December) to be the most auspicious for setting off for distant lands, Bali Yatra festivities are held on this day. Ponds, lakes, rivers and all water bodies of Odisha come alive on this day with colour as people float paper boats called boitas with sacred lamps placed on them. A one-week-long fair to promote local art, crafts and cuisine is held on the banks of the river Mahanadi at Cuttack.

Budhi Thakurani Yatra: It is the chief festival of Berhampur city and of Southern Odisha, held for a month, beginning Shivaratri, to welcome Goddess Budhi Thakurani to her parental home once every two years. The history of the festival spans more than two centuries. A carnival atmosphere prevails as hundreds of people enact roles of characters from mythology, attired in colourful costumes, and parade the streets of Berhampur. The last day of the festivities is marked by a colourful procession of ladies carrying ghatams or pots on their heads to the main temple of Thakurani.

Chadak Mela: A grand 15-day festival, the Chadak Mela is held at the Chandaneswar Temple in Balasore in April to celebrate the secret wedding of Shiva and Kamini, whom he married in the absence of his consort, Parvati. The festivities culminate on Mahavisuha Sankranti day. The festival is observed in two phases—Nila Parva, celebrating the actual wedding, and Pata Parva, which sees devotees go on a procession with the skin, tongue and body pierced. The festival concludes with Bhakti Argya or ceremonial offerings by devotees to Lord Shiva at the Chandaneswar Temple.

Chandan Yatra: Logic and rationale prevail to keep the gods cool during the scorching summer months. Most temples observe this festival, beginning on the auspicious day of Akshay Tritiya. The idols are taken out in a procession with drum beats and music before embarking on a boat ride in a nearby holy tank. The handsomely bejewelled deities take their places in richly decorated floral boats that sway rhythmically in the water. The water shimmers as devotees set afloat lighted earthenware lamps, placed on banana and other broad leaves, sprinkled with colourful blossoms. Most important, the deity of the state, Lord Jagannath of Puri, is taken on a boat ride for 21 days in a lake called Narendra Sarovar. Similarly, Lord Tribhuvaneswara of Bhubaneswar goes on a boat ride in the Bindu Sagar.

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Magha Mela or Chandrabhaga Mela:

The air hangs heavy with excitement as the milling ocean of humanity waits with bated breath to sight the giant star rising over the horizon. The occasion is a major annual event that takes place on the seventh day of the Hindu month of Magh (January-February) at Chandrabhaga Beach, 3 km from the famed Sun Temple of Konark. It is Konark’s most popular and colourful festival, also known as Chandrabhaga Mela. Pilgrims assemble at Chandrabhaga Beach to worship the Sun God following a holy dip to welcome him as he rises, with prayers. According to legend, it was on this day that Samba, son of Lord Krishna, was cured of leprosy upon worshipping the Sun. The event is marked by dance, drama and music performances by troupes that performjatra or folk theatre.

Dhanu Yatra: This is a colourful festival of Western Odisha in which the life of Krishna, from birth to the killing of his uncle, demon king Kansa, is enacted on a large scale. The festival is most vibrant in Bargarh which transforms into a veritable Nlathura that turns into an open-air theatre during the celebrations. The festival, held over January, begins with the wedding of Devaki and Vasudev.

Konark Dance Festival: The Sun Temple at Konark is the picturesque backdrop for the celebrations, held every year in December. As the sun sets, the sound of lilting music gently breaks the silence and the open-air auditorium lights up with the fluid movements of eminent Odissi dancers from all over the country and world, displaying Odisha’s oldest classical dance form. As the evening progresses into the night, the tireless artistes who perform solo and in groups transport the audience to paradise with their intricate nuances merging into the realms of spiritualism, yet again reinforcing the fact that Indian art forms cannot be divorced from the ethereal.

Parab Festival: This the annual competitive festival of Koraput district that showcases not only the rich tribal culture but also serves as a forum for the various tribes to interact, promote and preserve their indigenous cultural heritage including their arts, crafts and traditions. Also called the Parab Tribal Dance and Music Festival, it involves a range of events - from quiz shows, essay and debate competitions conducted for high school students, to boat races, treks, art camps and exhibitions, book fairs and kavi sammelans.

Rath Yatra: The trio of deities, grandly decked in jewels and silken robes, comes out of the sanctum sanctorum one by one with Balabhadra in the lead, followed by Subhadra and finally the majestic Jagannath himself. They are brought out by the temple priests, to be placed in chariots painted to match the colours of their respective robes. Once installed in their chariots, the gods begin their 10-day sojourn from the Jagannath Temple to Gundicha Ban and back.

The Rath Yatra or the annual Car Festival of Lord Jagannath of Puri observed on the second day of the bright fortnight of the month of Ashada (June-July), is the biggest festival of its kind in the world. The festival is locally known as Gundicha Yatra after mythical Queen Gun dicha, wife of King Indradyumna (founder of the shrine of Lord Jagannath at Puri).

Shital Sashti Festival: One of the most popular ancient celebrations, particularly beloved in Sambalpur and Barapali, it is associated with the wedding of Lord Shiva and Parvari, performed to ‘cool’ Shiva who became enraged after Jagara Amavasya. It is held on the sixth day of the bright fortnight in the month of Jyestha. Lavishly decorated tableaux carrying the idols of Shiva and Parvati, taken out in procession to the accompaniment of music and dance, are an integral feature of this festival.

Folk Dances of Odisha: They are an integral part of Odisha’s heritage and culture, as they have been a source of entertainment for its rural people. The most ancient folk dance of the state is the Danda Nata, to propitiate Lord Shiva and Parvati. Devotees perform a fire walk, stand on sword edges and pierce various parts of their bodies with iron nails on the occasion. The Patua Dance, associated with Mother Goddess Sarala, involves males dressing as females and dancing with decorated ghatams or earthenware pots on their heads. Dalkflai is Western Odisha’s most popular folk dance, so named because at the beginning and end of every verse, the word dalkhai is used to address a girlfriend. It is a dance drama in which mythology and the epics, the Ramayana and Mahabharata, are enacted. The Kela Keluni dance of the snake-charmers of Odisha is a dance that involves tightrope-walking and other gymnastics. Ranapa is a dance performed on stilts by the cowherd community of Southern Odisha. Resembling martial arts and originating in them, the Chhau is a dance involving vigorous movements and leaps. Chaitighoda or ‘dummy horse’ is a dance of the fishing community in which a dancer places himself inside the model of a wooden horse and makes equine movements to enact episodes from mythology. Ghoomra, accompanied by music produced by ghata,ns, their mouths covered with reptile skin, is a vibrant dance performed only by males.

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