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Exactly on the dates of Karam Festival, the tribal people
of Koraput observe the festival of Bali Jatra. Beginning from the eleventh
day of the bright half of the month of 'Bhadrab' it continues upto the
full-moon.
Beginning Of A Celebration
The beginning of the festival begins with 'Nuakhia' (first eating) feast
on which new rice is eaten. The festival takes the name for planting of
various grains in the wet sand (Bali) brought from a nearby stream and is
placed on a structure called 'Bali Jatra' or sand house.
This is an occasion for a number of other celebrations too. Men and women
put on fancy dresses and rejoice with drinking, feasting, dancing and
singing. In some areas a swing is set up with its seat studded with sharp
nails and on this a 'Bejju' (witch doctor) is made to swing. Goats, fowls
and pigeons are sacrificed. The Bejju then walks on the bed of live
charcoal. He dances in trance for all the three days with intermittent
rest, during which he prophesize both good and evil portends to grant
boons to the people.
Peculiarly, the ritual of swinging on a seat of nails and fire walking is
observed by the low-caste Hindus of the coastal areas during the Pana
Sankranti festival. It may be that the tribal people have adopted the
ritual from the Hindus, as such rituals are not in the tradition of tribal
culture.