Tribal performs ‘chhera pahanra’ at Sabara Srikhetra

Koraput: Tribals have their unique way of celebrating festivals and the annual Rath Yatra is no exception. On Tuesday, the Rath Yatra was celebrated with great enthusiasm by the tribal communities in Koraput, which is popular as Sabara Srikhetra.
The festival serves as a significant event for the tribals, who throng the town from the hilly terrain and remote villages to witness the procession. Tribal groups like Bonda, Kondh and Paraja communities, dressed in their customary attire performed their traditional dances as the chariot moved. A tribal, Dasia Nayak, performed the ‘chhera pahanra’, which is conducted by Gajapati Maharaja of Puri during Rath Yatra in Puri.
Officials of the temple management committee said the practice of a tribal performing the ‘chhera pahanra’ has been adopted since the first Rath Yatra was celebrated on July 12, 1972.
“A man from the crowd was invited to perform the ritual during the first Rath Yatra and later it was known that he was a village head and from the Sabara community. Since then the practice of a tribal performing ‘chhera pahanra’ continues,” said Jagabandhu Samal, secretary of the temple management.
According to Samal, prior to the festival, special invitations are sent to villages. Not only a tribal conducts ‘chhera pahanra’ but also, during the nine-day period, various tribal groups are engaged in various chores of the temple, including in the temple’s kitchen, preparing bhog for the deities and cleaning the temple premises. On the concluding day of the nine-day festival, the village heads are presented with sirapa (a head gear) by the temple management committee as a gesture of appreciation.
While a single chariot was pulled since the inception of the temple, in 2019 the temple trust introduced three chariots for the three deities and since then the practice is being followed.
“I have seen Rath Yatra at different parts of the state but the enthusiasm in which the tribals take part here is worth watching,” said Jyotsna Satapathy, a tourist.