Kotpad, May 16: The historic Bali Jatra festival was celebrated with great grandeur in Bobeya village under Kotpad block. According to tribal customs and traditions, the festival continued for three months. On the final day, lakhs of people gathered to witness the celebration.
The entire Bobeya region was filled with festivity for Bali Jatra. This agriculture-based festival is organized once every 13 years by the villages of Bobeya, Chiliguda, Parajaguda, and Dabuguda. Preparations for the festival begin three months in advance following both tribal and Hindu rituals and traditions.
During the Bali Jatra, the presiding village goddess and Lord Bhima are worshipped. People believe that organizing the festival brings prosperity to the village, ensures good rainfall, and leads to a successful agricultural season throughout the year.
Every day during the festival, the Gurus and Gurumais (traditional priests and priestesses) invoke the deities of the three spiritual realms. On the first day of the festival, villagers collect sand from the river. Later, every household sows different kinds of seeds such as paddy, green gram, black gram, ragi, and mustard in sand-filled bamboo baskets.
On the concluding day, the sprouted seedlings grown in those sand baskets are carried on the heads of villagers in a grand procession. Thousands of villagers march together from the village to the Bali Jatra ground. There, the ceremonial marriage of Bhima and Bhimani is performed.
Since the Bali Jatra is celebrated only once every 13 years, people from all castes, religions, and communities come together in a spirit of brotherhood and harmony to celebrate the festival collectively.
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