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| BIJA
PANDU |
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| Celebrated In
: Malakangiri, District Koraput, Orissa. |
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| Also Known as
: Koya |
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| Famous as : Tribal Festival |
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| In the month
of : April (on Chaitra Parva) |
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| The festival of
'Chaitra Parva' is known as "Bija Pandu" among the tribal people known as
"Koya" who are concentrated in the Malkangiri sub-division of the district of
Koraput. The Koya villages are situated on patches of clearings in the midst of dense
forests. In each village there happens to be a 'Bijigudi' or house of Cod. The tribes
worship, 'Gudimata', the Mother Earth and also the earth whom they call "Bhumu".
During the festival they worship the 'Godlings' with liquor and sacrifice an animal or
bird. |
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The
Festivity
The "Bija Pandu" is the sacred seed from which the festival takes it name.
During the festival the men go out hunting and fishing in groups and return home before
dark. During the days the women keep on singing and dancing, waiting for their men to
come. In the evenings they unite, feast, drink and dance together.. |
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The
Dance Costumes
The Koyas have special variety of dance for the
festival. Men wear huge headgears of 'Bisson'-horns, which are richly decorated with
peacock feathers and cowries. The drums are cylindrical and unusually long. Women wear
brass-caps and hold sticks fitted with tinkling bells, which they strike during the dance
in between the beats. They dance in circles singing songs of love. |
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