Ranchi, Sept. 14: One-hundred-and-sixty-nine tribal girls from five city girls? hostels observed fast for the prosperity and welfare of the state on the occasion of Karma festival.

The girls broke their fast late in the evening at the science block of the Ranchi Women?s College premises after performing the puja and rituals of the festival.

The hostels to which these girls belonged to, included Bhagirathi Girls? Hostel, Deepsikha Girls? Hostel, Harijan Hostel, ST/SC Hostel and Sarna Hostel, all inside the campus of Ranchi Women?s College.

Karma is a tribal festival celebrated for a good harvest every year on ?Bhadra Shukla Ekadashi?, according to the Hindu calendar.

In the festival, tribal girls worship the branches of ?Karma?, an auspicious plant of the tribal land, under the supervision of their priest, locally known as ?Pahan?. The programme starts at dusk and continues till late midnight.

Unmarried tribal youths assist girls in performing the ceremony. They bring ?Karma? branches and help plant them in Akhra, the circular ground where tribals carry out their religious and cultural function. They also help bring yellow ?Jawa?, a plant grown out of barley seed in nine days before the festival to perform the rituals.

Diwakar Minz, former member of the Scheduled Tribe commission and a history teacher at Doranda College, said the puja was not limited to tribals only. ?The girls, who observed the fast, also included a few non-tribals girls from different parts of the city and surrounding areas. The Karma puja is equally important for tribals and non-tribals. It helps bring peace and harmony besides prosperity and good health in the state,? he added.

Jatru Oroan, head of Swarnrekha PG boys? hostel and chief organiser of the function, said if tribal culture was followed properly, there would be no drought in the country. ?Drought is the result of improper forest management and planned invasion on tribal culture. If the tribal culture, which is closely associated with nature is preserved properly, there would be no drought in the state,? he added.

Youths also danced to the beats of tribal musical instruments including mandar, nagara and Jhanjh. Famous songs sung in the programme included ?Sato bhaiya sato karam garai, Sato gotni seva karai? and ?karam karam kahu lege samaro, karam ke din kaise aawi? in the Nagpuri dialect.